The young Chinese company Human Horizons, which operated under the HiPhi brand, filed for bankruptcy after six months of agony. The startup's management tried to find money to save it, but, alas, did not find it.
The Human Horizons company was founded in 2017 by Chinese entrepreneur Ding Lei (aka David Ding), who at that time had more than thirty years of experience in the Chinese auto industry, including in senior positions (in particular, he was the CEO of SAIC-GM). Human Horizons operated under the HiPhi brand, a brand that was initially aimed at the high end of the Chinese auto market, with a lineup of high-tech, powerful electric vehicles with rather eccentric designs.
HiPhi Z
The first production model of Human Horizons was the large three-row crossover HiPhi X, it entered the Chinese market in 2021, followed by the large fastback HiPhi Z in 2022, the mid-size crossover HiPhi Y was a new product last year, and the start of production of the flagship sports model HiPhi A was scheduled for 2025.
HiPhi X
In February this year, Human Horizons shut down its only plant in Yancheng, Jiangsu Province, due to financial problems. This plant would be built to produce 150,000 cars per year, whereas last year the company sold less than 5,000 cars in China. The company's head office is located in Shanghai. The HiPhi brand entered the European market only at the end of last year, where, according to the analytical agency JATO Dynamics, it has sold only seven cars so far, that is, simply no one noticed its arrival in Europe.
HiPhi A
The main reason for HiPhi's weak sales in China is that its prices are too high compared to its competitors, which HiPhi has been unable to reduce. Since last year, the Chinese car market has been in a price war, prompted by the American company Tesla. Many young Chinese companies are suffering losses because of it, and Human Horizons turned out to be too small, without the necessary safety margin and without a clear development strategy in case of a crisis.
HiPhi Y
In February, it was assumed that the Yancheng plant would be idle for six months, during which time the Human Horizons management would find a way out of the crisis. There were rumors that the sinking startup would be taken over by Changan, but they were not confirmed; more precisely, negotiations on this topic most likely took place, but they led to nothing. Also, Chinese media reported that a certain shady American startup iAuto Group was ready to invest as much as a billion dollars in HiPhi, but this transaction also stalled, although HiPhi models were presented on the iAuto Group website at the time of our publication. The Chinese state-owned automaker FAW and some investors from Saudi Arabia were also named as potential saviors of HiPhi, but Human Horizons ultimately received no money from anyone and launched bankruptcy proceedings yesterday.
The bankruptcy proceedings do not mean the automatic collapse of Human Horizons with the sale of all assets: the court handling the case sees potential for reorganizing the company and resuming its work, if, of course, a suitable investor or group of investors is found. The period of uncertainty will last from six to nine months, after which the HiPhi «electric trains» will either finally sink into oblivion or return to the market — possibly under a different brand.
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