AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)04/23 Report--

Recently, there have been media reports of temporary layoffs at Baiteng Automotive's US R & D center, an 80 per cent pay cut for executives and delays in the payment of salaries for employees in China. In this regard, Baiteng Automobile responded that under the continuing impact of the epidemic, Baiteng can not be left alone, and the business operation is facing great challenges. At present, a number of phased measures have been taken to reduce short-term fixed costs and ease financial pressure.

Among them, employees in China suspend part of their salaries according to their ranks, some employees in American offices are suspended from pay, and some employees in German offices shorten their working hours. At the same time, Baiteng's core management will collectively cut salaries by 80% and contribute money to participate in the Baiteng C round of financing. Baiteng Motor said that focus existing resources on the core business directly related to mass production to ensure that mass production preparations are carried out in an orderly manner.

In response to the layoffs in the United States, Baiteng Automobile responded that "it is not layoffs, but suspension of pay," and the company plans to resume work and production by the end of May. Literally, there is a big difference between layoffs and layoffs, but it does not rule out the possibility that some employees and executives choose to leave in order to make ends meet without pay. Some netizens believe that suspending pay and staying on the job is also another way to lay off staff in order to get employees to offer to leave voluntarily.

With regard to the suspension of pay in China, Baiteng said, "this is a temporary measure. In the next few months, part of the salary will be paid first, and the rest will be improved before returning to employees." However, some media quoted Baiteng auto employees as saying that the company's promise to pay half of the salary in March has not yet been fulfilled, and has not yet informed when the salary will be paid.

With regard to the statement that the core management funded to participate in the C-round financing of Baiteng Automobile, Baiteng said that "the C-round financing has been under way, and senior management's participation in the financing will increase the confidence of all employees to get out of the impact of the epidemic together."

According to Tianyan check, Baiteng Motor, which was founded in 2017, has conducted four rounds of financing, with a total amount of more than 1.2 billion US dollars, with investors including FAW, Foxconn and Ningde Times. Biden CEO Dai Lei has said that after the completion of the C-round financing, Baiteng has met the demand for mass production and will immediately start D-round financing to support the research and development of the second and third models.

As a member of the new car-building force, its first production model, M-Byte, was unveiled in November last year. It is understood that the mass production version of Baiteng M-Byte provides two kinds of power systems, namely single-motor rear-drive version and front and rear double-motor rear-drive version, with a maximum power of 272 horsepower and 408 horsepower, and a comprehensive battery life position of 430km and 550km.

There is no doubt that Baiteng Motor, as a new force in car building, is not immune from the influence of the epidemic, and it is not clear whether the epidemic has affected the launch of the first mass production car, the M-Byte. The Baiteng production base is located in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. Its factory has resumed work in batches since February 11 this year, and the current resumption rate has reached 95%. M-Byte will go public later this year and plans to launch in the United States and Europe in the third quarter of 2021, and it is impossible to predict whether it will be delayed because of the epidemic.

Since 2018, China's car market has been in a state of recession, coupled with the impact of the epidemic at the beginning of the year, making the development of car companies more difficult. The impact of the epidemic on it is also huge. Baiteng's wage cuts and layoffs are only a microcosm of the auto market, with news of layoffs and wage cuts coming from all car companies throughout the Chinese market, even powerful traditional carmakers. Therefore, as a three-year-old company, Baiteng Motor is also expected to take a series of measures against the epidemic.

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