AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)08/20 Report--

Shen Ziyu, chairman and CEO of the Shanghai Star Brand experience Center, said at the opening ceremony that "although we are facing the challenge of a slowdown in the pure electricity market and price pressure, we will continue to invest in new product development. There are plans for Star 7 and Star 8." Qin Peiji, COO of Polaris Technology, also pointed out that although Polaris may not be well known in China, its strong brands, including Polestar 4, are expected to quickly narrow the gap with market leaders with strong genes and capabilities. Shen Ziyu said frankly that Jixing needs time to develop, and recognized the current situation and timing in the Chinese market, and made it clear that brand development would take time.

Shen Ziyu revealed that the two products, Ji Xing 7 and Ji Xing 8, will be the first to be launched in the Chinese market, and the Chinese team will lead the product definition. At present, they have discussed and studied with Geely Holdings Group, and strive to launch the Chinese market as quickly as possible in the next two years. It is understood that Polestar 1, Polestar 2 and Polestar3 respectively adopt SPA, CMA and SPA2 architectures, all of which are dominated by Volvo, while Polestar 4 uses SEA vastness architecture, which is Geely holding Group's self-research and development platform.

As an independent electric high-performance car brand, Ji Xing has been on Standard Tesla from the very beginning and imitated Tesla's development route. At that time, Polestar 1, the first model launched by Ji Xing, was a two-door sports car with a price of 1.45 million yuan. It is widely believed in the industry that Ji Xing 1 is not for sales, but to create a high-end brand image.

In February 2019, Polar launched its first pure electric car, Polestar 2, which is based on the Volvo CMA architecture. The current single-motor standard endurance version costs 258000 yuan, the single-motor long-endurance version costs 282800 yuan, and the dual-motor long-range version costs 338000 yuan, directly matching the standard Tesla Model 3, which is considered to be the volume model of Polar Star. However, the Polestar 2 has not become a competitor to Tesla Model 3, but has become a popular model in the Chinese market. Data show that Polar sold 29000 vehicles worldwide in 2021, while relevant data show that only 2048 vehicles were sold in the domestic market that year, accounting for 7% of the total global sales. In 2022 and 2023, the star also did not report specific market sales, of which 54600 cars were delivered worldwide in 2023, only 91 per cent of the reduced target. Terminal sales show that Polar Star sold only 983 vehicles in China in 2023 and 1717 in 2022.

In addition, the star is also in the red. In 2021 and 2022, Polar lost 1.007 billion yuan and 466 million yuan respectively. In 2023, the gross profit margin of polar star sales changed from positive to negative, to-17.44%, and its net loss increased to 1.173 billion yuan. It is estimated that the loss of each car sold by Ji Xing in 2023 is 21500 US dollars, or about 150000 yuan. In addition, as of December 31, 2023, the cash and cash equivalents of Polar Motor have dropped to US $769 million. According to the performance of the market, the cash flow currently held is difficult to support the layout of the coming year, and there is an urgent need to speed up market financing.

Not long ago, the headquarters of Star China was transferred from Shanghai to Nanjing, and the personnel structure was also adjusted. It was rumored in the market that Star Technology had laid off 30% of its staff, but the rumor was eventually refuted by officials. In addition to moving its headquarters to Nanjing, it was revealed that the factory in Chengdu was closed and production was transferred to the factory in Chongqing and Geely, but the news has not been confirmed.

How should the pure electric luxury brand born in Volvo break the situation? after a series of disturbances such as layoffs, factory shutdowns and delisting crises, the every move of Star Motor has attracted great attention from the market, especially in China, the world's largest new energy market. According to FIFA data, Polestar Polar Star sold 1612 vehicles in the Chinese market in the first half of 2024, which greatly demonstrates the challenges faced by Polar Star cars in the Chinese market, including 824 Polestar 2 and 788 Polestar 4.

As China's new energy vehicle industry enters a periodic reshuffle stage, manufacturers not only need to roll up online marketing capabilities. Shen Ziyu pointed out in an interview with Interface News and other media at the Beijing Auto Show that Star Automobile needs to take brand courses, sales courses, and intelligence courses, and will account for more than 30% or even 40% of sales in the Chinese market in the future. Chin Peiji said that the new power electric cars need to be successful at both ends of the product and brand, and the star is working towards this goal. Polar's goal is to achieve a balance among products, brands and prices within 2-3 years, so as to secure its position in a highly competitive market.

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