Caption: Jia Yueting

Produced by Radar Finance | Written by Xiao Sa | Edited by Shen Hai

After years of manufacturing cars in the United States, Jia Yueting has not returned to China, but his legend persists everywhere.

Recently, Xia Yiping, the CEO of Jidu and Jiyue, expressed his views on Jia Yueting and his product innovation in a video posted on Weibo. Xia Yiping believes that Jia Yueting's current definition of products is very outdated and he keeps creating new terms that are baffling. Besides these terms, there is no significant innovation, calling him a "word-making master".

Subsequently, topics such as "Jiyue CEO criticizes Jia Yueting for outdated products" and "Jiyue CEO calls Jia Yueting a word-making master" sparked heated discussions. Opinions among netizens vary, with some saying "that's the truth," while others believe "such an evaluation is inappropriate," and still others commenting "you understand traffic well."

Previously, Zhou Hongyi also publicly criticized Jia Yueting, saying, "He hasn't made many cars for so long. I think he made a mistake." Zhou Hongyi believes that Jia Yueting did not fully understand China's advantages and went to the United States, where the supply chain is expensive and scarce.

In the industry's view, under the intense competition in the new energy market, mutual attacks between auto industry tycoons have become a common promotional tactic, even though it sometimes causes controversy and negative emotions.

It is worth noting that while FF's car manufacturing progress is slow, Jia Yueting has not been idle. Judging from his Weibo content, he recently delivered an FF new car; delivered a speech at the "16th China Automotive Blue Paper Forum," stating that FF is willing to serve as a bridge between Chinese and American automobiles; and received the CEO of Master Investment Group, a Middle Eastern partner, and others at the Los Angeles headquarters.

However, perhaps more importantly, FF recently obtained official approval from Nasdaq to continue its listing, allowing Jia Yueting's dream of car manufacturing to continue.

Auto Industry Tycoons Criticize Jia Yueting

Jia Yueting is back in the spotlight, this time being criticized by others.

On June 26, Xia Yiping posted a video on social media, saying, "Mr. Jia Yueting's definition of products is already very outdated. Although he keeps creating words and making many baffling product terms, there is no significant innovation besides these terms."

Xia Yiping stated that in the past, Jia Yueting defined a good product in the United States, but his current definition of products is already outdated. "In the next 3-5 years, without intelligence and autonomous driving as core functions, your products will be eliminated by the times in future competition."

In the accompanying text, Xia Yiping also asked whether Jia Yueting is a "word-making master" or a "car-making master." It doesn't matter. The FF91 without autonomous driving will be thrown into the trash can of the times.

However, among the few comments under the video, most netizens supported Jia Yueting, saying that Xia Yiping should "have some respect for industry veterans. Mr. Jia proposed the concept of smart electric vehicles ten years ago."

Although Jia Yueting is in the United States, his interactions with the domestic new energy automotive circle have not been few this year.

As early as the end of February, news of HiPhi's suspension of production sparked heated discussions, and Jia Yueting criticized HiPhi as an industry disgrace. Some media reported that there were rumors that HiPhi founder Ding Lei took a group of core team members and relevant materials with him when he left LeTV Auto, which deeply hurt Jia Yueting's heart, leading him to make such a rare comment.

On March 5, Faraday Future announced that FF and its Chinese subsidiary had filed a lawsuit against FF's former executive and Human Horizons founder Ding Lei with the Intermediate People's Court of Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, citing infringement of trade secrets and unfair competition.

Subsequently, Human Horizons, the parent company of HiPhi, issued an official statement stating that there was no plagiarism, infringement of FF's trade secrets or intellectual property rights, nor any unfair competition.

On April 1, Jia Yueting posted that Xiaomi's first car launch was very successful, demonstrating the increasing maturity of China's new energy automotive industry chain in recent years and the significant advantages of Chinese manufacturing.

He first affirmed the success of Xiaomi's first car launch and praised Xiaomi's execution and marketing capabilities in car manufacturing. However, he expressed concern that many people regard copycat culture, shortcut methods, and follower thinking as gospel.

Jia Yueting said that values determine the ceiling, and benchmarking, plagiarism, and shallow-level innovation cannot bring about fundamental technological changes and fundamental technological advancements.

However, Xiaomi did not seem to respond to this statement, but it caught the attention of "Red Coat Priest" Zhou Hongyi.

On the evening of April 22, Nezha Auto held a spring press conference. During his speech as an investor, Zhou Hongyi mentioned that China's supply chain is complete and comprehensive. One of the reasons why Jia Yueting's FF91 failed to succeed was that he chose to build cars in the United States instead of China.

Regarding the lawsuit against HiPhi, Zhou Hongyi joked that Jia Yueting has been in the United States for so long but hasn't made many cars, while HiPhi has actually made them, and he turned around and sued them.

On April 24, Jia Yueting responded by saying that Zhou Hongyi should not "encourage thieves" and that "what should be conveyed and advocated to young strivers should not be plagiarism and copycats."

However, Zhou Hongyi seemed unconcerned about this point, and he responded with a video, asking, "When will you return to China, Mr. Jia?"

To Serve as a Bridge between Chinese and American Automobiles

After the above interactions with Zhou Hongyi, Jia Yueting released a video to directly respond to questions about his debts and when he would return to China.

He said that he is willing to do anything that can earn money to repay debts, earn money to make cars, make cars to repay debts, and return to the motherland as soon as possible. The day he successfully makes cars and repays debts will be the day he returns to China.

Jia Yueting revealed that he has accumulated repayments of over 10 billion US dollars for LeTV and the company over the years. He also refuted rumors of setting up a five-hundred-million-dollar trust fund for his daughter, saying that he has not given his family any financial assistance other than salary.

After responding to these controversial debt issues, on May 7, Jia Yueting released a video stating, "I made several decisions to save FF."

In addition to considering serving as the company's co-CEO with FF Global CEO Matthias, Jia Yueting also announced, "I will start commercializing my personal IP to earn money as soon as possible. Part of it will be used to repay debts, and part will be used to save the company and subsidize car manufacturing, striving to support FF's basic operations and give investors and shareholders confidence."

However, subsequently, FF announced on its official website in the United States that the relevant video was released by Jia Yueting in his personal capacity, and the remarks in the video had not been approved by the company. The company's board of directors is currently not considering appointing Jia Yueting as co-CEO.

And while many outside observers believed that Jia Yueting would become an internet celebrity and live-stream sales, there has been no further progress announced regarding his "personal IP commercialization."

However, this does not mean that Jia Yueting is idle. On June 14, the "16th China Automotive Blue Paper Forum" opened in Beijing, and Jia Yueting delivered a video speech. He pointed out a way out for the industry's "internal competition" through "external expansion," namely expanding externally, occupying blue oceans, and creating win-win situations together.

According to his introduction, the penetration rate of pure electric vehicles in China reached 36% in 2023, while this figure is only 8% in the United States. The penetration rate of electric vehicles in the 20,000-30,000 USD and 30,000-40,000 USD market segments is even lower, representing a vast blue ocean.

To this end, FF is willing to maximize its value as a "bridge between the Chinese and American automotive industries" and reach a consensus with potential partners to quickly launch products with "ultimate cost-performance," enabling explosive growth in the US AI EV market.

Jia Yueting also elaborated on the details of the plan, stating that FF's "Chinese and American automotive industry bridge strategy" aims to provide complete solutions with full value chain empowerment for Chinese enterprises aspiring to conquer the US market.

In the first phase of the strategy, it plans to conduct large-scale procurement of "quasi-complete" parts and components for OEMs. The first batch will mainly focus on products in the 20,000-30,000 USD and 30,000-40,000 USD price ranges.

According to his latest disclosure, some Chinese OEMs are currently negotiating with FF. "If FF can seize the current blue ocean market opportunity in US AI EVs and launch products with 'ultimate cost-performance,' just like LeTV Super TV completely disrupted the Chinese TV industry with 'double the performance at half the price,' FF may once again revolutionize the automotive industry."

FF Regains Listing Qualification

However, from a practical perspective, FF is very short on funds.

FF's 2023 financial report released at the end of May shows that last year, FF generated revenue of 800,000 USD with sales costs reaching 43 million USD. In addition, in terms of net profit, FF's net loss last year was 432 million USD, a decrease of 170 million USD year-on-year.

Although the net loss narrowed, FF's cash flow remains tight. The financial report shows that as of May 23 this year, FF's cash balance was only 5 million USD, including 2 million USD of restricted funds. In contrast, as of December 31, 2022, the cash balance was 17 million USD.

In addition, as of December 31, 2023, Faraday Future's total assets were 531 million USD, with total liabilities of 302 million USD.

The financial report shows that of the 10 new FF cars delivered last year, 4 were sold, and 6 were leased. According to official data, another 1 FF was delivered in February this year. These 11 FF 91 2.0 cars were all recalled after FF filed a recall plan with the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in mid-March this year.

The shortage of funds has also directly affected FF's delivery process. On June 13, FF announced the completion of new car deliveries to a senior individual investor. Jia Yueting admitted, "Due to a shortage of funds to purchase parts and components, we have not delivered new cars for four months."

The company's CEO Matthias also revealed that before completing strategic investor financing, FF will strive to deliver 1 new car per month as long as it can raise the necessary funds for parts and components.

The strategic investors FF is counting on are probably referring to strategic investors from the Middle East. On June 25, Jia Yueting tweeted that he was honored to receive the CEO of Master Investment Group, a Middle Eastern partner, and others at the Los Angeles headquarters, reaching a plan to strengthen future cooperation.

It is still unclear whether Jia Yueting can introduce Middle Eastern capital. The good news is that the crisis that has been plaguing FF's delisting is expected to be smoothly resolved in the near future.

On June 28, Faraday Future announced that the company received a notice from Nasdaq stating that the hearing committee approved the company's request to continue listing on Nasdaq, provided that the company submits regular financial reports by July 31, 2024, and meets the minimum bid price requirement by August 31, 2024.

To this end, the company's board of directors has proposed a reverse stock split recommendation, which will be submitted to shareholders for approval at the upcoming annual shareholders' meeting.

The company's reverse stock split ratio range is between 2-for-1 and 90-for-1 of issued common stock. If this stock consolidation proceeds normally, it will be FF's second consolidation in history.

Last August, FF Auto once raised its share price to over 10 USD through an 80-for-1 stock consolidation, but as of July 1 this year, its share price has fallen to 0.46 USD, with a total market capitalization of 200 million USD.