Money comes in but cars are not produced: Internet car companies are in trouble

Since the beginning of this year, Tesla, the world's largest electric car company by market value, has been in the spotlight and has been sought after by both the public opinion and the capital circle. In fact, since 2014, many small "Teslas" have sprung up in China, claiming to use the concept of the Internet to build new energy vehicles. These companies are called "Internet car companies" in the industry. Among these emerging car companies, Aiways, Weilai Automobile, Xiaopeng Motors, etc. have obtained more than 1 billion yuan in financing and poached a group of talents from traditional car companies with high salaries. However, so far, no Internet car company has brought mass-produced cars to the market. Even some pioneers have almost been eliminated due to insufficient funds, such as LeTV Auto and Youxia Auto.

At the same time, these new car companies are also facing the problem of a poor environment in the automotive industry, such as the overall overcapacity of the domestic automotive industry and the gradual withdrawal of policy subsidies. A well-known person in the automotive technology circle once publicly pointed out that the final elimination rate in the Internet automotive industry may be very alarming, and there may be only three or four new car companies that can survive in the future.

Get capital support first

In terms of the speed of promoting mass-produced cars, Xpeng Motors is not the fastest among Internet car companies. However, NIO recently announced that the pure electric SUV ES8, which it produced in cooperation with JAC Motors, will be officially launched on December 16.

It is worth mentioning that Xpeng Motors and NIO are already pioneers among Internet car companies, but neither of them has yet launched mass-produced cars. In other words, no Internet car company has launched mass-produced cars on the market yet.

But this does not hinder the financing process of these Internet car companies. In July this year, Xiaopeng Motors received 2.2 billion yuan in Series A financing led by UCAR. NIO has also received more than 2 billion US dollars in financing in two years, with investors including Sequoia China, Hillhouse Capital, Tencent, Lenovo Holdings, Baidu Capital and other well-known institutions.

On December 5, WM Motor, which was founded only two years ago, announced the completion of a new round of financing of US$1 billion, led by Baidu Capital, with participation from SIG Haina Asia and Amiba. So far, WM Motor has raised more than 12 billion yuan in total. In addition, Internet car companies such as AIWAYS and CHJ Automotive also received more than 100 million yuan in financing this year.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.