AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)08/10 Report--

Today, according to 36 Krypton's automotive new media platform Future Automotive Daily learned from a number of independent sources, following the layoffs at the beginning of 2021, Baoneng Motor began the second batch of layoffs on the 22nd of last month, which was larger than the first batch. Baoneng employees said that "the auto sector has cut about 8400 people from about 23000 a year ago, and is still laying off hundreds of people a week, with layoffs of more than 65 per cent," the report said. "

It is worth noting that a number of media have reported the financial problems of Baoneng Automobile earlier. At the beginning of this year, due to financial problems, Baoneng Automobile's manufacturing bases in Kunshan, Jiangsu Province and Kunming, Yunnan Province were suspended. So far, the above site is still in a state of suspension. In addition, according to the people's Daily online-leader's message board, many netizens have commented that Baoneng Automobile has arrears of wages, delayed wages, social security withholding, and so on. So far, Baoneng Automobile and Baoneng Group have not responded to such news.

According to data, Baoneng Group began to enter the automotive industry in March 2017 and bought a 51% stake in Guanzhi Automobile in early 2018, becoming the controlling shareholder of Qoros Automobile. According to Tianyanchu data, the largest shareholder of Guanzhi Automobile is Hangzhou Chengmao Investment Co., Ltd., which is part of Baoneng Group. After the acquisition of Qoros, Baoneng Group has high hopes for Qoros. Yao Zhenhua, chairman of Baoneng Group, announced at the Qoros Automobile Dealers Conference in 2018 that for five consecutive years starting from 2018, 10 billion yuan will be invested in new car research and development every year, and 26 new models are expected to be launched by 2022. However, Baoneng did not perform well after taking over Qoros, rising 320 per cent year-on-year to 63000 in 2018, falling rapidly to 21900 in 2019 and just 14600 in 2020. According to the Federation of passengers, there were only 4603 Qoros from January to May this year, which is not only a month's sales of a mainstream model.

Baoneng launched the high-end new energy brand "BAO" on June 24th after it was exposed that it was in arrears. On the eve of launching the BAO brand, Baoneng Group also reached a strategic cooperation agreement with Guangzhou Development Zone. Baoneng New Energy Automobile Group Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Baoneng Group, is headquartered in Guangzhou. State-owned enterprises in Guangzhou Development Zone will invest 12 billion yuan in Baoneng New Energy Strategy. As early as February this year, Toshiaki Otani, executive vice president of Baoneng Automobile Group, sent an internal email to all employees. Toshiaki Otani revealed in an email that five models of the Qoros brand under Baoneng Automobile will be released and listed in 2021, and the high-end car brand and the first electric car in preparation will be released and put on sale within this year. According to the plan, the BAO brand will launch at least 16 models within five years, including SUV, sedan, MPV, sports car and other models, gradually covering the high-end electric vehicle market segment. In 2021, BAO will launch two models, including an all-electric model and an add-on model. Among them, the first model (internal code GX16) is a pure electric SUV developed based on Baoneng's self-developed large-scale pure electric platform, which will provide rear-drive and all-wheel drive power forms, with expected mileage of 700km and 800km respectively, and the first pure electric product of Bao Kilai and Tesla.

According to the financial data disclosed by Baoneng Group, by the end of 2020, the company's total assets were as high as 565.303 billion yuan, and its net assets were only 59.18 billion yuan; by the end of 2019, the company's total assets were 455.25 billion yuan and net assets were 58.397 billion yuan. In the past year, Baoneng Group's net worth has only increased by less than 800 million yuan. For Baoneng, which makes cross-border cars, it will take time to see whether it will succeed in launching high-end brands to compete with other brands in the new energy market, but it is clear that car-building is not an industry that can make a quick profit. It needs enough money to maintain, and Baoneng, which has been exposed with a large number of layoffs, may not be easy on the high-end road.

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