IPO is not a gold medal for WM Motor

Shanghai resumes work, and Weimar goes to Hong Kong.

On June 1, Shanghai, which had been under global static management for two months, finally ushered in the resumption of work and production.On this day, Shanghai-based WM Motor also appeared on the list of a new batch of IPO applications on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.If it successfully landed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange this time, WM Motor will become another new car manufacturer to land on the Hong Kong stock market after "Wei Xiaoli".

As one of the first batch of veteran car companies born with new powers, WM Motor was once the darling of venture capital institutions, and became the "Four Little Dragons of New Powers" that was tied for the first camp with "Wei Xiaoli"; The development is lagging behind cruelly. The sales volume and momentum are gradually separated from the first camp, the vehicles spontaneously combust, the executives leave one after another, and so on. Recently, it has even been exposed to the news that tens of millions of property fees are in arrears.

Although the news has been refuted, from the point of view of WM Motor, when "Wei Xiaoli" has been listed one after another and its development has reached a new level, WM Motor, once the "Four Little Dragons of New Power", is obviously unwilling to do so. Continue to be stuck in second-tier new power brands, and this time to apply for IPO in Hong Kong is an important choice for them to get rid of funding problems and seek new development.

Net loss of 13.6 billion in three years, Weimar and other money to save lives

WM Motor is very obsessed with the IPO.

It is understood that at the beginning of last year, WM Motor has completed the listing guidance on the Science and Technology Innovation Board.However, there were subsequent reports that WM Motor was questioned for its lack of technology content, the proportion of R&D investment in revenue was not high, coupled with continuous huge losses, and many problems in the review of listed materials, making its scientific and technological innovation Board is blocked.

In response to the report, WM Motor responded: "The IPO queue is underway under the tightening of the Science and Technology Innovation Board policy. The listing time has not yet been determined. Please refer to the Shanghai Stock Exchange for the listing status of the Science and Technology Innovation Board." But since then, WM Motor's technology The road to creating the board has no following.

Until the beginning of April this year, WM Motor was revealed to have voluntarily abandoned its application for an IPO on the Science and Technology Innovation Board and planned to go public in Hong Kong.

It is not an isolated case for WM Motor to hit a wall on the Science and Technology Innovation Board. Many car companies have also suspended the listing process of the Science and Technology Innovation Board one after another.After all, the core thresholds for listing on the Science and Technology Innovation Board are technology and finance, which have high requirements for technological level and innovation capabilities, and also consider the implementation of business models and the development prospects of enterprises.

In fact, many car companies, including WM Motor, have no advantage over the Sci-tech Innovation Board in terms of technology content and R&D investment. In addition, it has suffered losses for consecutive years, and it is normal for WM Motor to hit the Sci-Tech Innovation Board.

According to the prospectus, the total revenue of WM Motor in the past three years is 1.762 billion yuan in 2019, 2.671 billion yuan in 2020, and 4.742 billion yuan in 2021, with a total revenue of 9.175 billion yuan.

Like many new car-making forces, WM Motor has been losing money year after year before reaching a large enough scale of production and enough annual sales.During the period, after deducting non-business factors such as share-based payment expenses and changes in the fair value of financial liabilities, WM Motor's net losses in the past three years were 4.04 billion yuan, 4.225 billion yuan, and 5.363 billion yuan, totaling 13.628 billion yuan. .

Fortunately, due to the early entry, and Shen Hui's gathering of all the experience and resources required by auto manufacturing companies such as energy, auto parts, vehicle companies, and software before building the car, Weimar's starting point is higher than Weimar's. There are many Xiao Li, and through the continuous investment of various venture capital institutions, it maintains its own "making ends meet", which saves WM Motor from the common problem of breaking the capital chain of new forces in car manufacturing.

WM Motor, which is invested by Baidu, Chengcheng Capital, Tencent, Sequoia China and other institutions, has attracted a large number of investment bigwigs since its establishment, and has successively obtained many large financings.As of October 5 last year, when it received $500 million in Series D financing, WM Motor has completed 11 rounds of financing with a cumulative amount of 35 billion yuan.

Even so, neither the capital advantage nor the first-mover advantage has brought a bonus to WM Motor's market performance.Today's WM Motor is facing an embarrassing development dilemma, coupled with insufficient cash flow reserves, which further enhances its urgency for listing to absorb funds.As of the end of last year, WM Motor had only 4.1 billion yuan in cash and equivalents.

The risk warning in WM Motor's prospectus also mentioned: "Our operations require a large amount of capital. If we fail to obtain sufficient financing on acceptable terms, it may have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results."

Weimaraner's Syndrome

As WM Motor said, if the IPO application in Hong Kong is successful, it will receive a lot of funds for brand operation.But is WM Motor's problem really money or is it really just money?

According to the prospectus, including the Weimar M7, which will be launched in the second half of the year, Weimar is expected to have models such as EX5, EX6, W6, E5 and M7.At the same time, it will launch new SUV, sedan and MPV models based on the Caesar platform in 2023.At that time, it will achieve comprehensive coverage of all types of models from A-level to B-level products.

Despite the huge product lineup, according to the prospectus, WM Motor has built two intelligent manufacturing bases in Wenzhou and Huanggang, with an estimated production capacity of 250,000 vehicles/ year.And it delivered a total of 44,000electric vehicleslast year . Although the year-on-year data of 96.3% is very good, the sales volume is less than 20% of the actual production capacity of 250,000 vehicles, but it is also terrible.

As of the end of April this year, WM Motor has sold more than 98,000 electric vehicles since the first model was launched in September 2018.But WM Motor's cumulative sales of 98,000 vehicles are only the sales of "Wei Xiaoli" last year, nothing more.

If WM Motor can firmly hold the top spot in the second camp, it will be an explanation in today's crazy and chaotic market, but it is not the case.In 2021, WM Motor will be ruthlessly left behind by Nezha Auto with a huge advantage, and there will be Leap Motor cars behind it.

Product sales are the most fundamental part of driving brand power and capital chain stability. At this point, WM Motor has not done a good job, and it can be said that it is one of the problems that must be removed for its long-term healthy development.

In contrast to "Wei Xiaoli",under the background of sluggishsales of WM Motor , it shows its timidity in exploring the sales model.

WM Motor once adopted an Internet-based sales system, that is, a combination of direct sales and authorization models.Under this model, the selling price is unified across the country; however, with the relocation of Lu Bin, the vice president of WM Motor at the time of strategic planning and execution, in order to share risks, WM Motor returned to the traditional dealer model and became the A new power car company that follows the "old model".

According to the prospectus, from 2019 to 2021, most of the five major customers of WM Motor are car dealers or leasing platforms.As of December 31, 2021, Weimar has a sales and service network consisting of 621 partner stores.

Of course, the current sales models have their own strengths and weaknesses, and there is no absolute superiority or inferiority.However, in the decision-making of timidity and foresight, including channel layout, brand influence, system establishment, etc., it has already lagged behind its competitors.If you fall behind, you will be beaten.

As mentioned earlier, the transfer of management affects the brand's strategic planning and work execution.For WM Motor, not only the vice president Lu Bin left, but also Tang Junying, the chief retail officer of WM Motor, and Liu Liqun, the former general manager of the Mobility Division.

Not only that, in addition to sales constraints, sales system and management turmoil, the still weak brand label, the lingering influence of natural disturbances, and the lack of decision-making leaders are all problems faced by WM Motor.

On the afternoon of May 31, WM Motor CEO Shen Hui posted a Weibo saying that there has been another round of price hikes for automotive chips recently, and that the cost of chips for smart electric vehicles has exceeded that of battery packs.No, the supply chain of WM Motor also seems to be under pressure.

One "difficulty" remains unsolved, and another "difficulty" reappears.

The problem of WM Motor is obviously not or not entirely in funding.Just as the automobile commune mentioned in the article "WM Motor, Still Silence" at the beginning of the year, "There is not much time and money left for WM Motor", the brand development in this "black swan" flying and "grey rhino" running wild At the key node of the company, instead of going to Hong Kong first, WM Motors should "go to trouble" first to solve the problem.