In the era when the new energy automobile industry is surging, there are one or two car companies that can’t hold on every year, and this year it is the turn of the extreme.
Just today, Xia Yiping, CEO of Chaoyue, was surrounded by the office. Some employees were worried that Xia Yiping would "run away" and asked the company to settle the salary today, otherwise they needed to detain Xia Yiping’s ID card and passport. It is understood that the on-site staff mainly give four major demands:
Pay employee social security, medical insurance and provident fund in October and November this year;
In December this year, the salary, five insurances, one gold and one tax were paid;
Compensation for employee "N+1" on the day of resignation;
Complete the employee settlement process.
As a new brand, Jiyue Automobile once attracted the attention of many consumers with its unique design concept and cutting-edge technology.
Just at the beginning of this month, some netizens posted on social media that the ultra-Vietnamese car has started large-scale layoffs, and the old employees will not renew their contracts, and 40% of them will be laid off before the year. However, the extreme Vietnamese side also voiced rumors, saying that the company is all right.
Today, the extreme is completely out of control!
[Sales volume].
Jiyue Automobile was founded in 2021, then called Jidu Automobile, and was jointly built by Baidu Group and Geely Automobile Group, among which Baidu held 55% of the shares and Geely held 45%.
In June 2022, Jidu Automobile released the first concept car ROBO-01.
In August 2023, due to production qualification problems, Jidu Automobile was renamed Jiyue, and Geely’s shareholding rose to 65%. At the end of October of the same year, mass production went on the market.
At present, there are two models on sale in Extreme Yue, both of which are medium and large, of which the guide price of Extreme Yue 01 is 219,900-309,900 yuan, and the guide price is 209,900-299,900 yuan.
Although Jiyue Automobile tried to increase sales through price reduction, preferential treatment and other strategies, the overall market performance remained sluggish.
According to public data, in the first 11 months of 2024, about 14,000 units were delivered, and netizens commented that "half a foot in the ICU".
Dramatically, at this year’s Guangzhou Auto Show, Jiyue also unveiled its first AI intelligent driving supercar concept car.
[Capital chain crisis]
Poor sales are only part of the predicament of the ultra-Vietnamese car. Judging from the financing situation, after the completion of nearly $400 million Series A financing in January 2022, the follow-up financing has not progressed. With the intensification of market competition and poor sales, Extreme Vietnam Automobile has fallen into a capital chain crisis. According to reports, the ultra-Vietnam automobile even experienced arrears of suppliers and large-scale layoffs, which further aggravated its financial difficulties.
In addition, there are some problems such as chaotic management, shareholders’ dissatisfaction and frequent changes in sales policies, which not only affect the normal operation of the company, but also damage the reputation and brand image of the company.
At the same time, the company relies too much on the Internet senior management team and lacks a deep understanding of the automobile industry, which leads to shortcomings in product development, production and sales.
Although Xia Yiping, CEO of Extreme Yue, said in an internal letter that the company will enter the stage of entrepreneurship 2.0, and promised to adhere to the long-term investment in core technologies, strengthen the building of sales and service capabilities, merge departments and positions with duplicate functions, and cut down projects that cannot improve financial performance in the short term, employees of Extreme Yue Automobile did not buy it.
On the evening of December 11th, a number of Jiyue stores have closed their stores and locked their cars, which is said to prevent the test drive of the exhibition car from being driven away to compensate. Car owners who have already booked a car have also received a phone call and will refund the deposit one after another.
Some employees and dealers launch live broadcasts on the platform, or look for jobs online, or "get goods" online, while some other car companies even brush gifts crazily in the live broadcast room. Netizens commented: "The unpretentious commercial war has begun again."
According to reports, Extreme Yue Automobile has given two plans in the process of layoffs: First, it will voluntarily leave and sign an agreement, and the compensation will be in place before February 15; The second is to leave without pay and not pay social security and provident fund. These two schemes failed to satisfy employees, who thought that the company’s approach was too decisive and the resignation compensation was not legal and compliant.
Insiders of Extreme Yue Automobile believe that Xia Yiping is responsible for 90% of the extreme Yue Automobile’s development today. The source said that there have been rumors within the company that Baidu is actually willing to continue blood transfusion, but the premise is that Xia Yiping must leave the CEO. Xia Yiping is unwilling to make this concession.
Geely, on the other hand, has no intention of fostering this brand. Although there have been orders for Extreme Yue cars in recent months, Extreme Yue cars owe Geely too much money, and Geely is reluctant to give them to Extreme Yue cars.
"Seeing him rise from a tall building, seeing him entertain guests, and seeing his building collapse."
Sailin, Singularity, Baiteng, Aichi, Hengchi, Horizon, Weimar, Nezha, Jiyue … New forces are being eliminated every year. For example, Tucki and Weilai have all gone through five hurdles and cut six generals to achieve today’s achievements. In addition to financial support, they must also have technological innovation, pay attention to market demand, and strengthen internal management.
Extreme Vietnam is not the first new force to fall, nor will it be the last one. When the alarm bell rings again, I can only say, I wish you all!
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