Gree Appliances Looks at Yinlong Lithium titanate battery

Regarding the wishful thinking of Ms dong , it seems that everyone has guessed wrong. "I don't want to build a car. I want new energy technology. If it is just to build a car, in order to create the next 100 billion Gree, the cooperation between Gree and Yinlong is blind." Facing the media The question of the car, Dong Mingzhu’ s “answering questions” made the stage awkward. On August 23, after three consecutive announcements of Lianfa issued multiple benefits, Gree Electric held a media meeting on the plan to acquire Yinlong New Energy and its supporting funds. Gree Electric CEO Dong Mingzhu "Ms dong" with the two executives, for the first time to answer the questions of Gree to build a car.

Dong Mingzhu is 62 years old this year and is the spiritual leader of Gree. On the day of the conference, Dong Mingzhu had a long skirt and kept a shallow smile. It looked good. The day before, she also negotiated with Yinlong and the local government about the order of passenger cars in Chengdu. She did not see any exhaustion. She held a Gree phone in her hand and replied to the reporter's speech, accompanied by a gesture-like passionate gesture. Before the interview began, Dong Mingzhu specially requested a video about the production of Gree Automation during the “Pro”.

Of course, there are also a few paragraphs about Gree mobile phones. "When I take a photo, I want to use a Gree mobile phone." After that, Dong Mingzhu couldn't help himself. Of course, Dong Mingzhu does not think that he is a "professional car," she said: "Gree is not a cross-border car, electric vehicles are a collection of electrical products." For the existing car companies, the car door can still be built for the car. From the point of view of keeping outsiders out of the door, Dong Mingzhu even bluntly said, "Car chassis technology is not a problem at all, there is no threshold." This feeling is somewhat similar to that of Li Shufu, chairman of Geely Group, who said that the car was a "four-wheel sofa".

But how does Gree build a car? The outside world is still not very clear. On August 23, after half a year of suspension, Gree made a 100% stake in Yinlong New Energy for 130 million yuan. After the smart phone, Gree diversified and crossed the border. Ten years ago, there were cases in which the United States and other home appliance companies failed to make a car. Therefore, Gree was involved in the field of building cars. The outside world was mixed, but Dong Dajie still said that he had already become "in the chest." "Lithium titanate battery and Yinlong (new energy) are gold buried in the sand, we are the ones who want to get the gold out of the sand." Dong Mingzhu said.

Although Ms dong said that she was not eager to build a car, she was very anxious when accepting an exclusive interview with the reporter. "I certainly want to build a car, but now I want to, but now the national policy issue (not solved)." The reporter also learned exclusively that Yinlong New Energy will be renamed as “Gree New Energy” after its successful acquisition, and will continue to exert its strength in the passenger vehicle field. At the same time, Yinlong New Energy has been with Tesla and Beiqi. Contact separately, or will introduce third-party car partners.

Gree's new opportunity is that the country will give nearly ten new new energy vehicle passenger car qualifications. At present, only Beiqi New Energy and Changjiang Automobile are acquired. Among the remaining eight qualifications, Gree has the opportunity to obtain a precious ticket.

Series Gree's "Electricity"

What is the motivation for Gree to build a car? The current consensus is that Gree needs new growth points. Gree Electric achieved revenue of 49.182 billion yuan in the first half of this year, down 1.85% from the same period of the previous year. However, the net profit attributable to the parent company was 64.02 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.92%. After deducting non-recurring gains and losses, the net profit attributable to the parent company increased by 35.32% year-on-year; the earnings per share was 1.06 yuan. In 2015, Gree experienced the first revenue in nearly nine years, and the net profit fell sharply. In the same year, Gree's revenue decreased by 28.17% year-on-year, and net profit fell 11.46% year-on-year.

Although Dong Mingzhu is a bit dismissive of this view, he sharply responded that "the change in company revenue is related to the active adjustment of the company's strategy", but the growth space of the air-conditioning industry is indeed approaching the ceiling, and Gree is also facing development confusion. For this reason, Dong Mingzhu in the mobile phone field and Xiaomi founder Lei Jun disclosed about 10 billion yuan in bets, giving Gree a chance to win in the new industry and create enough popularity. Under the big goal of “recreating a Gree in three years”, the search for a link to Gree's diversified business made Dong Mingzhu start to look into the car industry.

But even if it is a car, this seemingly unrelated industry, Dong Mingzhu also has a root line in mind, connecting them together. Dong Mingzhu’s idea is simple and straightforward–all of Gree’s diversified choices are synergistic and inseparable from electricity, which is the key to connecting together. “Air conditioners, mobile phones and electric cars all need electricity. In the future, mobile phones may become intelligent control terminals, and cars are a collection of all electrical appliances.”

The broad prospects of the new energy vehicles and the huge market space have given Dong Mingzhu the imagination. At present, China has become the world's largest new energy vehicle market. In the first half of this year, the production and sales of new energy vehicles in China reached 177,000 and 170,000 respectively, an increase of 125% and 126.9% respectively. Such high growth trends and space have also led to the entry of new energy vehicles in different forms, such as LeTV and Ali.

Gree has to "take a different path" in order to take a share of the participants in the new energy vehicle market. Dong Mingzhu once considered the route of BYD and conquered battery technology. The reporter was informed that as early as a few years ago, Gree had quietly established the New Energy Research Institute. However, after two years of research and judgment, Dong Mingzhu found that it was impossible to achieve breakthroughs only by Gree’s own funds and technology. Cooperation is the last option. After consulting with many upstream and downstream enterprises in the automotive industry and looking around, Dong Mingzhu has set his sights on Yinlong New Energy.

The cooperation between Gree and Yinlong is not accidental. The reporter was informed that Dong Mingzhu and Wei Yincang, the chairman of Yinlong New Energy, had a very early intersection. They have had many exchanges with the representatives of the Jinwan District People's Congress in Zhuhai City, and the time to actually put the acquisition on the agenda is in the second half of 2015. "At the end of last year, contact was reached, and the intention to acquire the acquisition was very fast. It was also two or three months later, and then it was announced that it would be suspended." A senior executive of Yinlong New Energy told the reporter. However, the two sides are able to put the acquisition on the agenda, and the key role behind it is the Zhuhai SASAC.

Car backed by big trees

Before being acquired by Gree, the new energy source of Yinlong in the marginal zone was rarely noticed. Yinlong, which started manufacturing batteries in 2009, has long been eyeing the lithium titanate battery technology that is not optimistic in the market. In 2010, Yinlong New Energy spent US$49.0 million (about 325 million RMB) to acquire US listed companies. Titan Nano Technology Co., Ltd. (AltairNano) has a 53.6% stake in the latest technology of lithium titanate materials; from 2012 to 2013, Yinlong New Energy has acquired automobile manufacturing companies such as Zhuhai Guangtong Automobile and Shijiazhuang Zhongbo Automobile. Domestic vehicle manufacturing qualifications.

At this point, Yinlong New Energy became one of only two companies that can have lithium titanate materials and achieved power and industrial applications. The other is Toshiba Corporation of Japan. In this regard, Yinlong New Energy Chairman Assistant, Marketing Department General Manager Zhang Bin also told reporters that Yinlong's technology in lithium titanate battery is the core strategic advantage of Yinlong. However, the frequent acquisitions for the consumption of funds, as well as the lithium titanate materials are still in the early stages, it is difficult to expand the business, making Yinlong New Energy once a tight capital, and even reached the point of "life and death."

"When CNOOC, Shenhua Group and so on have had cooperation and even negotiations with Yinlong, but in the end they all did it." The person close to the acquisition and the core told this reporter. At the height of the crisis, the policy winds began to change, and lithium titanate battery technology entered the list of subsidy policies. Recently, sensitive capital has come to the door. Before discussing cooperation with Gree, Zhuhai Yinlong carried out two rounds of financing in June 2015 and February 2016 respectively. CITIC Securities, Huarong Assets, Oriental Assets and other investors Jointly investing billions of yuan.

But why is Yinlong New Energy, which can temporarily ease its breath in terms of funds, still embark on the route of acquisition? The answer is still survival. "Yinlong (new energy)'s current main business is passenger cars, but the ceiling of the bus industry is there, the largest size of Yinlong is 200 billion, so we must get involved in the passenger car, although our products and technology reserves have However, the demand for production qualification, capital and brand power of the passenger car is a threshold, and cooperation with Gree is the result of repeated thinking.” The above-mentioned Yinlong new energy executive told reporters. "Lithium titanate (battery) has the advantages of safety, long service life and fast charging, but it has not been favored by the automotive industry because it has not entered the national subsidy catalogue and short battery life." A new energy auto company The person in charge of the technology told the reporter, "Now lithium titanate can already enjoy the same subsidy, and the problem of short cruising range can be solved slowly through technical upgrade." Perhaps this answer is enough to become the answer of Dong Mingzhu's willingness to gamble on new energy vehicles.

Are you gambling or rushing?

The more interesting details of Gree's acquisition of Zhuhai Yinlong is that in order to show confidence and respond to the shareholders' doubts, in addition to the original plan, Gree also increased 100 million yuan for supporting financing, and Dong Mingzhu passed its own funds. Nearly 10 yuan of RMB participated in the issuance. The funds are entirely from Dong’s own “private pockets”. This seems to be an action to show the confidence of the acquisition and future entry into the automotive industry.

The daring Dong Mingzhu said bluntly that Gree Electric Appliances has been fully deployed in electronic control, intelligent manufacturing, motors, precision molds, etc., and the production of electric vehicles requires three major batteries (battery, motor, electronic control), in addition to batteries. The parts can be quickly matched with Yinlong and have synergies with Yinlong. Gree Electric Vice President, Secretary to the chairman, Wang Jingdong said in the interview: "Gree is known for its management ability and ability to control costs. The acquisition of Yinlong can not only achieve core technology, R&D resources, supply chain coordination, but also enable Management costs have fallen sharply, increasing corporate profitability and quickly capturing the market."

At present, Yinlong New Energy's business is mainly in the passenger car market, and the qualification problem in the passenger vehicle field has not started. To this end, in the first time after the acquisition of Yinlong New Energy, Dong Mingzhu and his team have begun to discuss the layout and production qualification of passenger cars with the management of Yinlong New Energy. "In the field of passenger cars, there will be progress next year." The reporter learned from the insiders that the "acquisition (passenger production) license and their own application are both going." Dong Mingzhu even told reporters She is not worried about the qualification of building a car.

The reporter learned that Yinlong New Energy's product layout in passenger cars has taken shape and is divided into four categories, including antique models, coupes, SUVs, MPVs, etc. In the process of negotiating with the Gree team, the positioning and pricing of the passenger cars are both economical and will not take the high-end route. "The future will not rule out the introduction of car-enterprise cooperation. After Tesla and BAIC people have visited, we will introduce relevant professional teams in the future," said the insider. In addition, the future will not rule out that Gree will be stationed in Yinlong's management, and Yinlong New Energy is also full of imagination with the help of Gree's existing nine industrial bases.

But the tragic ending of a layman is not uncommon. The multi-fluorine that started the raw material of lithium iron phosphate battery has invested 160 million yuan to support Hongxing Automobile in order to develop new energy vehicles and obtain automobile production qualifications. However, the latest news is that the process of building the vehicle has been temporarily suspended. Because the difficulty of making a car is much greater than it expected. Even Wang Chuanfu, the founder of BYD who mastered the technology, has revealed that entering the automotive industry is far more difficult than when he imagined it.

But Gree's cleverness is just not a desperate attempt. The Gree Electric Appliances acquired Yinlong New Energy to build a car on the one hand, and on the other hand, it entered the energy storage market mentioned above. Yinlong’s lithium titanate battery, supporting charging facilities and energy storage system business are Gree’s. reward. In particular, the energy storage system business will be a crucial step in Dongmingzhu's pre-retirement chess game.

"If it is just to build a car, in order to create the next 100 billion Gree, the cooperation between Gree and Yinlong is blind. The core technology of lithium titanate battery is the most important reason for the acquisition." Dong Mingzhu believes that titanium The advantage of lithium acid batteries in energy storage equipment is very obvious. "Photovoltaic and energy storage equipment combined, it will be a trillion-level market."

"At least four years, I will not retire." Dong Mingzhu turned his head and was in a state of mind. I just don’t know if Dong Mingzhu’s new energy car and energy storage business will give her a perfect answer. But for now, Gree’s acquisition is being questioned by the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, and whether the acquisition still has variables is not yet known.

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