A large number of new forces are once again stagnating

07/01 2024 515

The new forces are causing havoc again, and the "chaos" will eventually be eliminated by the positive development momentum of the industry.

The new energy industry is booming, but this does not mean that every new energy vehicle company can take advantage of this wave of the times. Why do I say that? Just look at the general situation of the entire market in the past two years, and you will understand. The market penetration rate of new energy vehicles is getting higher and higher, but most companies in the industry are not making money.

Auto companies with solid foundations can still follow industry trends, but those who are already struggling financially, besides being forced to shut down, are probably not far from death. And such things not only occur in China's current bizarre market where only prices matter, but are also common in distant Europe and America.

In Germany, the locally well-known new force in carmaking, e.GO, announced the official cessation of business operations earlier this month. Before that, e.GO had already applied to initiate bankruptcy reorganization procedures and entered into bankruptcy.

In fact, it has been just over half a year since e.GO entered the capital market. Looking back at history, as early as October 2023, e.GO merged with the special purpose acquisition company Athena Consumer Acquisition and went public. Before the IPO, it claimed to have a valuation of about $900 million. Unfortunately, the company's subsequent market performance was truly disappointing, with a peak market value of only $130 million. Soon, e.GO's share price fell rapidly, directly dropping below $1.

It is well-known that new forces in carmaking have always sought to survive and establish themselves in the capital market. But now it seems that being eliminated by the market does not depend on how strong your PPT presentation skills are.

Like e.GO, almost at the same time, Fisker, an American electric vehicle startup, also filed for bankruptcy. After consuming significant funds trying to increase production of its only product, the Ocean SUV, the company hopes to save its business by selling assets and restructuring debt.

Back in March of this year, the New York Stock Exchange announced that it planned to delist Fisker's stock due to "abnormally low" price levels. The reason given was simple: Fisker likely did not have enough cash to survive 2024.

In fact, when many traditional automotive giants are slowly waking up, such incidents are no longer worth mentioning in our eyes. However, at this time, when we bring up this overseas market again for mockery, we must mention Rivian and Jia Yueting's FF, both new forces in the United States.

Around June 25th, Rivian, which was originally in a survival crisis, was surprisingly chosen by Volkswagen. From this, we can almost determine that Rivian's future will be better than that of its competitors.

Specifically, Rivian and Volkswagen announced that they will jointly establish a software company, sharing electric vehicle architectures and software for both companies' future electric vehicles. The agreement stipulates that the two companies are expected to utilize complementary advantages through the joint venture and reduce vehicle manufacturing costs. Rivian's technology platform is expected to become the foundation for the joint venture's future SDV (software-defined vehicle) development and be applied to both companies' subsequent new vehicles.

In terms of funding, Volkswagen will invest up to $5 billion in Rivian. Among them, the initial investment of $1 billion will be immediately invested in Rivian after obtaining regulatory approval; by 2026, Volkswagen will continue to provide $4 billion to the joint venture between the two parties.

On the other hand, although it has temporarily survived, Jia Yueting's FF is indeed living a miserable life.

On June 28th, Faraday Future (FF) announced that the company had received approval from the NASDAQ Hearing Panel to continue trading on June 26th. However, the approval is conditional on the company submitting regular financial reports by July 31, 2024, and meeting the minimum bid requirement by August 31, 2024. In layman's terms, FF has merely been given a reprieve.

Even in the past few days, FF has already announced that the company's board of directors has approved a series of proposals, including implementing a reverse stock split of the company's common stock, increasing authorized shares to clear obstacles for strategic financing, etc. It has also committed to submitting its first-quarter 10-Q financial report by the end of July at the latest and plans to submit its second-quarter 10-Q financial report in a timely manner.

Meanwhile, on social media platforms, Jia Yueting has played the emotional card, claiming, "Since the establishment of FF, I have put all my heart into it. I am highly aligned with all shareholders in terms of emotions and interests. I am the one who most hopes that FF will become a great company." But I believe that the outside world has long seen through his tricks. The stagnant but undead FF continues to fabricate dark humor for us in a humorous way.

Honestly, how much do these various scandals happening to overseas new forces affect us in China? The answer is also obvious. After several rounds of industry shuffles, I dare say that most people have become immune. As a result, when there is an opportunity for a stagnant new force to revive, it is difficult to generate interest in exploring it further.

Shifting our gaze from the United States back to China, when there are news reports that Lifan Technology plans to acquire the stalled HiPhi Auto, and in response to the rumors, HiPhi Auto stated that "at this stage, we cannot make any evaluation or explanation on any transactions and negotiations that have not reached a written agreement," whether this is true or not, our first reaction is really one of helplessness.

Everyone has witnessed the global automotive market this year, especially the performance of the pure electric vehicle market, which has become more subdued after several years of continuous high growth. It has become increasingly difficult for these new forces to expand their business by leveraging this trend. Therefore, regardless of whether these Chinese and foreign new forces still have a chance to revive, if they cannot rely on a strong backer, "death" will only be a matter of time.

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