AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)06/07 Report--

Before the US stock market opened on June 7, Ulai announced its results for the first quarter of 2024. According to the financial report, the total revenue of Weilai in the first quarter of 2024 was 9.909 billion yuan, down 7.2% from the same period last year, of which automobile sales were 8.381 billion yuan, down 9.1% from the same period last year; the quarterly net loss was 5.185 billion yuan, an increase of 9.4% over the same period last year; during the reporting period, the gross profit margin of Lulai was 4.9%, 1.5% for the same period, 9.2% for cars and 5.1% for the same period. Li Bin, CEO of Xilai, said on the earnings call that the gross profit margin of the vehicle is expected to return to double digits in the second quarter and continue to improve in the third and fourth quarters.

A total of 30053 new cars were delivered in the past three months, down 3.2 per cent from a year earlier. It is understood that the sales target set by Weilai in 2023 is 250000 vehicles, which is also the target set by Weilai to break even, but the actual annual delivery completion rate is only 64%. However, with the reduction in the price of BaaS battery rental services in March, the completion of the replacement of 2024 products and the implementation of the "trade-in" preferential policy, delivery has changed significantly since April. In the past May, Weilai achieved its best result since its establishment, delivering 20544 vehicles a month.

Li Bin said frankly on the conference call that recently, sales have continued to grow steadily and have encountered happy "troubles". Sales reached maximum production capacity in May and is running double shifts to rush to work. Previously, Li Bin set a sales target for 2024: a monthly sales sprint of more than 20, 000 vehicles, an annual sales target of 230000 vehicles, and a gross profit margin of 15%, 18%. Today, Xilai car sales are booming, delivering a total of 66000 vehicles from 1 to 5, but there is still a big gap from the annual delivery target.

Yesterday, it was revealed that Weilai was allowed to build a third factory in China, which is designed to have a single-shift capacity of 100000 units, which will be used to produce products from the Weilai brand and its sub-brand Ledao. It is understood that Ledao car will be released on May 15, and the first model Ledao L60 will be pre-sold at the same time, with a pre-price of 219900 yuan and a positioning of medium-sized SUV. The whole series of models will be developed based on the NT3.0 platform, shared with Ledao's power exchange network, and marked with Tesla Model Y after listing. According to the information previously disclosed by the government, the Ledao L60 will face the household market of 200000-300000 yuan. On the conference call, Li Bin said: "with the unveiling of Ledao and its first product, the L60, the company has officially launched a multi-brand strategy to enter the broader mainstream mass market and usher in the next phase of high-quality growth." Li Bin also revealed, "Ledao brand will not have too many products, and it is hoped that each product can achieve a good market share and competitive advantage in the subdivided track; Ludao second car positioning large SUV, will be delivered next year."

In addition, Li Bin also revealed the new development of the third brand Firefly (Firefly). It is understood that Firefly (firefly) will be officially delivered in the first half of next year. Li Bin said: "it was tested a few months ago and performed very well. I like it very much. It is positioned as a boutique car in China, with a price of more than 100,000 yuan. Although the price is high, it belongs to a car designed according to high safety standards. It is currently planned to share a sales network with NIO, similar to BMW and MINI."

Li Bin stressed that the positioning of the three brands, NIO, Ledao, and Firefly, is very obvious. The prices of the main sellers are mostly in the price range of more than NT $100,000, NT $200,000, and NT $300,000, and the price distinction is very clear. The common point is that electricity can be changed. From this, it can be seen that Weilai is fully engaged in a multi-brand strategy to boost its sales growth.

At the same time, Weilai is also expanding its influence. Weilai has successively announced power exchange cooperation with Changan, Geely, Jianghuai, Chery, Guangzhou Automobile, FAW and other start-up enterprises to form a "power exchange alliance". Every year, in order to build a power station, Weilai needs to pay a huge amount of money, which leads to sustained losses. The participation of Changan, Geely and other car companies means that this market is finally recognized by the market, which can help share the supply chain costs and operating costs of power exchange in the future. Make the change of power stations profitable more quickly.

Li Bin once said that Weilai would not do the thing of "selling one car for losing another" and had to consider "earning money to support his family." For Weilai, the focus of development in 2024 is still the listing of the Ledao brand, while ensuring the market increment of the Weilai brand. As to whether the Ledao brand can reverse the current dilemma, tighten its belts and sell more cars at the same time, it is necessary to get rid of the current situation of losing one.

Welcome to subscribe to the WeChat public account "Automotive Industry Focus" to get the first-hand insider information on the automotive industry and talk about things in the automotive circle. Welcome to break the news! WeChat ID autoWechat