New news has emerged from the automotive industry.

According to Hong Kong Stock Exchange documents, on June 26th, Hezhong New Energy, the parent company of Nezha Auto, submitted a listing application to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Once Nezha Auto successfully lands its IPO, it will become the fifth new-force automaker to go public in Hong Kong after Li Auto, NIO, Xpeng, and Leapmotor.

In April this year, Hezhong New Energy Automobile was selected for the "2024 Hurun Global Unicorn List" with an enterprise valuation of 30 billion yuan, ranking 197th.

What is the core value of this automaker with a valuation of 30 billion yuan? Let's analyze it from three dimensions:

First, let's look at sales.

In 2023, Nezha Auto delivered 124,189 vehicles, with a compound annual growth rate of 39%. By model, in 2023, the Nezha AYA series delivered a total of 50,095 vehicles; the Nezha X series delivered 46,724 vehicles; the Nezha S delivered 20,278 vehicles in 2023; and the Nezha GT delivered 7,092 vehicles. In 2023, Nezha Auto exported 17,019 vehicles, accounting for 13% of its total sales.

Through horizontal comparison of data, in 2023, Li Auto sold over 370,000 vehicles, NIO sold 160,000 vehicles, and Xpeng sold 140,000 vehicles. From this comparison, Nezha still lags behind Li Auto in terms of sales but is approaching Xpeng, which ranks third.

Second, let's look at financial data.

Nezha Auto's revenue was 5.087 billion yuan in 2021; 13.05 billion yuan in 2022, representing a year-on-year growth of 156.5%; and 13.555 billion yuan in 2023, representing a year-on-year growth of 3.9%.

Similarly, in 2023, the revenues of Li Auto, NIO, and Xpeng were 123.85 billion yuan, 55.618 billion yuan, and 30.676 billion yuan, respectively. Nezha still has a significant gap compared to the first-tier new-force automakers that have already gone public.

Third, let's look at overseas expansion.

Due to the fierce competition in the domestic market, new energy automakers are flocking overseas. This has become a core indicator for testing automakers' capabilities. In overseas markets, Nezha Auto exported 17,019 new energy electric vehicles in 2023, accounting for 13.7% of its total sales of new energy electric vehicles in the same year, contributing 12.0% of its revenue.

The latest data shows that from January to May 2024, Nezha Auto exported 16,458 vehicles, ranking first in terms of exports among new-force automakers. Especially in the Southeast Asian market, according to a report by CIC Consulting, Nezha Auto is one of the top three brands in terms of new energy passenger vehicles in Southeast Asia in 2023. This also means that in the future, Nezha may gain some opportunities in overseas markets.

Overall, although Nezha Auto has not yet entered the first tier in terms of revenue data, it has gradually approached Xpeng in terms of sales. However, looking deeper, Nezha's sales and revenue do not match, which means that Nezha needs to pay attention to its profitability.

From 2021 to 2023, Nezha Auto lost 4.84 billion yuan, 6.666 billion yuan, and 6.867 billion yuan respectively, with a cumulative loss of approximately 18.4 billion yuan over three years.

The reasons for this result are not only the large upfront investment in vehicle manufacturing but more importantly, the low-margin products. Currently, Nezha needs more high-priced products. Nezha has clearly noticed this issue. In the past three years, the average selling price of Nezha Auto has increased by 43,000 yuan, and this trend is expected to continue in the future.

This year, the new energy automotive industry has been turbulent. With Xiaomi entering the market, various manufacturers seem to be putting in their full efforts in research and development and promotion. Not only new-force automakers but also the leaders of traditional brand automakers have appeared on live streaming platforms to cheer for their respective automakers. Behind this is the increasingly fierce competition in the new energy automotive industry.

With Nezha heading for an IPO in Hong Kong, a new round of ranking competition among new energy automakers is also unfolding.

Written by Zero Degree