Every reporter: Li Xing Every editor: Zhang Bei
Picture source: Every reporter Zhang Jianshe (data map)
"It is said that I will go to work on April 1, and I will be notified that the resumption time will be extended for another month. This is the third time the company has changed the time to resume work." When it comes to work, Zhang Chen (pseudonym) feels a headache. As an internal employee of Qiantu Automobile, he is very eager to resume work. After all, not resuming work means that his income will be greatly reduced. After a few months, he has been a little overwhelmed.
Zhang Chen told the "Daily Economic News" reporter that the company temporarily notified the resumption of work on May 4, but it is still unknown whether the company can go to work as scheduled. It is worth noting that a few days ago, some netizens broke the news that Qiantu Motor and its parent company Great Wall Huaguan Automobile Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Great Wall Huaguan) defaulted on employees' wages and used employees' personal information to provide wages. The picture of
comes from the network
. “The company did not have the capital turnover in time because the financing funds were not available in time.” Zhang Chen said that in fact, the company has repeatedly delayed the resumption of work, which is also a way to save expenditure in disguise.
In fact, as early as September last year, Lu Qun, chairman of Qiantu Motors, said in an interview with reporters: "The financing funds originally planned to be in place in August and September of this year need to be postponed due to some reasons. This makes part of the work that the company originally planned to advance encountered difficulties due to the delayed payment of funds." It is this postponed financing that makes Qiantu Motors embarrassed. It is understood that the above-mentioned financing amount is as high as 1 billion yuan, and the original plan was to arrive in November 2019 at the latest, but it has been delayed and has not been seen so far.
"The reason why Qiantu Motor has this situation is that on the one hand, it lacks models that meet the needs of the mainstream consumer market. On the other hand, its parent company, Great Wall Huaguan, is too dependent on institutional financing and lacks a way to find money from the market." A Great Wall Huaguan shareholder who declined to be named said.
Regarding the above situation, as of the press time, Qiantu Motor said, "There is no reply to this." There is a view that, as one of the representatives of the new car-making forces, Qiantu Automobile's experience is the epitome of the new forces' car companies. At present, the domestic auto industry is accelerating the reshuffle. Where is the "money road" for Qiantu Auto?
successively issued three resignation agreements
"Starting from the second half of 2019, the company has suspended wages in batches according to the salary level to alleviate the problem of inefficient capital turnover." Zhang Chen said that the company's employee wages are divided into A , B, C, D, E, F, G seven grades, the higher the level of employees, the earlier they will be suspended.
According to the reporter's understanding, since July 2019, Qiantu Motor has taken the lead in stopping the payment of wages for employees at the three levels of A, B, and C. "I have been suspended since August last year because of my relatively low level. Up to now, including my thirteen salary, I have not paid a total of 7 and a half months of salary (1 and a half months of salary during the period)." Zhang Chen told "Daily Reporter of Economic News.
So far, Qiantu Motor and Great Wall Huaguan have issued three resignation settlement agreements. The first resignation agreement was mainly for employees of a branch of Qiantuyi Automobile Sales Co., Ltd. The agreement shows that for employees who resigned before the Lunar New Year this year, the company promised to settle their wages in two installments before February 28, 2020. The second resignation agreement of
was issued by Great Wall Huaguan after the Spring Festival and is applicable to all employees of the company. This move is considered by the outside world to be a way of "disguised layoffs" by the Great Wall Huaguan.
"The company has difficulties with funds, and this is done to control costs." Zhang Chen said that whether to leave or not, it is still based on the subjective wishes of employees.
It is reported that as of March 20, the salaries of the employees of Qiantu Automobile who resigned before the previous year have been basically settled, and part of the salaries of the employees who proposed to resign after the Spring Festival have also been settled.
However, Sun Yu (pseudonym), a former employee of Qiantu Motor who had resigned before the Spring Festival, told reporters that the "13 salary" promised by Qiantu Motor would not be settled until the end of April this year.
In mid-March, Great Wall Huaguan launched its third resignation agreement. According to the agreement, if you choose employees who voluntarily resign within this week, the company will ensure that their wages are settled by the end of May without compensation; for employees who choose to resign within 2 days, the company will sign a compensation agreement and provide compensation in accordance with the N+1 standard set by the state. , Settle the salary before the end of August; choose employees who continue to stick to the company,The company will work hard to solve the wage problem as soon as possible, but it cannot give a time commitment in a short time. The picture of
comes from the network
. This seemingly tough resignation agreement is also regarded by the outside world as evidence of the forced internal layoffs by the Great Wall Huaguan. "The latest resignation agreement is formulated for those employees who are included in the company's layoffs list." Zhang Chen told reporters that the proportion of layoffs is expected to be around 40% to 50%, and the number of company employees will be reduced to about 800.
It is understood that Great Wall Huaguan and its subsidiaries (including Qiantu Motors) have expanded their enrollment in a large amount since 2019, and the number has rapidly expanded from more than 600 to more than 2,000. As of April 3, there are less than 1,440 employees remaining in the WeChat group of Great Wall Huaguan, a decrease of more than 160 people from March 24.
70 billion financing has not yet arrived.
from expansion to layoffs, in less than a year, Qiantu Auto is experiencing the darkest moment on its road to car building.
public information shows that Great Wall Huaguan, the parent company of Qiantu Motors, was established in 2003 and officially landed on the NEEQ in September 2015, becoming the first new energy company in the NEEQ. However, on February 20, 2019, Great Wall China Crown was delisted from the New Third Board and tried to move to the Science and Technology Innovation Board to seek more funds to build cars. According to the public information of
, from its listing in 2015 to its listing on the New Third Board at the end of 2018, the net profit loss of Great Wall Huaguan attributable to shareholders of listed companies has increased year by year, respectively -22 million yuan, -98 million yuan, -226 million yuan,- 606 million yuan.
“Building a car is a very money-burning thing, and all the money raised by Great Wall Huaguan is invested in building a car.” The aforementioned Great Wall Huaguan shareholder told reporters. Image source:
photo by reporter Zhang Jian (data map)
According to public statistics, Great Wall Huaguan has successfully raised funds 5 times, with a total of 2.12 billion yuan. The reporter learned from the relevant person in charge of the Great Wall Huaguan that the 2 billion yuan of funds used by the Great Wall Huaguan to build cars has been used up in September last year and can only wait for the subsequent financing to continue.
is based on this, since September 2019, Qiantu Motors began to adopt "AB-level loans" to overcome the funding difficulties. The above-mentioned netizens broke the news that Qiantu Motor requires wages for A and B employees and encourages C-level employees to apply for credit loans to pay employees' wages.
"In order to alleviate the funding crisis, the company has indeed adopted the relevant loan procedures for salary A and B employees, and loaned to the company in their personal name. Then, the company will pay monthly interest for the A and B employee loans on a monthly basis. "Zhang Chen said, but the loan money is not used to pay employees' salaries, but to pay employees' "five social insurance and one housing fund."
According to Zhang Chen, starting from the end of 2019, the housing provident fund for employees of Qiantu Motor has been suspended, and the "five insurances" are still being paid.
"Last year, the company signed and completed no less than five financing funds, each of which was not less than 1 billion yuan, and one of them was as high as 3 billion yuan." Zhang Chen told reporters that, judging from the total number, Qiantu Automobile is about to complete The financing amount will reach 7 billion yuan.
However, the lag of the first financing funds caused Qiantu Motor to fall into a capital turnover problem. According to the reporter's understanding, the 7 billion yuan financing of Qiantu Motor has not yet arrived. The second product of
will be delivered next year
"For those of us who are not on the list of layoffs, the company has clearly told us that we will not be able to pay wages in a short time. The company's current strategy is to concentrate all funds into the future of the second mass-produced car K20 was put into production and resumed offline operations." Zhang Chen said.
Image source: Qiantu Motor's official website
Although Qiantu Motor is in trouble with money shortages and layoffs, its new product release and R&D work has not stalled. It is understood that the employees of Qiantu Automotive Technology and R&D Department have started to work normally on February 13.
"Except for no salary, the technology and R&D work is proceeding as usual." Lu Han (pseudonym), also an employee of Qiantu Motor, smiled wryly. As the second product of Qiantu Motor,
, the Qiantu K20 concept car, was officially released at the 2019 Shanghai Auto Show. The production version of the model is scheduled to be officially launched and delivered from March to April 2021. Before
, Qiantu Motor’s first product was repeatedly criticized by the outside world because of its high market positioning and pricing and too small target population.
In August 2018, the Qiantu K50, the first model of Qiantu Motors, was officially launched. It is positioned as a pure electric two-door two-seater sports car with a subsidy price of 686,800 yuan. At that time, Lu Qun once said that the future K50 is not a model for mass consumption, but to set the tone for the brand positioning and products of the future car. "Z1z
" The idea of "Qiantu Auto" is not wrong, because a high-end brand wants to enter the low-end brand market, it is much easier than a low-end brand to enter the high-end brand market, but this is also limited to the early stage of the industry, and opportunities are hard to find. "The aforementioned Great Wall Huaguan shareholders believe that Qiantu Motor has stretched the front too long in the early stage, failed to launch products suitable for market demand in time, and speeded up product update and iteration, so that they missed a good opportunity to seize the market in the early development of new energy vehicles.
, as one of the few new domestic car-making forces that holds “dual qualifications” for new energy passenger vehicles, Qiantu Automobile began investing in the construction of a Suzhou production base in February 2016, and K50 officially rolled off the assembly line in August 2018. Up to now, Qiantu Automobile still has only one model of Qiantu K50 on the market, and the market sales are "dismal." According to data from
, as of now, the delivery volume of new cars for the Qiantu K50 is less than 200. However, Qiantu Motor still has a one-year "window period" before the second product is launched.
"The competition in the domestic new energy vehicle market is becoming increasingly fierce. The early planning failed to seize the opportunity. At this time, Future Auto needs to calm down and reflect on whether its positioning is accurate and how to achieve'bloodmaking' so as to survive better." Great Wall Huaguan shareholders believe that what Qiantu Motor needs to do next is to change its concept, develop products that are more suitable for the needs of mass consumers, and win more financial support from the market. At the same time, Qiantu Motors should also look for more external partners with an open and cooperative mentality to "enrich blood" in many aspects.
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