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On August 22, Zhongtai Automobile Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Zhongtai Automobile") issued an announcement on the resignation of the vice president. According to the announcement, the board of directors of Zhongtai Automobile recently received a written resignation report submitted by Mr. Wang Lei, vice president of the company. Mr. Wang Lei applied to resign as vice president of the company for personal reasons, and his resignation report will take effect from the date it is delivered to the board of directors of the company. Mr. Wang Lei will no longer hold any position in the company after his resignation.

On May 17 this year, Zhongtai Motors announced a senior management change announcement, including the appointment of Mr. Yin Xuefeng as vice president of the company, Mr. Wang Lei as vice president of the company, and Mr. Xiang Chao as vice president of the company. Ms. Zhu Gu was appointed as the chief financial officer (Chief Financial Officer) of the company. In other words, Wang Lei has been vice president of Zhongtai Automobile for only about three months.

According to public data, Wang Lei was born in June 1979 with a bachelor's degree and majored in transportation from the School of Automotive Management of the Chinese people's Liberation Army. Looking back on his work experience, he has worked in marketing positions for many years, including sales Manager of Shenzhen Yuanzheng Technology Co., Ltd.; Regional General Manager of Chery Automobile sales Co., Ltd.; Executive Deputy General Manager of Chery Jietu Automobile sales Co., Ltd.; General Manager of Chery New Energy sales Company; General Manager of Chery Aika Ecology Co., Ltd.; Chery iCAR brand COO The executive director of Qian Lianghui, a Chinese automobile marketing manager, is a veteran of Chery Automobile.

During the year, a number of senior executives of Zhongtai Motor have left. In February this year, Ms. Yu Lili applied to resign as CFO of the company for personal reasons; in March, Mr. Lian Gang applied to resign as president of the company for personal reasons; in April, Ms. Faye Wong resigned as representative of securities affairs for personal reasons; in May, Mr. Lian Gang applied to resign as a director of the eighth session of the board of directors for personal reasons, and at the same time resigned as a member of the strategy committee and nomination committee of the board of directors.

In addition to the frequent exodus of senior executives, the operating performance of Zhongtai Automobile is hardly ideal. According to the Zhongtai Automobile Annual report, Zhongtai Motor's revenue in 2022 was 783 million yuan, down 5.09% from the same period last year; the net loss was 909 million yuan, down 28.82% from the same period last year; revenue in 2023 was 734 million yuan, down 6.28% from the same period last year; and the net loss was 927 million yuan, with the loss expanding over the same period last year. It is understood that Zhongtai Automobile has lost money for five consecutive years since 2019, with a cumulative loss of more than 24.5 billion yuan.

Reviewing the development process of Zhongtai Automobile, it is not too late for its layout in China. Zhongtai Automobile was founded in 1998, formerly known as Huangshan Golden Horse Co., Ltd., according to the official website, Zhongtai Automobile has a complete vehicle production base in Zhejiang, Hunan, Hubei, Shandong, Chongqing and other places, and its products cover sedan, SUV, MPV and new energy vehicle market segments. Early on, it was highly recognized by the market by imitating the appearance and low price of well-known brand models, but unfortunately, it fell immediately after a short highlight.

Let's start with a highlight moment. At the beginning of 2006, Zhongtai Motor obtained the qualification of car manufacturing through Chengdu Xindi Automobile Company, and officially started vehicle manufacturing. In the same year, Zhongtai's first model, the Dazhongtai 2008, appeared on the market, which was no different from that of Toyota, and was quickly sought after by virtue of its practicality and price advantages. The following year, Zhongtai acquired 70% of Jiangnan Automobile, which is facing restructuring, not only solved the car-building qualification, but also reaped the Jiangnan Alto brand. In 2013, Zhongtai launched its first medium-sized SUV T600, which looks very similar to Audi Q5. In 2016, Zhongtai launched the SR9, which is highly similar to Porsche Macan. Although the appearance is controversial, it is also recognized by the market because of its low price. Data show that Zhongtai sold more than 300000 vehicles a year in 2016 and 2017, reaching 330000 and 317000 respectively.

By 2018, however, Zhongtai's sales had fallen to 154800, with a direct drop of 21000 in 2019. By 2020, Zhongtai Motor was in deep financial crisis. In December of that year, Tieniu Group, the parent company of Zhongtai Automobile, was ruled by the court to go bankrupt because it was seriously insolvent and unable to continue to operate. Affected by this incident, Zhongtai vehicle production was almost at a standstill in 2020 and 2021.

After a year of legal and financial rectification, Jiangsu Shenshang finally took over Zhongtai Automobile with a restructuring investment of 2 billion yuan in October 2021. By January 2022, Zhongtai Motors completed bankruptcy restructuring, but the main business has not yet been substantially improved and continues to suffer losses.

On July 10 this year, Zhongtai Motor released a forecast of half-yearly results for 2024. According to the financial report, Zhongtai Motor's expected operating income in the first half of this year is 220 million yuan to 270 million yuan, compared with 371 million yuan in the same period; the estimated net loss is 290 million yuan to 390 million yuan, and the net loss in the same period is 284 million yuan; the net loss after deducting non-recurrent profit and loss is 250 million yuan to 350 million yuan, with a loss of 340 million yuan in the same period. In view of the reasons for the performance loss, Zhongtai Motors said that compared with the same period, the company's vehicle sales revenue decreased significantly in the first half of this year, while the sales revenue of other subsidiaries decreased, so the overall income decreased; in the first half of the year, the company's vehicle business is still recovering, the volume of sales is very small, while the operating performance of other subsidiaries has declined, so the overall performance is still at a loss.

Up to now, the main business of Zhongtai Automobile has not improved yet. The industry believes that Zhongtai Automobile was able to reach the peak by imitation, but it also led to the outbreak of product problems and a decline in word-of-mouth, coupled with the upward expansion of independent brands such as Geely, BYD, Changan and other independent brands in the same period, which eventually led to a sharp decline in Zhongtai sales. It is not known how Zhongtai Automobile will develop in the future.

At the beginning of this month, Zhongtai Motor issued an announcement on abnormal fluctuations in stock trading. Zhongtai Motor closed on August 1 and 2 for two consecutive trading days with a cumulative deviation of more than 20%, which belongs to the situation of abnormal fluctuations in stock trading according to the regulations of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

As of August 23, Beijing time, Zhongtai Motor shares closed at 1.57 yuan, up 9.79%, with a total market capitalization of 7.917 billion yuan. By comparison, Zhongtai's share price peaked at 18.16 yuan in 2016.

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