Energy Weekly | Tesla ends the privatization / GWM launches the new brand - ORA

Here is Energy Weekly report. We are committed to bringing together all the hot topics and new launching vehicles etc. in the new energy area.

On August 7th, Tesla CEO Musk announced that Tesla would realize the privatization, which created a stir all over the world for half a month. And last weekend Musk announced that Tesla has given up the privatization. Let’s have a look at how it goes.

1. Tesla ends the privatization and will focus on the improvement of the production capacity of Model 3

On August 25th, CEO of Tesla, Musk issued an open letter on the Tesla official website that due to various resistances and difficulties from shareholders and institutional investor, Tesla would end the privatization. Meantime in the open letter Musk said that based on discussions and thoughtful considerations most Tesla shareholders believed that keeping Tesla listed would be a better choice and the privatization could harm the interests of some investors.

Musk said that the process of privatization would be challenging and it would take more time and efforts than they expected. He stressed that right now Tesla must focus on improving the production capacity of Model 3 and speeding up the advances of other Tesla new models.

Editor: On August 7, Musk announced that Tesla would realize the privatization. As a worldwide star company, every move of Tesla will be watched closely. Some analysts even said that all of this was a scene deliberately made by Musk, to push stock prices higher and to ease its financial pressure. Whether this is a drama or not, with the announcement of quitting privatization, everything returns to the beginning. At the same time, like Musk said in the open letter, the priority of Tesla is to improve the production capacity of Model 3 for the maintenance of Tesla’s rapid growth.

2. ORA was released officially, will launch 4 new models in the next 3 years.

On August 20, GWM officially released the independent new energy brand – ORA. ORA becomes the first brand among the mainstream domestic auto companies which has the branding operation and management for the new energy vehicle.  At the event, ORA official issued that in the next 3 years, ORA will launch 4 pure electric vehicles with the range of more than 300km. And the first model ORA iQ will be released in Chengdu Auto Show in August this year. ORA R1 will be launched in January 2019 and ORA R2 will be launched in the third quarter of 2019.

Editor: As a new energy brand released lately, ORA is facing a big challenging of the market. While currently the new energy is growing rapidly, relying on the strength of GWM and BMW, ORA has an obvious advantage. From this launching event, we could find that ORA has fully prepared and its market performance is going to be expected highly.

3. YOUXIA MOTORS acquired $350 million financing in B+ round. The total valuation reached $3.35 billion.

On August 22, YOUXIA MOTORS official announced that $350 million financing of B+ round has completed. The total valuation of YOUXIA MOTORS has increased to $3.35 billion. This round of financing was from GEZHI ASSET exclusively. And GEZHI ASSET also became the second shareholder of YOUXIA MOTORS. CEO of GEZHI ASSET, Yifei Qin will serve as the global co-chairman and co-founder of YOUXIA MOTORS, in charge of the global financing and investment and the distribution of global industrial M&A, further speeding up the process of YOUXIA MOTORS future IPO plan.

In May next year, the first YOUXIA MOTORS factory of 200k-units annual production capacity will be completed. By then, the first model will be in the mass production. According to YOUXIA MOTORS official, they have received 11k sets reservations and the first batch of marketing outlets will be distributed in 10 first-tier cities. With the launch of European R&D center, YOUXIA MOTORS plans to put the highest-performance production models to WEC events.

Editor: for the current new auto manufacturers, the cornerstone of sustainable development is the sufficient funding. The result of B+ round financing of YOUXIA MOTORS not only shows the recognition of the capital market, but also guarantees well the mass production for its first production model YOUXIA X.

4. The exposure of LEAP MOTOR S01 interior manuscript, will be released officially on August 29

On August 22, LEAP MOTOR official released the manuscript of LEAP S1 interior design. It could be seen that the whole design adopts the technological style. The big size LCD screen is very eye-catching and the decoration of green elements brings out a high-tech vibe. In addition, the seats adopt the design of the integrated sports seats which also explains the sports characteristic of the new model. It is said that the interior of the production version of LEAP S01 will be released on August 29. And the long-range version will be released at the same time.

Editor: As a new auto manufactures with a strong personality, LEAP MOTORS chose the “tiny and pretty” sport compact market rather than the trending SUV market. At the same time, in the terms of design, LEAP S01 has put a lot of efforts in both the interior and the appearance. However, LEAP MOTORS is also facing the common problem of other new auto manufacturers – its popularity is fairly low. And it will take a long time to gain the recognition of the consumers.

End: The annual Chengdu Auto Show will be officially opened this Friday with the release and launching of multiples new models. Next Monday, Energy Weekly will bring together all the key new energy vehicles unveiled at the Chengdu Auto Show. Stay tuned.