AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)01/29 Report--

According to Sky Eye Inspection, Lantu Automobile Technology Co., Ltd.(hereinafter referred to as "Lantu Automobile") has undergone industrial and commercial changes, with new shareholders such as BOC Financial Assets Investment Co., Ltd., ICBC Financial Assets Investment Co., Ltd., Jiangxi Ganfeng Lithium Industry Group Co., Ltd., etc. Meanwhile, the registered capital has increased from RMB 2.61 billion to about RMB 3.085 billion. According to the equity structure, Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd. currently holds 78.89% of the shares of Lantu Automobile.

In October 2022, Shanghai United Property Rights Exchange disclosed the information of capital increase project of Lantu Automobile Technology Co., Ltd. According to the content, before capital increase, 89.66% equity of Lantu Automobile was held by Dongfeng Group, and the remaining 10.34 equity was held by employees. After the capital increase is completed, it is expected that Dongfeng Group will hold no less than 77% equity, strategic investors will hold no more than 15% equity, and employee stock ownership platform will hold no less than 8%.

According to the data, Lantu Automobile was founded on June 26,2021 and is a high-end new energy brand owned by Dongfeng Motor. According to the official website, Lantu Automobile has two models on sale, namely SUV FREE, MPV Dreamer and Car Chasing Light, among which Chasing Light is the third mass production model of Lantu Automobile, which debuted on December 15,2022 and opened for reservation. The pre-sale price range is 32.29- 432,900 yuan.

In fact, as a high-end new energy brand owned by Dongfeng Motor, its market performance is very ordinary. According to the production and sales express issued by Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd., the accumulated sales volume of Lantu in 2022 was 19409 vehicles, with a year-on-year growth of 185.80%, including 1729 vehicles sold in December, down 48.08% year-on-year. It is understood that the sales target of Lantu Automobile in 2022 is 46,000 units, and the target completion rate is only 42.2%; if the sales target of 31,000 units is adjusted in the middle of the year, 62.6% of the annual target will be achieved.

In the first half of 2022, the monthly sales volume of Lantu cars has been hovering around 1,000 units. In order to boost sales, Lantu Automobile held a cadre meeting and announced the largest high-level personnel adjustment since its establishment. Among them, Lu Fang, CEO of Lantu, no longer serves as Chief Technology Officer (CTO), which is held by Wang Junjun, Deputy Director of Technology Center of Dongfeng Motor Group Co., Ltd. In addition, Qin Jie served as temporary party committee member and party secretary of Lantu Automobile; Liu Mingjiao served as temporary party committee member, discipline inspection committee member and secretary of discipline inspection committee of Lantu Automobile; Gong Xuesong and Shao Mingfeng served as assistant general manager of Lantu Automobile.

It is not difficult to see that Lantu's sluggish sales have caused Dongfeng executives to worry. Zhu Yanfeng, Chairman and Secretary of the Party Committee of Dongfeng Company, and You Zheng, Member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee and Deputy General Manager of Dongfeng Company and Chairman of Lantu Automobile, have made statements that they should make every effort to achieve the annual business objectives and achieve rapid sales growth.

It is true that after a personnel adjustment in July, the sales volume of Lantu Automobile has indeed improved to some extent. From July to October 2022, the monthly sales volume is 1793,2429,2519 and 2553 respectively. Unfortunately, there was a lack of aftereffect at the beginning of November, and monthly sales fell again to 1508 vehicles, compared with 1729 vehicles in December as the year-end impulse.

It should be noted that there is "moisture" in sales from July to October. On July 16, Lantu Dreamers officially started delivery. On the day of delivery, 97 central enterprises, state-owned enterprises and large customers purchased and signed 6000 Lantu Dreamers, while the sales volume in the following months showed month-on-month growth, perhaps also due to the delivery of B-end orders.

In fact, Lantu's product camp has been relatively complete, with SUV Lantu FREE, MPV Lantu Dreamer, car Lantu chase light, but this is also the most helpless place of Lantu car, it is precisely because sales volume can not be boosted in a short time, Lantu car was forced to launch a variety of models. As a contrast, the ideal car had only one ideal ONE model before, when relying on the ideal ONE to hit the world, a dozen is three years, until 2022 only launched L8, L9. For the ideal car, at present it does not need to worry about sales, only to have more time to slowly layout, slowly research and development.

Return to Lantu, poor sales directly affect Lantu's profitability. According to the operating data disclosed by Dongfeng Group, the operating income of Lantu Automobile in the first half of 2022 was 883 million yuan, with a net loss of 738 million yuan. If calculated according to the sales volume and net loss in the first half of 2022, the average net loss of each vehicle is 130,000 yuan, which shows that Lantu urgently needs to amortize the huge input cost in the early stage by increasing sales volume, but this does not seem easy.

As we all know, Dongfeng Group is a super-large automobile manufacturing enterprise in China, and it is also one of the automobile enterprises with the most complete industrial chain and the richest product camp in China's automobile industry. In 2021, Dongfeng Group also ranked 85th among Fortune Global 500 and 9th among China's Top 500 Manufacturing Industry. Its leading industry position and strong operating strength can provide good support for its operation and development. However, although backed by the east wind, but as the east wind impact high-end new energy market leader, Lantu car performance is difficult to say optimistic. For the more competitive 2023, how to achieve the break?

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