Ian： Wider than the sea is the shoulder of GAC.
Image source @ vision china
Wen | Shu Du Zhi Che
In March, while BYD continued to sing all the way, subtle changes took place in the second echelon.
Guangzhou Automobile’s monthly sales exceeded 40,000, and Aion S and Y ranked third and fourth respectively in the vehicle sales announced by the Association.
At this year’s Shanghai Auto Show, the Hyper GT, which has been concerned by the industry for a long time, appeared. Previously, it was generally believed that the price was around 300,000, and the final price was 219,900, which stirred up a pool of muddy water.
Why did the new energy vehicle, which is in the midst of fierce fighting, kill a Guangzhou Automobile Ai ‘an?
Conclusion:
one
Guangzhou Automobile Aian was born with a golden spoon and undertook the best resources.
2
The management shares are centralized and have absolute right to speak.
three
The core technology market has obvious differentiation and strong competitiveness.
four
Product sales continued to climb and the development trend was good.
five
The price of the main model is about 150 thousand yuan, and it is difficult for ASP to climb the slope
six
The sales performance of higher-priced models is average, and the high-end products are blocked.
seven
Hyper GT released by Shanghai Auto Show is the key to break the barrier.
eight
GT model pricing is very radical, and the market outlook is worth looking forward to.
Development history and team
Guangzhou Automobile Ai ‘an is a new energy automobile company under Guangzhou Automobile Group. Founded in July 2017, it was originally named GAC New Energy Co., Ltd.,In 2020, it was renamed Guangzhou Automobile Aian New Energy Automobile Co., Ltd..
In 2021, Ai ‘an started mixed reform, completed asset restructuring and equity incentive, and introduced employee stock ownership platform and three strategic investors, namely Ai ‘an Fund, China Chengtong and China Southern Power Grid.
In 2022, Ai ‘an completed the shareholding system reform and completed the A round of financing in October.53 strategic investors were introduced, with a total financing of 18.294 billion yuan.
According to the plan, the listing will be launched at the end of 2023.
Born out of Guangzhou Automobile Group, Ai ‘an’s team is the backbone of Guangzhou Automobile Group.
Feng Xingya, chairman of the board
Since 2004, he has worked in GAC, and has served as management in brands such as GAC Toyota, GAC Mitsubishi and GAC Fick.
General Manager Gu Huinan
He has been engaged in the automobile industry for 34 years and served as the core technical backbone of Guangzhou Peugeot, Dongfeng Honda Engine Factory and GAC Toyota. He has 14 invention patents and successfully traded many explosive models. Engine, vehicle, intelligent network technology experts.
Zheng Chunqi made VP by wisdom.
He has been engaged in the automobile industry for 29 years, and has worked in French, Japanese and private brands successively. He is a practical expert of Honda’s lean production and leads the construction of the core industrial cluster of Industry 4.0.
Xiao Yong sales VP
Wuyang Honda, with 15 years of supply chain experience, has created a world-class supply chain system of Guangzhou Automobile’s own brand and is the founder of Guangzhou Automobile’s own brand marketing system.
Cao weibing finance VP
He has served as the chief financial officer of the research institute and the head of Guangzhou Automobile Investment Department, led many mergers and acquisitions, has rich M&A experience, and is a core member of the H-share listing of Guangzhou Automobile Group.
Xi Zhongmin technology VP
Engaged in the automobile industry for 26 years, he was the core technical backbone of Guangzhou Automobile Chuanqi, led the technical development of EV+ICV, and had rich experience in supply chain and cost control.
The core team’s ability map is perfect, and they all have rich experience in the automobile industry.Moreover, there is an important factor. Most of the management have the experience of working in Guangzhou Automobile Chuanqi, and they are familiar with the company culture and work rhythm and cooperate smoothly. This is also much less running-in time than other entrepreneurial teams.
In terms of equity relations,After the completion of the A round of financing, GAC is still an absolute shareholder, holding 64.89% of the shares.In addition, Guangzhou Automobile’s Guangzhou Automobile Passenger Car holds 12% of the shares. The total share of real external investors is only 19.37%.
It is worth noting that before and after the A round of financing, the biggest change in shareholding ratio was Guangzhou Automobile Group, which shows that the financing transfer is mainly the shares of Guangzhou Automobile Group.
core competitiveness
As an important independent brand of Guangzhou Automobile Group, Guangzhou Automobile Ai ‘an was born with a golden spoon and received many resources from Guangzhou Automobile Group.
The first is financial support.Since its establishment in 2017, the first round of financing has been completed only after the start of mixed reform. After its establishment, all the work has been promoted almost simultaneously, and the first phase of factory construction with an investment of 4.697 billion and a production capacity of 200,000 vehicles per year has been started; The opening of the first experience center and so on. Before completing the A round of financing, Ai ‘an has completed the second phase expansion and commissioning of the intelligent ecological factory, and completed the commissioning of the second intelligent manufacturing center.
Followed by resource support.At the beginning of its establishment, it signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Tencent, and Ma Huateng personally attended the signing. Subsequently, it signed an intention agreement with eight dealers to build a store.
The support of resources is not just cooperation.Ai ‘an can undertake the research, development, production and marketing foundation of Guangzhou Automobile Group.Relying on the Automotive Engineering Research Institute of Guangzhou Automobile Group, it can integrate the global R&D network; Establish long-term and stable strategic cooperation with top suppliers in the world; Undertake the production mode and marketing system of GAC.
In terms of technology, GAC has accumulated in the fields of hybrid and car Internet. It has released the first medium-heavy hybrid vehicle in China, and realized the in-vehicle Internet technology. Relevant technical exploration can be directly applied to Ian.
With the empowerment of GAC, Ai ‘an undertook the vertical industry consolidation model. In the annual report, GAC said that it will accelerate the establishment of a vertically integrated new energy industrial chain layout of "lithium mine+basic lithium battery raw material production+battery production+energy storage and charging and replacing services+battery leasing+battery recycling and step utilization".
Ai ‘an chose the technical route of "EV (pure electric) +ICV (intelligent networking)".
At present, the breakthrough of EV technology is obvious. Ai ‘an launched GEP, the exclusive platform for pure electricity. Gu Huinan revealed that the new model based on GEP3.0 has achieved mass production and has the characteristics of low cost and good NHV (noise, vibration and stability).
In 2020, Ai ‘an released a two-speed dual-motor "four-in-one" integrated electric drive. The value of this technology is that it can accelerate 100 companies to less than 2 seconds.The Hyper SSR supercar released at the end of last year, the official said that the acceleration of 100 kilometers was 1.9 seconds.
In 2021, Ai ‘an released "magazine battery" and sponge silicon anode battery technology.Among them, "magazine battery" mainly overcomes the safety of ternary lithium battery, and public information shows that "magazine battery" can prevent acupuncture from catching fire. If the safety of ternary lithium battery is guaranteed, its advantage of high energy density can be further released. Officially, sponge silicon anode battery technology can reduce the volume and weight of lithium-ion battery cells by 20% and 14%, which will greatly improve the energy density of cells.At present, AION LX Plus can support 1008km endurance (CLTC).
In addition, in terms of charging, Juwan Technology Research, a startup company hatched by Guangzhou Automobile Research Institute, has developed graphene-based super fast charging technology, which can achieve the highest charging speed of 6C rate. At present, the 6C version of AION V Plus model has been listed.The official said that it can fill 80% in 8 minutes, and it can fill 207km in 5 minutes.
In the field of ICV, Ai ‘an has launched ADIGO intelligent driving interconnection ecosystem and Che Yun integrated electronic and electrical architecture. In 2021, Ai ‘an released the ADIGO 4.0 system. Intelligent driving is a self-developed L4 scheme in cooperation with Huawei, Didi and Baidu. It is estimated that 1,000 L4 demonstration vehicles will be launched in the past two years, and it is planned to achieve large-scale application by 2025. Also in 2021, Ai ‘an also launched Che Yun’s integrated centralized computing electronic and electrical architecture "Spirit Architecture", which is planned to be mass-produced this year and becomeChe Yun integrated centralized electronic and electrical architecture, the first mass production in China.
On the key technological breakthrough, Ai ‘an used the way of independence+joint venture and cooperation to fill the shortcomings and ensure the core components to be self-controllable. Therefore, Ai ‘an has many bright spots in the three-electricity technology, and in the fields of intelligent cockpit, the experience has been improved faster through cooperation.
Product performance
Since its establishment, Aeon has released Hyper GT(2022.12), Hyper SSR(2021.9), AION LX (2019.10)/LX Plus (January), AION V (2020.6)/V Plus (September), AION Y(2021.4) and AION S (January). Among the delivered models, each model is divided into multiple versions, which basically covers the main price range of 150,000-500,000.
The earliest S and Y series are still the absolute main force of sales. S is a mid-range car, and the current price range is between 146,800 and 165,800; Listed in 2019, it still maintains strong competitiveness. According to the data of the Federation, last year, the S series was always on the list.In March of this year, the S series rushed to the third place, surpassing Hongguang MINI, Model 3 and BYD Han.
Y series is a compact pure electric SUV, which was released in April, 2021. At present, the price range is between 119,800 and 153,800 yuan. The Y series is very cost-effective, and the price of 610km battery life is only 153,800 yuan. You know, the maximum battery life of Model Y is only 594KM, and Tucki G3 doesn’t even have a 600km version. Both models are expensive. In terms of sales volume,Y series can wrestle with BYD Tang Heyuan series, and it was also on the list last year. Sales in February and March this year have been the top five.
But,Outside the S and Y series, the sales of other series of Ai ‘an are not satisfactory.The sales of AION V series, another SUV model, struggled on the edge of the Federation list. It fell out of the list many times in 2022 and has not been on the list since November; AION LX didn’t even make the list.
This is not a good signal, although it has become the top 5 new energy sales with S and Y series, killing a number of new forces. However, these two models are generally below 160,000, and the brand market appeal of the higher price segment has not been clearly demonstrated.
What people are looking forward to is the Hyper series, which is positioned in the super run. From the brand naming, the Hyper series has obviously jumped out of the original naming rules, and the latest Hyper GT has been set at 219,900 yuan.Such a low-priced GT coupe has a rotor door and a three-stage tail, which is obviously laid out to a higher price segment by means of low price and high allocation.It may make Ai ‘an have a different performance and drive it to break through the high-end barrier.
Financial performance
According to the published data, the sales volume of GAC Ai ‘an in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 reached 42,003, 60,033, 120,155 and 271,156 respectively.Both are doubling the growth rate.
Due to the increase in sales, revenue will inevitably rise. In the last four years, the revenue was 5.234 billion yuan, 7.61 billion yuan, 17.265 billion yuan and 38.703 billion yuan respectively; The growth rate has doubled in the last two years. Ai ‘an’s revenue has accounted for 35% of GAC’s total revenue, and it is getting closer to GAC Chuanqi, and is becoming another pillar of its own brand.
But the problem is,Ai’ an is still supported by cost-effective explosions, and ASP has been maintained at 120,000-140,000, which is slightly lower in 2022 than in 2021.Cost-effective explosions are difficult to improve profit margins, coupled with the large investment in research and development in the early stage, the cost of all kinds of cars has increased, and the loss of Ai’ an is also difficult to avoid.
Due to Guangzhou Automobile’s vertical integration strategy, it needs to invest more money in the industrial chain. For the purpose of raising funds in Guangzhou Automobile’s A-round capital increase project, Ai ‘an said that it will focus on the research and development of new products, the research and development of new generation batteries and electric drives, the industrialization construction, and the research and development and industrialization layout of core technologies such as intelligent driving, intelligent cockpit, energy ecology and capacity expansion.
It can be seen that the battery, intelligent driving and intelligent cockpit are not subject to people, and it is expected to extend further upstream.
There is still great uncertainty about success. After all, Aeon is still extremely dependent on AION S and Y series. Although these two models are very eye-catching, the progress of leaping to the middle and high end is not very smooth. The ultimate goal of comprehensive car companies like GAC is the product layout in the full price range and they are all competitive. At present, car companies have generally encountered obstacles from the low price range to the high price range, and this is also the key point of Aeon.
Briefing:
References:
- 1. Guangzhou Automobile Group Financial Report, Guangzhou Automobile Ai ‘an official website, and Travel Association.
- 2. GAC Ai ‘an mixed reform and landing, electric brand incubation accelerates Oriental fortune securities Research Institute.
- 3. Raise 18.294 billion yuan, and the post-investment valuation exceeds 100 billion yuan! Science and technology innovation board Daily.
- 4. Guangzhou has rushed out of a unicorn with a valuation of 39 billion investment circles.