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A few days ago, more than 40 Cheetah Motor Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Cheetah Automobile") authorized dealers to go to Cheetah headquarters in Yongzhou, Hunan Province, to negotiate with Cheetah Motors on financial issues, according to media reports. It is understood that the dealer to the headquarters to protect the rights mainly includes four aspects, namely, rebate, non-operating losses, (mainframe factory) unable to provide new cars, "three guarantees of reparations" four payments.

According to the "letter" jointly signed by the dealers, (1) from the suspension of production in May 2019 to May 2020, the dealers had no cars to sell, had operational difficulties, suffered heavy losses, and could not pay the rent and wages of their employees; (2) after the resumption of production in May 2020, Cheetah still unilaterally controls the rights to use rebates and cash in dealer accounts. (3) from April 2019 to the present, a serious shortage of after-sale accessories has led to the failure of customer vehicles to enjoy the warranty, resulting in lawsuits and closure of dealers; (5) from April 2019 to the present, dealers have been allowed to pay three guarantees of compensation to cheetah car owners in cash for as long as 13 months, but dealers can not get cash settlement, there is no cash income, employees' wages can not be paid, and after-sales maintenance is nearly paralyzed.

The above actions of Cheetah have led to serious losses, lawsuits and even bankruptcy of the dealers, so the dealers require Cheetah (1) to pay the above payment unconditionally and in full; (2) to recover the existing inventory accessories at the original price and to undertake the after-sales quality assurance services of Cheetah owners; (3) to pay the operating losses of the dealers since they stopped production.

According to one dealer, the manufacturers have not produced cars since April last year, and they have no cars to sell themselves, but the expenses incurred by the operation, such as rent, water and electricity, and employees' salaries, are huge. The reason for supporting until this year, is to see cheetah can regain strength, but from the current point of view is no longer necessary, there is really no way to lose money.

The dealer also said that this month, the manufacturer targeted the production of 200 cars that meet the national six emission standards, and the manufacturer asked the dealer to pick up the car, but it must be paid separately and the money in the dealer's account could not be used, which angered the dealer.

Changfeng Cheetah has a long history, and the company was founded in 1950. In October 1996, Changfeng (Group) Co., Ltd. was restructured and established. Handed over to Hunan Province in September 2001, the company introduced Japanese Mitsubishi Pajero light off-road vehicle manufacturing technology in 1995. After that, Changfeng established and built "Cheetah" brand, the main products are cheetah brand series SUV and pickup.

In 2005, the production scale of Cheetah reached 8-100000 vehicles, which was the largest SUV manufacturer in China at that time. In 2009, GAC GROUP reached an agreement with Changfeng Group to rename GAC Changfeng, but Cheetah delisted in 2012 without the introduction of new cars due to outdated technology and low sales. And GAC has a joint venture with Mitsubishi to get rid of Changfeng cheetah, Changfeng cheetah embarked on the road of independence.

At present, Cheetah has a total of six car products, namely, CS10, CS9, CS9 EV and Mattu Maitu, hard SUV Q6 and pickup Cheetah CT7. Due to country 5 switching to country 6, the company's operating problems, some products have been stopped production.

Due to the intensification of market competition, the sales of Cheetah cars, an established independent car company, continue to decline, and the brand is marginalized. Cheetah sales fell from 86402 in 2018 to 33200 in 2019, down 61.6 per cent from a year earlier, according to the data. Rapid changes in the market, coupled with epidemic factors, cheetah car can not keep up with the pace, the operation will be more and more difficult.

On April 27, Geely Holdings officially took over the production base of Cheetah Automobile in Changsha, Hunan Province. after Geely officially hosted the Changfeng Cheetah Automobile Factory, Geely will engage in the production and sales of new energy vehicles, introduce new energy vehicle products and technologies, and promote the integration of resources. According to dealers, Cheetah is currently the only company in Yongzhou to maintain basic business, while the office building and supporting facilities in Changsha, Hunan Province are looking for the possibility of sale.

With the economic downturn and the gradual slowdown of market increment, China's automobile market is entering a new stage of stock competition. Due to the impact of the epidemic, China's automobile market will face a phased severe test this year, the pace of the survival of the fittest of automobile brands will be accelerated, and weak brands will also face elimination. It is understood that the consultations began on May 18, and several rounds of consultations have been held, but no consensus has yet been reached.

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