Nezha Auto, the once-famous new car-making force and sales champion, is now left with nothing but feathers as the market tide recedes. From being a dark horse in the market to now facing bankruptcy and reorganization, the development history of Nezha Automobile reflects the brutal competition in the automobile manufacturing industry.
According to relevant CCTV reports, Hezhong New Energy, the parent company of Nezha Automobile, suffered a cumulative net loss of up to 18.3 billion yuan from 2021 to 2023. Although many places such as Yichun in Jiangxi and Nanning in Guangxi have provided preferential policies and conducted blood transfusion investments (The total investment of state-owned assets in the three places exceeds 8 billion yuan), but it is still difficult to reverse the decline, causing many countries to fall into it and face huge investment losses.
Looking back on its highlight moments, Nezha Automobile won the sales championship among new car-making forces in 2022 with a total of 152,100 units. However, this prosperity did not last long. Due to factors such as product positioning and brand power, its sales subsequently began to decline significantly, and its market share shrank severely.
Financial data shows that under the pressure of consecutive years of losses, Nezha Auto loses more than 80,000 yuan on average for every car sold. This business model of losing money and making money, in the context of tightening capital environment and intensified market competition, eventually led to the complete rupture of the corporate capital chain.
Since October 2024, Nezha Automobile has been trapped in a negative spiral, with news of layoffs, salary cuts and contract arrears coming one after another. In December of the same year, major changes occurred in the company's senior management. Former CEO Zhang Yong was transferred to consultant, and founder Fang Yunzhou also served as CEO in an attempt to stabilize the situation through strategic adjustments.
Fang Yunzhou once deeply apologized to his employees in an internal letter to all employees, admitting that he was primarily responsible for the current difficulties. He also proposed six major reform measures at the time, including global expansion based on the country, and set an ambitious goal of achieving overall profitability in 2026.
Unfortunately, these attempts at self-rescue failed to beat time. On June 12 last year, the Jiaxing Intermediate People's Court officially ruled to accept the bankruptcy and reorganization case of Hezhong New Energy. The court has appointed a number of law firms to serve as joint administrators, which means that Nezha Automobile has officially entered the judicial process of bankruptcy and reorganization.
From being number one in the industry to being on the brink of bankruptcy, Nezha Automobile’s experience has sounded a wake-up call to all new car-making forces. In the absence of sustained hematopoiesis capabilities and a core technology moat, relying solely on low-price impulse and external blood transfusions will ultimately be difficult to survive in the long run.
