After the annual delivery of nearly 100000 vehicles in 2021, Weilai automobile, Xiaopeng automobile and ideal automobile all handed over a “report card” with a sharp increase in revenue.
According to the financial report data, in 2021, the revenue of Weilai (09866. HK) was 36.136 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 122.3%; The revenue of Xiaopeng automobile (09868. HK) was 20.988 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 259.1%; The revenue of ideal automobile (02015. HK) was 27.010 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 185.6%.
It is worth noting that there are great differences in the profit performance of the three companies. The net loss of ideal automobile in 2021 is about 300 million yuan. Compared with the net loss of more than 4 billion yuan of Qi Wei Lai and Xiao Peng, ideal automobile is far ahead in many financial indicators and is likely to be the first company to achieve positive net profit in “Wei Xiao Li”.
revenue and gross profit margin increased sharply
In terms of delivery volume, Xiaopeng automobile realized the anti overtaking of Weilai automobile at the end of 2021. The annual delivery volume of 98200 vehicles was only one step away from 100000 vehicles, and the vehicle sales revenue also reached 20 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 261.3%. Weilai automobile ranks second with the delivery volume of 91400 vehicles, but thanks to the higher single vehicle price, its vehicle sales revenue reached 33.17 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 118.5%; The ideal car adhering to the large single product strategy achieved the highest delivery volume of a single model among the new power car enterprises. In 2021, the ideal one delivered 90400 vehicles, and the vehicle sales revenue reached 26.13 billion yuan, an increase of 181.5% year-on-year.
Thanks to the improvement of delivery volume and vehicle sales revenue, the three new forces of vehicle manufacturing not only achieved revenue growth, but also set a new high in gross profit margin in 2021.
According to the financial report data, the gross profit margin of Weilai automobile reached 20.1% in 2021, up 7.4 percentage points year-on-year; The gross profit margin of Xiaopeng automobile was 11.5%, up 8 percentage points year-on-year; The ideal automobile gross profit margin reached 20.6%, up 4.9 percentage points year-on-year.
Li Bin, chairman and CEO of Weilai automobile, said that the company began to use ternary iron lithium battery in the fourth quarter of 2021. The advantage of battery cost is helpful to improve the gross profit of automobile. In addition, the increase of sales volume also plays a role in sharing the cost. Ideal automobile said that the increase in gross profit margin was mainly due to the improvement of supply chain cost management and the increase in the average selling price of 2021 ideal one after its listing.
Although it has achieved great innovation in terms of sales model and product definition, weixiaoli has not jumped out of the traditional automotive industry logic of “the more expensive the product, the better the profit margin”. Statistics show that the average price of Weilai is 430000 yuan, the price of the ideal one is 338000 yuan, and the average price of Xiaopeng is about 212000 yuan. Although the delivery volume has exceeded, its low average transaction price makes Xiaopeng automobile lag behind weilaihe ideal in revenue and gross profit margin.
However, this difference may narrow in the next two years. He Xiaopeng, chairman of Xiaopeng automobile, said in a media interview recently that “Xiaopeng will adjust the main price range according to the whole market situation. At present, he has not considered doing it below 150000 or on a higher-end brand.” Xiaopeng said that the company’s medium and long-term goal is to increase the overall gross profit margin to more than 25%. It is worth noting that Xiaopeng will release its flagship sedan SUV Xiaopeng G9 in 2022. According to the analysis of insiders, the price of the car will exceed 350000 yuan.
Weilai automobile will begin to deliver the et5 model with the guidance price of 328000 yuan in 2022, which is the lowest price product under Weilai brand; Ideal car will deliver the L9 model in 2022. Ideal car said that the price range of the car is 450000 yuan ~ 500000 yuan.
Following the gathering of US stocks, Xiao Peng and ideal successively landed in Hong Kong stocks in 2021. In March 2022, Wei Lai landed in Hong Kong stocks in the way of introduction and listing, and the three auto companies realized the secondary listing in Hong Kong stocks. According to the financial report, as of December 31, 2021, the cash reserve of Weilai automobile is 55.4 billion yuan, the total amount of ideal automobile cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, time deposits and short-term investments is 50.16 billion yuan, and the cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, short-term deposits, short-term investments and long-term deposits of Xiaopeng automobile are 43.54 billion yuan.
It is worth noting that in 2021, Weilai’s sales and general management expenses were 6.878 billion yuan, far ahead of “weixiaoli”, and the average single vehicle sales and general management expenses reached 75200 yuan. In contrast, the sales and general management expenses of Xiaopeng automobile last year were 5.305 billion yuan, with an average of 54100 yuan per vehicle; Last year, the sales and general management expenses of ideal automobile were 3.492 billion yuan, with an average of 38600 yuan per vehicle. Close to the scale of sales and at this stage, the ideal car seems to use funds more efficiently in sales and management.
breakeven will see the dawn
In the case of good sales volume, revenue, gross profit margin and other indicators, the total losses of the three companies exceeded 9.1 billion yuan. Only Weilai automobile realized the year-on-year narrowing of the net loss, but the net loss still reached 4.02 billion yuan, 24.3% year-on-year narrowing. The ideal automobile net loss reached 321 million yuan, an increase of 112% year-on-year, which is closest to the realization of profit and loss balance. The net loss of Xiaopeng automobile reached 4.861 billion yuan, an increase of 78% year-on-year.
The substantial increase in R & D investment is an important reason for the expansion of the net loss of ideal automobile and Xiaopeng automobile. In 2022, ideal automobile changed the normal of the past two years and invested 3.29 billion yuan in R & D, up 198% year-on-year; Xiaopeng automobile R & D investment reached 4.11 billion yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 138%. Even Weilai, whose losses have narrowed, has invested 4.592 billion yuan in R & D in 2021, an increase of 84.6% year-on-year.
Weilai told reporters that the main reason for Weilai’s loss is the investment in long-term R & D. However, in 2022, “Wei Xiaoli” will not suspend the “arms race” in R & D in order to make profits faster. Li Bin, founder, chairman and CEO of Weilai, said at the 2021 earnings conference that Weilai’s R & D investment will be further improved. He Xiaopeng also said that the cumulative R & D investment of Xiaopeng automobile exceeds 9 billion yuan, and the R & D investment in a single year in 2022 will exceed the sum of the past two years.
In addition, after the delivery volume in 2021 was close to 100000 vehicles, “weixiaoli” also chose to further expand its production capacity. In 2022, Xiaopeng automobile Zhaoqing Plant Phase II and Guangzhou plant will be put into operation successively, while Wuhan plant will be put into operation in 2023, with a cumulative production capacity of 400000 vehicles; The production capacity of ideal automobile Changzhou plant will be increased to 200000 vehicles in 2022. The Beijing plant acquired from Beijing Hyundai in 2023 will be put into operation in 2023. In addition, ideal automobile also disclosed in the financial report that it will build a third plant in Liangjiang New Area of Chongqing.
Weilai automobile will continue to cooperate with JAC. The annual production capacity of JAC Weilai Hefei advanced manufacturing base will be increased to 250000 vehicles. The second production base located in Hefei Xinqiao intelligent automobile industrial park will be put into operation in the third quarter of this year.
After the sales volume is rising and the market has initially gained a firm foothold, when “weixiaoli” can achieve breakeven and profit has become the focus of the industry.
It is possible to maintain the current single product strategy and realize the ideal profit in the past quarter in 2022. Li Bin said at the recent earnings conference that Weilai hopes to make a profit in 2024.
Citic Securities Company Limited(600030) a research report believes that the three new forces are in the acceleration period of improving their profitability, and their large R & D investment still leads to their strategic losses in the short term, but their rising gross profit of single vehicle has shown their ability to approach the breakeven point in the future, and the new forces are expected to approach the breakeven point quickly in the next year.
