“o. itemList. length” “this. config. text. ariaShown”
“This. config. text. ariaFermé”
Stay informed at a glance with top 10 stories
By Norihiko Shirouzu
BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese new electric vehicle companies have returned to charging, thanks to Tesla.
The country’s growing fascination with the elegant designs of the American pioneer and cutting-edge generation is giving a number of Tesla’s local second-wave engines the traction needed to raise more funds, increase production and increase sales.
China’s new electric vehicle companies NIO, XPeng Inc, Li Auto and WM Motor have raised more than $8 billion between them this year and rival Aiways is now making public, co-founder and President Fu Qiang told Reuters.
Speaking about the Beijing Motor Lounge beginning Saturday, Fu said the relative good fortune of America’s initial public offerings (IPOs) through XPeng and Li Auto had helped drive the company’s ambitions.
Since its inception in 2017 in Shanghai, Aiways has raised “no more than 10 billion yuan” and will want to get more funding from some personal equity budget and other investors, said Fu, the former Volvo Cars China chief, who has also been an executive at Mercedes-Benz, Skoda and FAW-Volkswagen.
“The IPO is also in our plans, and we plan to move on,” Fu said, adding that Aiways would likely be indexed in China, refusing to give additional details.
China has for years been the world’s fastest developing electric vehicle market, with the help of purchasing subsidies from the beneficiary state, yet the sales boom began to erupt last year when Beijing began cutting its monetary and water policies in favor of electric vehicles.
Some prominent Chinese start-ups like Byton and Singulato have struggled and last year seemed dubious the long-term NIO, but an increase in Tesla’s market price, and its sales in China, suggests that the country’s electric vehicle dream is over.
“Like Tesla’s stock, the same goes for new electric vehicle companies,” chinese automotive expert Mike Dunne said. “The bottoms recede like a river in the spring. Tesla can eventually attract everyone in the long run faster than expected. “
‘RIGHT OUTSIDE THE DOOR’
Tesla’s sales in China in the first 8 months of 2020 nearly tripled from the previous year to 73658 cars, according to consultancy LMC Automotive, despite interruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some Chinese automakers say cars manufactured through the Palo Alto, California-based company are Apple’s first iPhone in China, and with so many forward-looking technological advances to come, gives them hope.
Fu believes that the renewed interest in electric cars in China is partly due to the fact that electric vehicle owners are fascinated by intelligent driving functions as well as interactive services, connected calls, which many models are beginning to offer. .
“Today’s smart and connected cars are that smart. We just got out there and we are in a step that could be described as the iPhone 1 or the original iPhone,” said Aiways Fu president. “As this unfolds, we will soon get to the iPhone 8, iPhone nine, and iPhone 10. “
Dunne also said Tesla is the main thing to maintain interest in electric cars among consumers and investors in China and elsewhere. Tesla’s stock has increased 10-bit in the last 12 months and become the world’s highest-value automaker in July.
And less expensive operating prices are also a factor.
Cui Yihua, which sells aquariums in eastern Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, changed its gasoline-hungry Audi Q7 to save money and chose an electric blue Aiways U5 gaming app vehicle (SUV) after a Tesla model. I liked the interior design of the U5, its color and its extra space.
“I have charging services in my apartment complex, in the garage on the ground floor. I deposited a hundred yuan deposit to recharge and I’ve been doing it for two weeks,” he said. “It’s insignificant compared to gasoline cars. “
PRIVATE OWNERS
Chinese automakers that were part of the initial wave of new electric vehicle companies sold or leased many of their cars to drivers applying for corporate didi Chuxing shared travel and competitive taxi facilities that were boosted through discounts and other policies for electric vehicles.
Today, Fu and NIO co-founder and CEO William Li is convinced that China’s electric vehicle market is more driven by car owners and their natural interest in electric cars.
This is evident in the functionality of Tesla’s Model 3 sedán, which many consumers perceive as affordable at about 270,000 yuan ($39,750) after purchasing the subsidies.
The credits also go to Wuling, a joint venture of General Motors Co, whose Hongguang Mini EV is the best-selling electric car in China this year, in components because its cheapest style sells for only 28,800 yuan.
It is true that some corporations heavily affected by the initial slowdown in electric vehicle sales are still in limbo. Byton suspended its operations for six months until January and is carrying out a restructuring of its operations, a spokeswoman said.
Singulate, meanwhile, operates with limited capacity and is an additional investment to complete the progression of two cars and launch them, Reuters told a senior source of the company.
But executives say fundraising has much fewer difficulties this year and their confidence levels are also increasing.
NIO, for example, has raised $3. 8 billion this year to get back on track, basically through the state-sponsored budget in China’s Anhui province in eastern China, as well as with advertising paper and additional actions, his spokesman said.
WM Motor, subsidized through China’s most widely used search engine, Baidu, raised $1. 5 billion this week. XPeng Inc and Li Auto raised $1. 5 billion and $1. 1 billion respectively through quotes in the US. But it’s not the first time In July and August.
‘DEMAND IS REALLY STRONG’
While sales of what China defines as new-powered cars (NEVs) (all-electric cars, plug-in electric hybrids, and hydrogen-fueled mobile cars) began contracting more than a year ago, they increased by 26% in August after 19. 3%. , which ended a 12-month year-on-year drop.
LMC Automotive expects sales of NEV passenger cars to fall by 8. 9% this year, but increase 48. 4% in 2021 to 1. 52 million cars, or 7% of planned sales of passenger cars Alan Kang, an LMC analyst based in Shanghai to accelerate, basically because Beijing has recently followed stricter green car quotas for automakers.
Fu said sales of the Aiways U5, its first model, have grown from April to exceed 1,400 in 3 months through August, when it also featured its sporties top U6 Ion SUV.
Within a year, he believes Aiways could succeed in sales of 10,000 cars in China, with another 3,000 in Europe, where he began promoting in Germany, and plans to expand to Belgium, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland.
In the case of NIO, sales of its ES8 and ES6 models reached 10331 cars in this quarter, part of their sales in 2019 and sales almost equivalent to 11348 for the total of 2018, while it only offered its seven-seater ES8 SUV.
NIO’s overall gross margin turned positive this quarter to 9. 7% for vehicle sales, while operating losses decreased by nearly 65% compared to 1. 1 billion yuan last year.
“We believe we have triumphed resolutely over last year’s difficulties,” Executive Chairman Li told Reuters, saying he still flies to the economy to save corporate money.
“Demand is really strong. If you place an order with us now, you will have to wait a long time to get your new car back,” Li said. “Our biggest challenge in the fourth quarter is our production capacity. “
(Information through Norihiko Shirouzu; Additional information by Yilei Sun; Edited through David Clarke)