AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)07/23 Report--

Recently, according to media reports, Zeng Lintang, former deputy general manager of Toyota Motor (China) Investment Co., Ltd., joined Zero Run Automobile in May this year as assistant to Chairman Zhu Jiangming. Its main responsibility is to provide suggestions and opinions on strategic layout, brand marketing operation and product development for Zero Run. At the same time, it helps to explore overseas markets, improve the daily operation efficiency, service level and brand awareness of the company.

Relevant information shows: Zeng Lintang was born in China Hong Kong, has rich experience in the automobile industry, and previously worked in many automobile enterprises. Joined Bennett-Dunlop Ford Sales Company in Canada in 1980 and worked for 14 years as General Manager. In 1994, he joined Crown Motors Co., Ltd. as General Manager of Sales Department. In 2003, he joined Toyota Motor (China) Co., Ltd. as a director of Lexus Division. In 2005, Zeng Lintang became Deputy General Manager of Toyota Motor (China) Investment Co., Ltd., responsible for the marketing department and import business department, and established the dealer training, service, and dealer entry threshold standards and procedures. During his tenure, Lexus sales in China jumped from 5000 vehicles a year between 2005 and 2011 to 50,000 in 2010. In 2011, he resigned. Since then, there has been less news about Zeng Lintang.

In fact, zero-run cars, like most new car-building forces, have been losing money. Relevant data show that from 2019 to 2021, the operating losses of zero-running vehicles were 730 million yuan, 869 million yuan and 2.868 billion yuan respectively, and the annual losses attributable to equity holders were about 901 million yuan, 1.100 billion yuan and 2.846 billion yuan respectively, with a total loss of 4.374 billion yuan in three years. Zero-running has said that the company is expected to continue to generate net losses in 2022 due to R & D investment in new models and smart electric vehicle technology, as well as expansion of production facilities and sales networks.

According to the latest financial report released by zero-running cars, the revenue of zero-running cars in 2022 was 12.385 billion yuan, an increase of 295.4% compared with the revenue in 2021. Although revenue has increased, losses are also increasing. In 2022, the net loss of zero-running vehicles reached RMB 5.109 billion yuan, an increase of 79.52% compared with the net loss of RMB 2.846 billion yuan in the same period of 2021. In terms of gross profit margin, from 2019 to 2022, the zero-run gross profit margin is-95.73%,-50.63%,-44.3% and-15.4% respectively.

For the gross profit margin problem, zero run car aspect once said: If do not consider dealer rebate, zero run the gross profit margin in the second half of last year has turned positive. It is expected that the gross profit of zero-running cars will turn positive in 2023, but since the overall automobile market is undergoing drastic changes, the specific time node of gross profit turning positive cannot be determined at present.

It is understood that the sales mode of zero-run cars is different from Tesla, NIO and ideal direct-sale mode. It adopts the sales mode dominated by dealers and supplemented by direct-sale stores. By the end of 2022, there were 582 stores nationwide, with dealer channels accounting for 86%, contributing 90% of the total sales volume of zero-running cars. Entering 2023, or affected by Tesla's big price cut at the beginning of the year, the cumulative sales volume of zero-run cars in the first quarter was halved, down 51.3% year-on-year. Zero-running cars have said that due to the impact of epidemic infection and the advance of the Spring Festival in the Year of the Rabbit, the sales rhythm of dealers in January was disturbed, popularity and transaction performance were relatively weaker than normal seasonal level, and then short-term fluctuations occurred, and the follow-up will gradually return to normal rhythm.

According to the official plan, the annual target sales volume of zero-running cars in 2023 is 200,000, nearly double the annual sales target for 2022. In this regard, the layout of dealers can not be ignored. Zero-running car related responsible person has revealed, At present zero-running part of the fourth and fifth-tier cities have achieved channel coverage, This year will focus on large-capacity blank market increase coverage, Capacity smaller cities are considered by the system investors to build fortress stores. There are only 49 outlets returning to zero-running cars in 2019, and now it is a three-digit network layout. It is not difficult to see that behind the dealer expansion is the urgent hope of zero-run cars to increase sales.

Zeng Lintang "re-emerged" to join zero-run cars, zero-run cars value or its own rich dealer layout experience. At present, the competition of new energy vehicles is becoming more and more fierce, gradually entering the period of comprehensive reshuffle. For zero-running vehicles, how to deal with the relationship between direct sales and traditional distribution, and how to improve sales volume is the key to win the second half. Zhu Jiangming, founder of Zero Run, once said: "If the sales volume of Zero Run does not go up in 2023, there will be no hope behind it."

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