The rise of three lithium batteries in the era of Ningde is more sought

The power battery industry, which is a core supplier at a point where the new energy car industry has just begun to take off, has been shaken. In addition to the Ningde era, which still has the highest sales volume, the second-ranked BYD power battery profit has shrunk significantly. Wotema, who was originally optimistic about the alliance model in the industry, was deeply involved in the turmoil of the capital chain and has now announced a suspension of work for six months.

The Times Weekly reporter contacted the relevant person in charge of the Waterhorse Public Relations Department and was told that he had left in April this year. "The team has long since been disbanded and the entire department has been abolished. Later, according to internal sources, Wotema's Deputy Secretary-General of the New Energy Automobile Industry Innovation Alliance, Wotema Group Chairman, and Mengguang, Vice President of Wotema's power battery, have also resigned. At present, Wotema is basically in a state of paralysis.

A senior industry insider told the Times Weekly reporter that Wotema is in urgent need of external funds, but his financing ability or funding awareness is not strong, especially the core management team is blindly optimistic about the company's financial situation. Wotema's model is a double-edged sword. When it works well, it develops rapidly, but once there is a problem in the long money chain, it can easily get into trouble.

Wotema's sudden fall is a wake-up call to other players in the new energy industry. The entrepreneurial model, which is entirely based on subsidy policies, is a gamble. From now on, Wotema still has a chance to see who will save him.

After rapid growth

In addition to being the world's largest car market, China is also already the world's largest new energy car market, which is inseparable from the support of national policies.

According to relevant statistics, in 2017, the government issued more than 40 policies related to the development of the new-energy automotive industry. Among these policies, the industry and consumers are more concerned about the subsidy policy for new-energy automobiles. Its changes and adjustments are not only closely related to the final purchase decisions of consumers, but also the targets of vehicle producers and power battery providers.

For car companies, the future is only an expectation, and it is not entirely certain that it will eventually materialize. Therefore, it is more realistic to obtain subsidies.

According to incomplete statistics, the amount of subsidies invested by the government in electric vehicles in 2015 was 59 billion yuan. The original industry's subsidy for 2016 was estimated to be 83 billion yuan.

However, as the new energy vehicle fraud investigation in 2015 emerged, the new energy vehicle subsidy began to tighten, which has long been expected, although at this year's government work report meeting, Prime minister Li Keqiang said that the government will support the new energy industry for at least three years. However, the industry has long expected the slope of subsidy policies.

Therefore, on May 25 of this year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced the "Preliminary Review of Subsidy Funds for the Promotion and Application of New Energy Vehicles in 2017 and Prior Years". After the review by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, it was finally confirmed that the new energy auto companies to be issued in 2016 and 2017 should liquidate subsidy funds totaling approximately 18.972 billion yuan.

That's a big difference from the industry estimate of 83 billion yuan in 2015.

According to the announcement, in 2016, the number of new energy enterprises applying for promotion was 51,016, and the number of enterprises applying for list funds was 12.463 billion yuan. The number of approved promotion by the expert group was 50,208 vehicles, and the amount of subsidies to be liquidated was 12.333 billion yuan. In 2017, the number of new energy automotive enterprises declared and promoted was 230,616 vehicles, and the amount of funds applied for liquidation was 9.601 billion yuan. The number of promotion approved by the expert group was 161,667 vehicles, and the amount of funds due for liquidation subsidies was 6.641 billion yuan. Thus, the subsidy level in 2017 is close to 50 per cent tighter than in 2016.

Some industry analysts pointed out that the top-selling new energy vehicle companies are generally supported by large-scale traditional automotive groups. The tightening of new energy subsidies has a certain relationship with the development of these vehicle companies, but it is not a fatal effect. What really affects the power battery industry is that when the subsidy policy has requirements for endurance, the vehicle company will choose a power battery that can meet the subsidy requirements, and the original three-element lithium battery with high energy density will be more sought after.

Ningde era rises

In May, 96,000 new energy vehicles were manufactured and sold, up 85.6 percent and 125.6 percent from a year earlier, respectively, according to the China Automobile Industry Association. Among them, the production and sales of pure electric vehicles completed 77,000 vehicles and 82,000 vehicles, respectively, an increase of 75.9 % and 112.8 % over the same period last year; The production and sales of plug-in hybrid vehicles completed 19,000 vehicles and 20,000 vehicles, respectively, an increase of 138.8 % and 196.8 % over the same period last year.

From January to May, the production and sales of new energy vehicles were all 328,000 vehicles, an increase of 122.9 % and 141.6 % respectively over the same period last year. Among them, the production and sales of pure electric vehicles all completed 250,000 vehicles, an increase of 105.1 % and 124.7 % respectively over the same period last year; The production and sales of plug-in hybrid vehicles were 79,000 and 78,000, respectively, an increase of 207.3 % and 218.4 % over the same period last year.

The new energy car industry has made great progress and development along with preferential policies(new energy vehicle shaker) and subsidy policies. However, the power battery industry, which is one of the three core elements of new energy sources, has not been as prosperous as the entire vehicle industry so far.

According to the installed capacity ranking data for 2017, the top three companies in the power battery industry are the Ningde era, which is mainly in the direction of ternary lithium batteries, BYD is responsible for ternary lithium batteries and lithium iron phosphate, and the Water horse Alliance. The three forms of lithium iron phosphate coexist.

Among them, the Ningde era, which is purely a three-way lithium-powered battery, is a supplier. Although the business form is single, it is also widely favored by automotive companies. With the influence of related subsidy policies, foreign companies also prefer to choose Ningde era in the Chinese market. The preferred partner.

Its installed capacity in 2017 is the sum of the second to fourth places, with 390 supporting vehicles and 64 car companies.

Some industry analysts told the Times Weekly reporter that the quality and technical standards of the Ningde era were international, and they were not equal to Samsung SDI or LG chemistry.

BYD and Wotema's mistake

In late 2017, it was announced that policies on new energy vehicles would be adjusted, that the new national new energy subsidy policy would tend to encourage high-mileage and low-energy models, and that subsidies for low-endurance models would be reduced and eliminated. At the same time, local subsidies will be completely withdrawn.

This basically announced the future of lithium iron phosphate batteries or will gradually withdraw from the stage of history, and the three-element lithium battery has become the only option.

Compared with the new leader Ningde era, although the old leader BYD also started from the battery industry, but after entering the vehicle industry, compared to the Ningde era, BYD's various sections need to develop, so they are all flat.

Due to the fact that its entire vehicle products also focus on entry-level products, BYD's power battery industry is also supported by lithium iron phosphate, supplemented by three-way lithium.

At this time, BYD can only break its wrists and make a strategy of turning the ship around. According to BYD insiders, one of the main purposes of its spin-off power battery business is to allow other car companies to purchase BYD's power batteries..

According to the 2017 installed capacity ranking data, BYD, the second largest company in the industry, only supplies two companies, one of which is its own vehicle.

In fact, the strategic mistake is not only BYD, basically by the layman Wotema's Wotema, once from obscurity to the third industry, its unique model of a thousand small business alliance, but also Become the focus of industry attention. However, the lack of technology and strategic mistakes led to the collapse of the capital chain that eventually fell under the influence of policy adjustments.

Mr Yuanwotema, an executive, told the Times that it might not have been so bad had it not been for the subsidy adjustment that would have left companies with a choice of lithium for three.

The Times Weekly reporter found that of the top 10 companies in the power battery industry, only the Wotema family has only lithium iron phosphate technology products. This means that when the entire industry changes, Wotema does not have a backup plan.

In addition, Wotema, as a relatively backward small and medium-sized enterprise, used the curve to save the country when competing with BYD and Ningde. The foundation of its alliance is to purchase the products of small-scale new energy logistics vehicles, so that it chooses Wotema's lithium iron phosphate battery as a power battery, and then invests the purchased products into the alliance's own rental and electric vehicle logistics projects.

The above-mentioned senior industry insiders told the Times Weekly reporter that in this way, Wotema, who originally belonged to small and medium-sized companies, became a large company with heavy assets. The business scale was no less than that of BYD, and the management cost of the Wotema alliance was relatively high. High, so its funding chain is very fragile. Coupled with lax financial management, it has come to this point.

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