Baoneng's $7 Billion Auto Dream Crumbles: Qoros Assets Rejected Again at $1.2B, Yao Zhenhua Mocked as "Car Industry Clown"

Core assets of Qoros Auto, once touted as worth RMB 8 billion, were recently withdrawn from auction for the second time with a starting bid of RMB 860 million. The court-assessed value stands at just RMB 15.35 billion. Yao Zhenhua, Chairman of Baoneng Group, has questioned whether the auction involved procedural violations. Yet reality appears even harsher: Qoros has been out of production for years, with cumulative enforcement amounts totaling RMB 7.69 billion, 35 records of失信 (dishonesty/default), equity freezes involving RMB 40.55 billion, and unpaid taxes exceeding RMB 61 million. Although buyers would not assume all debts, they would still need to take on RMB 1.5 billion in additional liabilities. Since investing RMB 6.63 billion to acquire Qoros in 2017, Yao Zhenhua has poured over RMB 50 billion into the automotive sector, establishing three brands and eight manufacturing bases. However, only Qoros managed a modest market launch, with sales plummeting from 62,000 vehicles in 2018 to just 720 in 2022. Baoneng’s car-sharing platform, LinkGo, has been plagued by chaotic management and frequent scandals. Meanwhile, Baoneng itself is mired in a liquidity crisis, repeatedly hit by reports of wage arrears and layoffs. With new models failing to materialize and partnerships yielding no results, Yao’s dream of building a car empire now lies in tatters—earning him the industry nickname “the tragicomic figure of China’s auto world.”