After Wei Xiaoli, the new energy vehicles that have attracted the most attention in China are finally going to be mass-produced.
On October 19th, Polar Krypton announced that 001 was coming off the line, while Geely controlled Polar Krypton, and everything seemed to be taking a turn for the better.
In mid-June, polar krypton 001 announced that all deliverable orders for 2021 had been sold out just two months after it was scheduled, and more than 60% of loyal users sold out, which was "explosive at the start", but soon afterwards, extreme krypton experienced a decline in word-of-mouth and car owners withdrew their orders.
Based on Geely Factory and Li Shufu's investment in extreme krypton, it can be said to be the hottest domestic new energy car after Lulai, but with good background and beautiful appearance, whether it can have reliable production and technical support depends on the performance of mass production and delivery.
Polar krypton ushered in the first exam in his life. Can it get rid of the "haze" and really stand in the camp of domestic new energy vehicles?
War of mass production and delivery
When it comes to the hottest electric car this year, it is probably the polar krypton 001 that appeared at the Shanghai Auto Show.
At that time, extreme krypton 001 was sought after by consumers because of its high appearance and the vast structure of SEA. On June 15, Polar Krypton announced that it would stop taking orders, the first time that domestic electric cars had to stop taking orders because they were so popular.
Just when the market thought that polar krypton 001 would bring spring breeze to independent brands, some pre-booked car owners launched a "refund order" due to problems such as preferential changes, 800V voltage system changing to 400V, entry-level model standard configuration into optional equipment, and so on. For a while, the reputation of extreme krypton has plummeted.
After holding my breath for such a long time, on October 19, Polar Krypton 001 finally ushered in the day of going offline.
At Ningbo Hangzhou Bay Polar Krypton Wisdom Factory, the ZEEKR 001 production model is officially off the line, marking the official start of mass production of ZEEKR 001. at the same time, the delivery of the first batch of ZEEKR 001 will begin on October 23rd.
Mass production delivery is the most important moment for any new brand, although extreme krypton is not a pure new car-building force, Geely's background seems to make people think that there is no difficulty in mass production, but in fact, the mass production and delivery of extreme krypton 001 still face great challenges.
In the polar krypton plant, the assembly line is in production, but the whole production line is not fully operational. Especially in the part of the assembly workshop, there is a station between the two cars, so it can be seen that the production rhythm is not at full speed. It is understood that there are two main reasons.
First of all, this is the first batch of models, whether it is new energy vehicles or traditional cars, the production of the first batch of all models have to go through capacity climbing. The factory will not operate at full capacity at the beginning, it will take a certain amount of time to run-in.
The second is the supply of chips. at present, the supply of polar krypton 001 chips has not reached the best state, especially when it was mentioned earlier that more than 2000 chips are needed for new cars, seven of which are installed on cars for the first time in the world. so it's a big problem for both suppliers and polar krypton.
"Congcong (an Conghui) confirms the chip in hours. The lack of core does bring great pressure to the whole vehicle manufacturing. " Liu Zhanzhu, senior director of the Polar Krypton Intelligent Technology user Development Center, said to Shiwen auto. "We have more than 2000 kinds of chips, and there are more than 10, 000 chips in the whole car. This quantity is indeed of great help to the intelligence of the product, but it is also a challenge for us. "
Zhao Chunlin, director of the polar krypton plant, also said that ZEEKR 001 is highly intelligent and is not only an electric car, but also a smart car. "the factory is planned to reach its annual production capacity in 300000. At present, the actual production arrangement for each year depends on two aspects. First, the situation of our order, and the second is the actual situation at present. "
Zhao Chunlin said that the factory is ready to go offline and ready for delivery. "but we are also very frank that the epidemic has a great impact on the supply of chips, and it is also very difficult for us. Polar krypton, like the whole industry, is facing such difficulties."
And extreme krypton 001 is just the beginning, it is understood that the extreme krypton brand in the vast structure, the next three years will have six new cars, 2 models a year, covering different market segments to meet the needs of different people.
Li Shufu's win-win situation
Polar krypton has attracted a lot of attention because behind it stands Li Shufu, a "madman" who cannot be ignored in Chinese automobile history.
It is precisely because of Geely and Li Shufu's background that consumers and investors are optimistic about the car-building ability of extreme krypton, and Geely is also strengthening this connection.
Accompanied by extreme krypton 001 production offline news, Geely Motor to Geely Holdings to buy polar krypton shares of the big news.
On October 18, Geely Automobile Holdings Co., Ltd. issued inside information that it entered into a framework agreement with Geely Group, under which it intends to acquire 220 million polar krypton shares from Geely Group, accounting for about 10% of the polar krypton issued shares on the date of the framework agreement. The consideration will be agreed between this Geely Automobile Holdings Co., Ltd. and Geely Group.
Before this, it should be understood that polar krypton is a joint venture between Geely Automobile (full name: Geely Automobile holding Co., Ltd.) and Zhejiang Geely holding Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Geely Holdings, wholly owned by Li Shufu and Li Xing). The two sides contributed a total of 2 billion yuan, accounting for 51% and 49% of the shares respectively, which are controlled by listed companies. The joint venture, established in the Cayman Islands, is a wholly foreign-owned company.
Based on the previous total consideration of $500m for Pre-A preferred shares, polar krypton is now valued at about $8.93 billion (57.77 billion yuan), so Geely acquired about 10 per cent of polar krypton shares from Geely for a consideration of 5.78 billion yuan.
It is understood that Geely Motor will pay the price in the form of cash plus additional issuance to Geely Holdings Group, of which about 196.41 million shares will be issued to Geely Group (accounting for 2%, the maximum proportion stipulated by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange), which is about 3.8 billion yuan at the issue price of HK $23.34. The remaining cash payment is 1.98 billion yuan.
When the transaction was completed, Geely Motor Holdings Limited's issued shares in polar krypton increased from about 48% to about 58%, achieving absolute control of polar krypton.
The significance of this capital increase is not simple, for Li Shufu, this is a win-win situation.
First of all, Geely Automobile Holdings increased its holdings of extreme krypton, which is its firm belief and persistence in the development of pure electric change, which makes investors more confident in Geely Automobile Holdings and Polar Krypton.
Second, since Geely will pay the price by cash plus additional issuance to Geely Holdings Group, Li Shufu will be able to increase his stake in Geely without spending any resources. and Geely Holdings, which is wholly owned by Geely, can also get 1.98 billion yuan in cash.
In September this year, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles exceeded 20% to 20.4%, setting another record. Behind such rapid growth is the huge expansion of consumer demand for new energy.
This is undoubtedly the best time for extreme krypton, but after a decline in word-of-mouth, the only chance to recover is to provide consumers with safe and competitive products. From the standpoint of extreme krypton and Li Shufu, the competition in the future will only become more and more fierce, and how to make good use of the present time to keep the reputation of brands and products is the most important.
