Avita: Changan set up, Huawei singing drama

Author | Karong

Edit | Tang Fei

Recently, Avita can be described as double joy.

On August 8, 2022, Avita 11, which was "not fired", was officially launched at a price of 349,900 to 409,900 yuan.

The reason why Avita 11 "did not start fire" was mainly because it was jointly created by Changan Automobile, Huawei and Ningde Times. In the smart car industry of most new vehicle -made power players, the Software and Hardware have a hardware and hardware that Avita, which has a front -line mechanism platform, is difficult to not pay great attention in the car circle.

In addition to the extensive discussion of related products, investment institutions are also optimistic about Avita. Avita 11, one week ago, on August 2, 2022, Changan Automobile issued an announcement saying that the company's joint venture Avita Technology (Chongqing) Co., Ltd. (referred to as "Avita") has completed Series A financing.

It is understood that six companies including the National Green Development Fund Co., Ltd., Qingdao Yuewan Zhiwang Industrial Investment Fund Partnership, Huzhou Chuangshengchi Mingchi Equity Investment Partnerships, including Avita, increased their capital of 2.547 billion yuan. After the financing was completed, Avita's total financing scale was nearly 5 billion yuan, and the valuation after investment was nearly 10 billion yuan.

Although there are new investors entering the bureau, it is worth noting that in Series A financing, except for Changan Automobile, Avita's previous shareholders Ningde Times and Weilai Automobile did not increase their capital. After this round of financing, the shareholding ratio of Ningde Times was diluted from 23.99%to 17.10%, but overall, Ningde was still the second largest shareholder of Avita.

Complete a new round of financing, and the first product is finally listed, the foundation of Avita may indeed become more firm, but the old shareholders such as Ningde Times did not further "increase", which may also mean It is better to be so beautiful as expected.

"Anxiety" gave birth to Avita

Although Changan Automobile is a force that cannot be underestimated by the Chinese automobile market, from the historical perspective of development, Changan Automobile has always relying on anxiety to rely on a single brand.

In the era of fuel vehicles, Changan Automobile seriously relied on the joint venture brand Changan Ford. According to the financial report, in 2016, Changan Ford sales reached 957,500 vehicles and net profit was 18.058 billion yuan, which contributed a net profit of about 90 % to the group.

However, due to problems such as new products, the rise of local brands, and other joint venture brands, Changan Ford began to go downhill after 2016. According to the financial report, from 2018 to 2019, Changan Ford's sales were only 378,000 and 184,000, a year-on-year decrease of 54.38%and 51.3%, respectively.

Correspondingly, since Q2 2018, Changan Automobile has also fallen into the quagmire of losses. According to the financial report, from 2018 to 2020, Changan Automobile's non-net profit was -3.165 billion yuan, -4762 billion yuan and -3250 million yuan, respectively, with a total loss of over 10 billion yuan.

In the context of the dilemma of fuel vehicles, Changan Automobile saw the dividend of the smart car market in time and launched a series of products.

For example, in 2017, Changan Automobile proposed the Shangri -La plan. It is planned to stop the sale of fuel vehicles in 2025 to achieve the electrification of all products. However, because the product does not have core competitiveness, Changan Automobile's new energy products are just a tool for making "points" in a greater sense.

Picture source: Changan Automobile

According to the financial report, in 2021, Changan's new energy vehicle sales were 100,000 vehicles, of which Changan Benben E-SAR sales were 76,000 units, accounting for 76%of the total new energy sales. In Q1 in 2022, the proportion of Changan Benben E-Star's sales in Changan New Energy Vehicle further increased, reaching about 85%.

Although this low -priced "car" is very expelled, the contribution of the profit end is not great. Because of this, the "anxiety" Changan Automobile selection and manufacturers with core technical advantages cooperate to build a car. On August 17, 2018, Changan Automobile and Weilai joined hands to establish Changan Weilai New Energy Automotive Technology Co., Ltd. (the predecessor of "Avita"). Among them, Changan Automobile and Weilai each accounted for 45%of the shares.

Considering that Weilai's advantage at this time is software interaction and autonomous driving, so cooperation with Weilai may indeed make Changan's new energy car icing on the cake.

However, unfortunately, Weilai did not devote all his efforts to Changan Weilai. After the market has gradually opened the market in his own smart car, and after winning the capital market, Weilai has gradually pulled out from Changan Weilai.

Photo source: Enterprise Check

Earlier, Li Bin, the founder of Weilai, said that "Weilai has been accelerating the process of establishing a joint venture with Chang'an and GAC to provide a car that is suitable for different price interval in the future." However, in June 2020, as Li Bin stepped down as chairman of Changan Weilai, Weilai and Changan Automobile's cooperation would be treated.

From the perspective of capital, we can also see Weilai's attitude towards Changan Weilai. A round A financing announcement shows that Weilai Automobile has not participated in Avita's capital increase, and its shareholding ratio has been diluted from 1.13%to 0.81%, which has almost nothing.

Changan Automobile Find the "Car Crossing Tour"

Perhaps it was because of the rising sales of Weilai Automobile, or because of the cold treatment of Changan Weilai, Changan Automobile once again explored the new way of breaking the situation.

The new way of breaking Changan Automobile is still cooperating with industry giants. In November 2020, Changan Automobile stated that it would work with Ningde Times and Huawei to create high -end smart car brands. After the Ningde Times and Huawei entered the game, the name of "Weilai" will naturally become an obstacle to restricting brand development. In May 2021, Changan Weilai officially changed its name to Avita. According to official information, in the early 2022, Avita completed the first round of strategic financing. Among them, Ningde Times received 23.99%of the former equity and was the second largest shareholder.

Picture source: Avita

In this regard, Zhu Huarong, chairman of Changan Automobile, said: "For more than 10 years, Changan Automobile has been exploring the high -end brand. Four years ago, Changan Automobile initiated the CHN platform with Huawei and Ningde Times."

Considering that the core competitiveness of new energy vehicles is the humanized software experience and powerful battery life, Changan Automobile's selection and Huawei of the main software and the leading Chu Ningde era cooperation in the battery industry are indeed unique.

Huawei, who positions himself as a "smart car solution" provider, has repeatedly emphasized that "it is not necessary to build a car, but to truly help partners and car companies to build a good car."

"2021 China Smart Automobile Enterprise 100". Picture source: Huaxi Securities

Since its sanctions in 2019, Huawei has bet on smart cars. In July 2022, Yu Chengdong said, "Huawei spent a billion dollars a year in the car business, and the car business is the only loss business in Huawei." Continuous investment has indeed allowed Huawei to occupy a favorable position in the smart automobile industry. The list of "2021 China Smart Automobile Enterprises" released by Huaxi Securities shows that Huawei ranks first.

Although the Ningde era ranked second, it also meant that the Ningde era also had good technical strength in the smart automobile industry.

Data disclosed by Sne Research show that from 2017 to 2021, the power battery equipment in Ningde Times was the first in the world for five consecutive years. In 2021, the market share of the power battery in Ningde Times was 32.6%.

In particular, the expansion of power battery gaps has further enhanced the right to speak in the Ningde era. According to data disclosed by Sne Research, it is expected that in 2023, the demand for power batteries of new energy vehicles around the world is 406GWh, while the market supply is only 335GWh and the gap is about 18%.

In this regard, at the 2021 Chengdu Auto Show, Yang Hongxin, chairman and CEO of Hive Energy, said: "At present, the battery gap in the new energy vehicle industry is 30%-50%. It is expected that until 2025, the battery capacity is tight."

Changan Automobile and Ningde Times and Huawei jointly build cars. In addition to getting the moon near the water tower, closer to the supply chain, it can also improve the landing efficiency of the product.

At the Chengdu Auto Show in 2022, Tan Benhong, the chairman and CEO of Avita Technology and CEO: "The Avita brand is less than one year after its release, and the first product will be available. CHN cooperation model and a new generation of smart electric vehicle technology platform CHN jointly created by the three parties. "

In comparison, Xiaomi announced the car in March 2021. "Xiaomi Automobile's first investment was 10 billion yuan, and it is expected to invest 10 billion US dollars in the next 10 years." In March of March, Xiaomi officially released that the progress of the car building was exceeded that the new car was expected to officially mass production in the first half of 2024.

In contrast, from the official announcement and Ningde era, Huawei joined hands to build a car, to the first product Avita 11 was officially dazzling, Avita only took about one year, which was a quick speed.

Is it the same as the ghost?

According to previous speculation, the "three giants" joined hands to build a car can almost "guarantee" Avita's first product to become the industry. But as we have seen, Avita 11 does not actually have a moat in the absolute sense.

At the press conference, Avita CEO Tan Benhong once talked about the underlying logic of Avita 11's "Emotional Smart Car", and said to the outside world: "We start from consumers' psychological needs and actively explore future humanized travel technology. Create an emotional intelligent travel experience for users, and create a smart life of the interconnection of the whole scene. We firmly believe that intelligence will eventually be full of emotions and is committed to promoting the acceleration of the era of emotional intelligent electric vehicle. "

Although marketing gimmicks can increase the talk of Avita 11, it cannot hide the problem of no differentiation advantage in Avita 11.

Picture source: Avita

In terms of core power, Avita 11 is equipped with Huawei Drive ONE dual electromechanical drive system. The maximum power of the front motor is 195kW, the maximum power of the rear motor is 230kW, the comprehensive power Wei425kW, and the total torque of the motor is 650N · m.

At the perspective of battery life, the battery capacity of Avita 11 long battery life is 90kWh, with a range of 555km; the battery capacity of the ultra -long battery life is 116kWh and the battery life is 680km.

Avita 11 has three configurations, with a price range of 349,900 yuan to 409,900 yuan. The two long battery life will be delivered in December 2022.

Judging from the horizontal price comparison, Weilai ES6, EC6, and Tesla Model Y are all Avita 11 competing products, but in the comparison of vehicle parameters, Avita 11 is not dominant.

For example, the battery life of the Avita 11 long battery life is 680km. In contrast, the battery life of the Tesla Model Y long battery life is 660km. Although the latter is 20km lower than the former's battery life, it is also 15,000 lower than the former. Yuan. Therefore, Tesla Model Y is more cost -effective. In fact, the battery of Avita 11 still has a certain strength. Official information shows that the CTP ternary lithium battery package equipped with Avita 11 is the latest product of the Ningde era. But this selling point is also difficult to ensure the sales volume of Avita 11.

Picture source: Weibo

Outside Avita, the Ningde Times participated in Geely's PRE-A round of financing and the D2 round of financing of Nezha Motors, and also invested in Aichi Automobile and Byton Automobile. Earlier, after the Ningde Times released the Kirin battery, the ideal car and Nezha car successively confirmed that the battery would be equipped.

In fact, compared to creating a mature electric vehicle company, the Ningde era seemed to be a technology provider for upstream and downstream.

In 2019, Ningde Times launched the first generation of CTP battery technology, which not only increased the energy density of the battery, but also reduced the production cost of the power battery system. In early 2022, Ningde Times stated that it would launch a highly integrated CTC technology around 2025, and launched the CTC electric chassis system in 2028.

Based on the current situation of the sharp decline in Ningde Times, the launch of a series of solutions may be the "second curve" described by Ningde Times.

Huawei is also the same. Although it has been standing for Avita, this platform is not exclusive. For example, before Avita 11, Huawei had launched three cars with Xiaokang Group.

In response to the cooperation with Xiaokang Group, Yu Chengdong, executive director of Huawei and smart car solutions, said that Huawei and Well -off have the spirit of strugglers. "Future cooperation will be deeper, long -term and sustainable."

From the capital level, we can also see the attitude of Ningde Times and Huawei to Avita. As mentioned earlier, Avita completed a round A financing on August 2, but Ningde did not increase capital, and Huawei has not injected Avita for capital.

From this point of view, in the story of the three giants, maybe only Changan Automobile is the real "old man".

*This article is based on public information, which is only used as information exchange, and does not constitute any investment suggestions

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