AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)05/17 Report--

It is reported that on May 16, local time in the United States, Gaohe's parent company, Chinese Express, formally signed a comprehensive strategic cooperation agreement with iAuto Group. Under the agreement, iAuto plans to invest more than $1 billion to support the restructuring of high-tech vehicles, and the deal will be completed before the release of financial results in the first half of 2024.

The scope of cooperation between the two sides includes manufacturing cooperation for fulfilling sales orders, equity mergers and acquisitions, technical cooperation, the integration of brands and marketing at home and abroad, and the integration of supply chain and manufacturing, the report said. To promote effective business restructuring, resolve overcapacity investment, and optimize the business environment. Chinese American Express has begun team reconstruction and production preparations. In response to this cooperation, Chinese American Express said: "the specific information of the cooperation between the two sides shall prevail on the content of the official announcement. We have been working hard to push forward the relevant work."

What is the origin of iAuto Group? According to the data, iAuto Group is registered with Delaware, has a lot of patented technology in the field of clean energy vehicle powertrain and motor system, and promotes the use of real clean energy to replace fossil fuels around the world.

Gaohe, a luxury intelligent pure electricity brand under Chinese Express, was founded on July 31, 2019 by Ding Lei. Compared with Wei Xiaoli, Haohe Automobile, which is also a new power brand, does not have much sense of existence, and even many people do not know this brand. On the one hand, the reason for the low sales of Gaohe is that its brand awareness is not high, on the other hand, the product price is high.

At present, Gaohe Automotive has three models on sale, including HIPHI X, HiPhi Z and HiPhi Y. Retail data show that Gaohe sold 4829 vehicles in 2023 and only 272 in January-February this year, after which Gaohe was shut down.

On February 18 this year, Gaohe announced a suspension of production for six months. Four days later, Gaohe founder Ding Lei showed up at the Shanghai headquarters to apologize to employees and owners, admitting that he could not beat the Internet car-building model with his old business strategy, and pointed out that Gaohe had a window of up to three months to turn around and would do everything he could to save the company.

On February 27, Ding Lei appeared in Chongqing to meet with Zhu Huarong, chairman of Changan Automobile, and test-drive the Changan Deep Blue S7. At that time, it was reported that Changan Automobile might buy 51% of Gaohe Automobile, but Zhu Huarong responded to the media: "We are talking, it is still far from being 'good'." In order to get out of the predicament, Gaohe also tried to save itself through "live broadcast with goods". Yang Yueqing, director of Gaohe Automotive Engineering Project, said on March 8 that all revenue from live streaming will be used for after-sales, so that car owners can be protected. "

On April 8, it was rumored that Gao he Automobile had reached an agreement with Avita Technology, a high-end brand of Changan Automobile, and the two sides were in contact. But Avita responded: "through internal understanding, we do not have such information at present." On April 29, the media reported that Gaohe Automobile had received a strategic investment from an investment institution in Hong Kong and would formally resume work and production at the end of April or early May. In addition, according to a person familiar with the matter, FAW started due diligence on Gaohe in early April, aiming to fully understand the financial situation, legal relationship and risk factors of Gaohe before the acquisition. In this regard, Gaohe Automobile responded, "We have been working hard, there is no information that can be made public for the time being, all the information should be announced by the company officials."

At present, the shortage of funds is a dilemma for Gaohe, but the industry believes that even if Gaohe gets an emergency fund within the shortage, it can only alleviate the urgent need. More importantly, under the pressure of more and more cruel competition, the progress of the knockout stage of the new energy vehicle market will only become faster and faster. in this context, more car companies are facing a life-and-death situation.

Now, about two months have passed since Ding Lei called the "three-month turnaround window". Time has become particularly precious for high-tech cars, and there will soon be an answer to whether high-tech cars can get back on their feet.

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