WM Motor is about to be acquired, may the result be "Laotou Le"?

There has been no news about WM Motor for a long time, but it has been receiving big news these days. First, last Friday night, a family calledApollo travelThe company announced that it had terminated its acquisition of WM due to market turmoil. Soon, Weimar also confirmed it.

This Apollo Travel has nothing to do with the smart driving developed by Baidu. It is a listed company on the Hong Kong stock market.

In January this year, WM Motor and Apollo Travel reached a merger agreement. Originally, WM Motor was planning to go public on the Hong Kong stock market through a reverse takeover (RTO).

This time,Weimar's plan to list on the Hong Kong stock market to raise funds and extend its life has been completely ruined.

Just two days after this incident, another family calledhappy carThe company stepped forward and announced that it had signed a letter of intent for merger and acquisition with WM Motor, intending to fully acquire WM Motor.

Before this, everyone may have never heard of Kaixin Auto. But many people may have an impression of its predecessor, Renren Automobile, which was a company that made used cars.

At the beginning, Kaixin Auto started with the auto finance business and entered the second-hand car business, and then gradually became a relatively large company.used car dealer, and listed on Nasdaq in 2019.

This company, which is mainly engaged in the second-hand car business, has also been eyeing new energy vehicles for a long time. In 2021, they established a new energy vehicle division and started manufacturing and selling new energy vehicles.

Of course, achieving this transformation depends on buying and selling.

They bought a company that madeMicro electric vehiclecompany, and then started the electric "Old Man Music" business.

In the domestic market, it is difficult for cars from such small manufacturers to compete with products from Wuling and Geely. Therefore, what Kaixin Automobile has been aiming at isoverseas market.

According to Kaixin Auto, the market demand for electric vehicles in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Europe is very active. They have received purchase requests for at least 50,000 units, and their factories are now running at full capacity.

Therefore, automobile export is Kaixin Auto’s key business.

It seems that if they want to take down Weimar, they will most likely use it for export. As for whether it will also be used to make a "Laotou Le"-style mini tram, I haven't said that.

But Brother Neck thinks,If this deal can go through, it will be a good ending for Weimar.

As one of the Four Little Dragons who were as famous as Wei Xiaoli in car building back then, WM Motor was born with a golden key in its mouth.

WM Motor's boss Shen Hui is one of the top bosses in the automotive industry. In 2007, he was the vice president of Fiat Group. He then joined Geely and led the team to complete the largest overseas merger and acquisition in the history of the Chinese automobile industry - Geely's acquisition of Volvo.

In 2014, Shen Hui stepped out of his comfort zone and founded Weimar. With his connections and qualifications, Weimar was naturally favored by many people at that time.

Moreover, Weimar did a good start. Shen Hui’s first step was to build his own factory.

He obtained automobile production qualifications by controlling Zhongshun Automobile and Dalian Huanghai, and then transferred the qualifications to his self-built factory in Wenzhou. Shen Hui firmly believes that quality can only be achieved by building a self-built factory, and craftsmanship quality is the core step of building a car.

There is definitely nothing wrong with this. See if Tesla does the same thing.

And another advantage of doing this is thatattract investors to like.

Since its establishment in 2015, Weimar has had a total of nine rounds of financing, large and small, with a cumulative financing of more than 35 billion. The largest one was a 10 billion yuan D round of financing led by Shanghai local state-owned assets in September 2020.

After making money, Weimar's sales did not disappoint investors.

In 2018, WM's first car, the EX5, started delivery, with 3,844 units delivered in 2018. This year, Xpeng next door only delivered 500 vehicles, which was less than a fraction of WM.

But then,Weimar stumbled over unexpected issues.

In 2020, Weimar experienced frequent spontaneous combustion incidents and had no choice but to recall 1,282 vehicles. Later, it was revealed that WM Motor had locked the power of users' vehicles privately in the name of maintenance, causing the actual battery life of the vehicles to be cut in half.

This incident led to more than 100 users jointly suing, and the central media also criticized them by name.

After that, Weimar's sales dropped sharply.

In 2022, Weimar's annual sales volume will be 29,400 vehicles, and Wei Xiaoli's sales in the same period have exceeded 100,000 vehicles. In the three years from 2019 to 2021, Weimar's cumulative losses reached 17.4 billion yuan.

There are no sales and no external funding for blood transfusion. Since the second half of last year, Weimar has been exposed to negative news such as salary cuts, production suspensions, and dealer withdrawals.

Even under Shen Hui’s Weibo, netizens are worriedAre you going to run away?.

But judging from Kaixin Auto's announcement, it is estimated that Shen Hui will not run away.

Although the company WM failed to succeed, it has seriously built cars and still has many treasures on its hands.

Take the two production bases owned by WM Motor in Wenzhou and Huanggang. Many new players only dream of these two car-making qualifications.

This time selling oneself can also continue to bring out the value of these assets.

In fact, this year's car price war is accelerating this change. Some companies that lack competitiveness are gradually eliminated by the market, while capable companies eat a bigger plate.

Kaixin Auto, which launched this time, has been in the used car industry for so many years. It may have a different understanding from other car companies about what kind of car consumers want.

After it turns into a car manufacturer, if it can make good use of WM's foundation to make some surprises, it can then use the advantages of China's electric car industry chain to open up overseas markets.

This is a loss for both parties to the transaction.