AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)02/27 Report--

Weibo blogger @ Li Ruhua asked Weima Automobile for a salary online on Feb. 25. According to the blogger, after getting off work on Friday, he received a phone call from the head of the department that night and was told to stay without pay. Earlier, he was persuaded by cross-level leaders to "quit voluntarily", giving the reason that "it is easier for you to find a job than others." After receiving oral notice, the company's WeCom, enterprise mailbox, enterprise WE+ system interface is completely paralyzed (the specific reason is unknown).

The blogger said, "I have worked for Weimar for nearly 400 days, and I like and respect the company very much before last week. My colleagues and leaders are all very nice people. Even after leaving office in the future, I still hope that Weimar can develop better and better." But at the same time, as a working worker, as a working worker with a mortgage, rent and a child to support, I need to survive. This is a very realistic problem, but in the case of wage arrears and social security arrears, forgive me. I really can't afford it. "I have no intention of spreading rumors and causing trouble, but I am really disgusted by the above facts, and of course there are more disgusting things," the blogger said.

In the Weibo, a communication with Weima's official seal was exposed, which was signed on Feb. 24, which is the payday of Weima employees, but most of the employees did not receive their wages and went directly into unpaid leave. Weibo blogger @ Li Ruhua is one of the employees who were told to stay without pay.

In the letter, Weimar admitted that the company has indeed encountered difficulties and will further sort out and optimize the organizational structure, reduce costs and increase efficiency in order to seek survival and development. Ditch Communications also mentioned that Weima departments determine the list of personnel who return to work and return to production first and the actual business arrangements, and the company ensures the salary and treatment of those who return to work and return to production as far as possible, and the rest of them are arranged unpaid leave, and gradually resume work and production according to business needs. In addition, in view of the problems with the current social security contributors of Weima Automobile and the discontinuation of employees' social security contributions, Weima decided to adopt an alternative plan to re-pay employees' pension, medical care (including serious illness and childbirth), industrial injury and unemployment insurance.

Yang Xueliang, senior vice president of Zhejiang Geely Holdings Group, forwarded @ Li Ruhua's Weibo on Feb. 27, saying, "I'm still short of people here. I can think about it." @ Li Ruhua replied, "humble PR is like a flower, online to thank the boss for his favor until death."

Shen Hui, a former director and vice president of Zhejiang Geely Holdings Group, has about the same position as Yang Xueliang. In October 2015, Shen Hui, who left Geely Holdings, founded Weima, obtained the production qualification through the acquisition of Huanghai Automobile and Zhongshun Automobile, and launched the first volume production car-Weima EX5 in 2018, becoming the first new power company in China to break the car-building PPT. At that time, Shen Hui, a veteran with rich experience in the auto industry, made the first mass production car go public through huge acquisitions, and Weimar won crazy bets on capital, including star companies such as Baidu, Sequoia, Tencent and SIG, and even attracted capital injections from local governments. Up to now, Weima has raised a total of 35 billion yuan, which is far more than Wei Xiaoli.

Weimar has a strong ability to raise money, but the money is not bad, and the biggest investment is spent on building its own factory. According to public data, the total investment of the first phase of the Weima Wenzhou plant is 6.7 billion yuan, and the total investment of the Huanggang plant is more than 20 billion yuan. Coupled with the acquisition of Huanghai Automobile and Zhongshun Motor, the amount can be imagined.

A large amount of money is occupied by fixed assets, so Weimar does not have enough money to continue to invest in research and development. In 2019, Weima's R & D expenditure was 890 million yuan, and from 2020 to 2021 it was 990 million yuan and 980 million yuan respectively. In contrast, Wei Xiaoli does not hesitate to invest a lot of money in research and development, speed up product research and development and upgrade the core technology, while the lack of research and development, the lack of product power and the sluggish iteration of technology have laid hidden dangers for the current development.

Today's Weima has reached a situation where life is as good as death. At its peak, Weimar had 621 stores across the country, and its dealerships across the country began to close as sales slumped, factories shut down, layoffs, pay cuts and even rents at headquarters buildings could not be paid.

At present, what Weimar needs most is still money. According to the prospectus, by the end of March 2022, Weima had 6.67 billion yuan in long-term loans and 2.28 billion yuan in short-term loans, totaling 9 billion yuan in foreign debt. In April, Weimar borrowed two more loans from the bank, totaling 1 billion yuan, which needs to be repaid within two years. But Weimar obviously does not have so much money. By the end of 2021, Weimar had cash reserves and cash equivalents of 4.16 billion yuan.

Weimar hopes to be listed in a backdoor listing and has access to financing in the secondary market through Apollo. Apollo has announced that it intends to issue additional shares to no less than six clients, raising a net capital of about HK $3.526 billion. Optimistically, Weimar is highly likely to complete its listing in the second quarter of this year, but whether it will be able to raise funds smoothly is still unknown, and even if the HK $3.526 billion financing is successfully completed, it will not be enough to offset Weimar's debt.

For Shen Hui, the current Weima is not only a financial issue, but also a collection of complex issues such as product power, channel capability, organizational structure and so on. If the financing of Li Bin in 2019 can save Wei from fire and water, then Shen Hui needs to launch a complete change within the company, including products and services, as well as organization and management.

Welcome to subscribe to the WeChat public account "Automotive Industry Focus" to get the first-hand insider information on the automotive industry and talk about things in the automotive circle. Welcome to break the news! WeChat ID autoWechat