The wave of intelligent electrification has given birth to a large wave of new forces, and many independent brands have also quickly joined this wave with the strategy of "having more children and easy to fight", covering high-end to low-end, extended range to pure electricity. It seems that as long as one more brand is generated, it will naturally be able to occupy a certain amount of sales.

Indeed, the opening of a new energy sub-brand will not only facilitate car companies to develop new business and bring freshness to consumers, but also reduce the shackles of the original brand and magnify the advantages of resources by means of capital operation. From the perspective of R & D and production, independent brands mostly have mature production chains and talent echelons, such as Geely's vast SEA platform, which is used for multiple models after successful research and development.

In addition, although the initial investment is unfair, multiple sub-brands competing in the same field can give the boss the illusion of "horse racing". It seems that which child is more resilient and more able to create a world on his own will have more resources, and brand success will be more legitimate.

But with these advantages, are sub-brands more likely to succeed than self-made new forces?

Apparently not.

In today's Chinese car market, the price volume and products are of the same quality, and even the boss is forced to go out of business. Some sub-brands of many car companies are at their peak, some have become the saviors of transformation, and some have quietly disappeared in the long history. Geely's star may be the next brand to disappear.

Polar Star delisted?

As an electric car brand jointly built by Geely and Volvo, Jixing is not well known in China, which is due to the confusion of its own positioning and strategy, but its failure is even more the cruel result of Geely's strategy of "having more children and easy to fight" under the electric wave.

On May 17, Polestar issued a notice saying that it had received a notice of violation from NASDAQ because it did not submit its annual report in time.

In the notice, Polar did not comply with the NASDAQ listing rules because it did not submit its annual report as of December 31, 2023.

Although NASDAQ's notice will not have an immediate impact on the listing or trading of Polar Motor shares, Polar has 60 natural days to submit its compliance plan from the date of receipt of the notice.

However, if Polaris fails to return to compliance within the specified time, its shares will be delisted from Nasdaq.

The trend of the share price of Polaris

Both Volvo and Geely

The polar star can't be the second leader.

How bad is this delayed financial report?

According to the latest data released by Polaris, its revenue in the first three quarters of 2023 was 18.Judgedreddpinball.4.4 billion US dollars, with an operating loss of 735 million US dollars.

More fatally, in the first three quarters of 2023, Polar had a gross profit margin of only 1.1%. Persistent losses and extremely low gross margins forced Volvo and Geely to continue blood transfusions.

Both Geely and Volvo, Polar was founded a year later than Lectra. At present, Polar has launched a total of four products.Judgedreddpinball:

The medium-and large-sized GT sports car Polestar 1BI went on sale in 2019, with a price of 1.45 million yuan and poor sales. Polestar 1 stopped production in 2021.

Pure electric sedan Polestar 2, the domestic price range is 29.98-358800 yuan

Pure electric SUV Polestar 3, priced from 698000 yuan

Medium and large pure electric SUV Polestar 4, priced from 339900 yuan.

However, due to the initial focus on the European and American markets, Star missed the electrification wave in China, and sales have been dismal.

According to relevant data, the insured volume of the Polestar 2 was more than 360 in 2020. In 2021, Polar sold 29000 vehicles, more than half of which came from Europe, while the Chinese market sold only 2048 vehicles in the whole year.

In 2022, Polar sold more than 51000 units worldwide, with the European market accounting for 32000, ranking first in European electric car sales and the only brand in the ranking controlled by a Chinese company.

After entering 2023, the operating condition of Polar Star suddenly deteriorated.

First, lowering the production capacity target from 80,000 units to 60,000 to 70,000, suspending global hiring and laying off 10 per cent of staff, Johan Malmqvist, the company's chief financial officer, said: "given the current macroeconomic environment, the company is trying to control costs. "

After the target was lowered, Polaris also failed to meet its target, with sales of only 54600 vehicles in 2023 and 12800 in the fourth quarter of last year, down 8 per cent from a year earlier.

The polar star, which lacks the ability of self-hematopoiesis, relies on financing to continue its life for a long time. Once there is no new capital to enter, the brand will cease to exist.

At the beginning of the year, Polaris was bearish by Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken,SEB, the Swedish banking boss, the main adviser to Volvo when it went public and one of the largest financial groups in northern Europe, and its brand valuation was reduced from 12 billion to 0 kroner. Its stock analysts believe that "Polar has become a drag." "

Polar had promised to make a profit by 2025 if it received a capital injection of 14 billion kroner (about 9.5 billion yuan).

But Northwestern Bank believes that this will be completely impossible.

Father does not hurt, mother does not love

From the development of polar stars in recent years, we can also see that the situation of polar stars can be called "father does not hurt, mother does not love".

In February 2023, Volvo announced that it would transfer 62.7 per cent of its roughly 48 per cent stake in Polar to Geely Holdings, reducing its stake to 18 per cent.

After that, Polar began to lean towards the Chinese market, hoping to strengthen the layout of products and channels in China with the help of Geely platform resources.

However, with the rapid development of the domestic electric car market from 2021 to 2023, the poor performance of Jixing not only caused it to lose blood in the domestic market, but also missed the best opportunity for the brand to develop in China.

Within five years, Star China has changed its CEO five times, and strategic confusion has caused it to suffer heavy losses in terms of brand, word-of-mouth and sales.

Feng Dan, former CEO of Polaris China, also said that although Polaris has landed in China for five years, "we have neither quality nor brand" in the Chinese market.

At present, there are about 60 dealers in China, 20 of which are direct stores.

After Volvo "throws the pot" and Geely "takes over", it is not clear whether the polar star who was once in a niche market can be rescued, but it is certain that in order to survive, the polar star must put a low profile and return to reality. Use Geely's resources to seek new opportunities in the Chinese market.

In June last year, Ji Xing announced that it would set up a joint venture "Ji Star Technology" with Starry Meizu, which will be fully run by Shen Ziyu, chairman and CEO of Xinji Meizu.

Among them, Xingji Meizu holds 51% of the shares and is in a dominant position. The new joint venture company will focus on creating an integrated experience between mobile phones, car phones and other smart terminals to achieve multi-terminal, full-scene, and immersive intelligent integration.

This cooperation means that Jixing will re-adjust its strategic focus back to the Chinese market, and will also be included in the Geely system, and is expected to receive all-round support such as technology, channels, and funds.

conclusion

From the perspective of brand development, the current commercial value of Jixing is very low, and the design and performance advantages that it once relied on are difficult to become a real "moat."

In this context, if the polar star cannot make satisfactory progress, the possibility of being "abandoned" by Geely is quite high.

Source: Yijian Finance