Evergrande - hope for Trollhättan?

Now they are dreaming again in Sweden. The hope for an automobile production in Trollhättan is reversed. Following the entry of Evergrande Health Industry Group Limited at NEVS, which is nothing more than a takeover. Evergrande now owns 51% of the shares and represents the majority on the board.

Evergrande - new chance for Trollhättan

930 million US dollars (818 million €) will be settled in two tranches. The first Payment over 430 million US dollars was on 15. January due, the rest to the 31.01.2019. Thus, NEVS is valued at around 1.6 billion €. Is the company worth this amount?

Yes, says a friend who is closer to the auto industry than I am. On the plus side, there is the plant in Tianjin, which should be almost finished. The production and sales licenses and an electric car, which is at least close to production capability. Also the real estate in Sweden, with a development center and a no longer productive automobile factory. In addition, there would be the announced plant in Shanghai; its status, however, is unclear.

Who is Evergrande?

Founder Hui Ka Yan (also called as Xu Jiayin) is considered to be one of the richest people in China, and Evergrande is believed to be the second largest real estate developer. Around 7 million Chinese live in the company's 30 million apartments. 140.000 people work for Evergrande. The company is successful, but also makes headlines. The Evergrande Group is heavily in debt. According to information from SvD 94 billion in liabilities are expected to have accrued. Tricky: Half of the debt is of a short-term nature and must be refinanced within the next 12 months.

That hits Evergrande in a bad phase. The Chinese real estate market is in icy conditions and the major players are suffering from high levels of debt. In this environment, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the group to raise fresh capital. The company therefore pays high risk premiums, as 2018 pays 13.75% interest on 5-rated bonds.

In October 2018, Evergrande drew attention to itself with an unusual step. Founder Xu Jiayin had to buy $ 1,8 billion from a new $ 1 billion bond draw yourself, to ensure further financing of the group.

The numbers sound disastrous to European ears and doubts arise. However, we have learned that China is playing by its own laws. In addition to facts, the usefulness for the system, networking with the rulers and access to covert financing by government agencies also play an equally important role. And what applies to Evergrande is probably what is valid all over the world: “too big to fail".

The Evergrande Group stands for spectacular investments, as well as for the spontaneous withdrawal from investments. In 2015, the company launched a $ 12 billion investment in solar power plants in China. But she ended her engagement abruptly - pointing to a changed market environment.

Evergrande is pushing into the automotive business

The most spectacular demolition so far was the investment in Faraday Future, In the absolute luxury e-car segment Evergrande 700 wanted to invest millions of US dollars, but withdrew completely unexpectedly the commitment. Since then, the parties are arguing in court. It is about the theft of intellectual property, the allegedly planned cold takeover of the US company FF by Chinese. And FF wants to force Evergrande to the pledged investment. The project itself is initially made of ice.

The investment in FF was one of the building blocks of the diversification strategy of the Evergrande Group announced in 2018. On September 23, 2018, the company announced the strategic cooperation with the Guanghui Group, one of the largest car dealers in the country. Guanghui is expected to sell 6 million new cars annually. Evergande has since become the second largest shareholder in the Guanghui Group.

On the 17. February, shortly after the acquisition of NEVS, the Evergrande High Technology Group also announced the 2. January took place Foundation the Evergrande Smart Charging Technology. A charging technology company to build charging infrastructure for electric cars. Strategic diversification is vigorously pursued.

The two investments in Faraday Future and NEVS AB could not be more different. Farday is anchored in the prestigious and profitable luxury segment. NEVS wants to supply the fleet business with much lower revenue. The futuristic FF91 is a visibly more conservative electric car concept of NEVS.

It begs the question what NEVS stands for, and what Evergrande wants to see in NEVS? In retrospect, the profile of NEVS is blurred. You already wanted to be so much. From Saab's successor to Tesla Jäger, contract manufacturer, hardware supplier to global provider of sustainable mobility.

Hope for Trollhattan?

In the Swedish media they are now dreaming of a production in Trollhättan again. It should be possible before 2020, you can read. But the factory in Stallbacka was looted and parts were shipped to Tianjin. Large investments would be necessary, and the question arises of what should really be done with the historic walls in the age of Industry 4.0. The factory was once the most modern in the GM network. But that was a good 10-15 years ago and no longer relevant today.

Times could get better for NEVS AB. For the first time in a long time there is the missing clear shareholder structure with a simple majority. Evergrande has the leadership, founder Kai Johan Jiang is from now on only in the second row. This could speed up processes, be useful for targeting, and finally a well-defined profile.

300 million US dollars is said to have already been transferred by Evergrande. The group has committed to another billion. The liquidity crisis is over, but not the crisis in the stablebacka. The departure of the Head of development and other service providers in recent weeks can be seen in the context of the acquisition by Evergrande. NEVS founder Kai Johan Jiang has overseen wages and salaries over the past week 3% increased, As a sign that the crisis is over now. Is that enough?

Everything is possible. Nothing is safe.

The consequences of the acquisition of NEVS AB by Evergrande and Xu Jiayin are difficult to assess. For our European understanding, several facts speak against it. However, our Western incomprehension for China and the rules of the system certainly plays a part in this. It may not be wrong to recall another takeover a few years ago.

On the 28. March 2010, a certain Mr. Li Shufu bought the Volvo brand from Ford. He was given little chance in Sweden at the time. He was a blank slate, his background was considered doubtful. He was assumed to be unaffected, incomprehensible to Sweden and to the brand.

The allegedly poor Mr. Li Shufu has invested around 13 billion US dollars in Gothenburg since then. Today the Geely Group is the most successful private car manufacturer in China and with the highest growth rates worldwide. Volvo has gained new strength with Chinese money, London Taxi, Lotus, Proton, Lynk & Co and 9.7% of Mercedes also belong to Li Shufu's empire 9 years later.

One has to wait and see what the time brings. The next weeks, months, years. For NEVS, Evergrande and Trollhättan, everything is possible. Nothing is safe.

31 thoughts on "Evergrande - hope for Trollhättan?"

  • I have just read the message that the Swedish state will ban diesel and gasoline engines from 2030, i.e. from 2030 onwards, no more combustion engines will be sold in Sweden. Significance for NEVS ?? It's a Chinese company anyway. The technology transfer, which is continually from Eurooa to China - a state that does not abide by international agreements, disregards foreign intellectual property and property rights, ignores human rights, knows neither freedom of expression nor freedom of the press, tolerates the worst working conditions as in Manchester capitalism, etc. - in diverse Industries taking place is a disaster!

    • I had to digest that first. I don't know the message (yet), but when you write it, it will be true. The decision is also not without role models ...

      Denmark and Norway, however, do not have their own car manufacturers. But is Sweden with its one and a half Chinese still so much different today? Well, should the Swedes do it?

      If you stay somewhere in nowhere on a gravel road in the midst of the blueberries and beyond the house and main street, then you simply take the canister from the trunk and pour some electricity into the battery!

      And the hunter likes to drag a trunk tub for the game board and a box for his dog 10 to 20 kilometers from his house across country (shortest route) to the next car sharing. A NEVZ awaits him there, which is actually too small, has too little ground clearance and too little all-wheel drive quality ...

      Sweden 2030.

      Politics and reality have not only alienated each other in D.

      • Yes, unfortunately! And completely crazy. I received the report yesterday via a newsletter from Xing that forwarded to an article in the world (otherwise not my preferred source of information). Unfortunately it will be true. It is to be hoped that some things will change by 2030 and that those responsible will finally recognize the disastrous CO2 balance in the production of e-cars and act accordingly. Sweden was on the right track with ethanol from waste - it couldn't be more environmentally friendly! And as a hybrid would have been great. And what about hydrogen? Then also prohibited? Why is so little going on in this direction? I think there are three petrol stations in HH. My husband has to get a new car this year and has already toyed with the idea. But is everything very uncertain: petrol station network, price development, resale value?

        • You overwhelm me. Hydrogen (for internal combustion engines, for fuel cells or as a local energy storage device [e.g. for excess electricity from wind energy]) is a big and separate topic ...

          “Completely crazy” is a pretty good idea. Politics is turning into blind actionism and leaves consumers, markets and scientists at a loss and unsettled. This is not an energy policy change, but the perfect chaos ...

          PS
          Except maybe in France. Maybe one should emigrate there? Eat well, drink a glass of wine every now and then, fill up with the SAAB ethanol and leave the rest of Europe to itself ...

  • Regarding the NEVS article, I really like to read the Saabblog, but I skip the NEVS article more or less, it's about Saab, I read very carefully, that every Saabinformation I find important. Even if I do not have 9000, the chance that I will eventually drive an 9000 is much higher than driving a Nevs Saab.

    • I feel the same way! I just skim over NEVS articles because I think NEVS has nothing at all to do with Saab, or what we love about these fine and special cars. For me, the whole thing has more only the character of Leichenfledderei. Of course, I understand the hope that Saab or the Saab genes might not be completely dead - in the sense that there might be a future. That's a nice idea, but in my opinion (at least for now) sheer illusion. But as you know, hope dies last ...

      Nevertheless, I am grateful to Tom for always keeping us up to date on the latest developments concerning NEVS. In the past, and of course after the bankruptcy, I always thought to the different investors, now it's still going on again. But especially thanks to the in-depth information and also the various comments here on the blog (I'm one of the newcomers here, I've only "discovered" the blog in the spring of 2018, but have since read every contribution with enthusiasm), I've come to the conclusion that what we mean by Saab unfortunately has no future today. There are (in relation to the current state, not the reasons that led to bankruptcy) so many obstacles: The split on various owners patents, the final exodus of know-how, the final exodus of designers, developers and others who for the certain something and the certain others stood by Saab, the dismantling of Stallbacka, the blossoming of Volvo as a result of the bankruptcy of Saab (staff, know-how and much of the Swedish buyers' circle may have been taken over) etc. etc. and of course the Timing that should have definitively destroyed any interest of the Swedish state or investors. Dead is dead.

      From the intellectual legacy and the ideas that were already extremely progressive at the time, there would still be a lot to take over or further develop today, e.g. the BioPower Hybrid, the E-Cabrio, etc. Sad, sad, sad ...

      But who knows - maybe there will eventually, possibly after years, a new start under the (purchased) name Saab, as well as other dead car names were revived, some with interesting results, sometimes just terrible. It remains to be seen if that would be something that former Saab friends could identify with. That it will be something else anyway - and must be - in my opinion, given the time elapsed anyway clear. Maybe this is also an opportunity: The entire automotive industry is facing radical upheavals and new thinking (drive mode, automatic driving, etc.), so that you could not continue where you left off almost ten years ago anyway.

      • E 85 / your question

        No, to my knowledge there is not a single tank in D that still offers E 85. If there were one more, the liter would be about as expensive as a liter of gas for fiscal reasons because our legislature decided and controlled it. Namely the full mineral oil tax on a to 85% renewable and biological energy source to raise.

        That's why E 85 disappeared almost everywhere, just like on a deadline.

        • Thanks for the information! I had thought or hoped that the then still tax-privileged purchased remainders should then be resold so from the refueling. But it is already too long ago, that there could still be such rests somewhere.

          • Yes it is. Remaining stocks have been sold off for a long time and the tanks and dispensers quickly moved and refilled ...

            Demand in D was bigger even at the best E85 times than the offer or as the grid would have been close enough.

            D has perhaps not forfeited its internationally recognized role as a pioneer in questions of climate protection for no reason and also not wrongly? SAAB was by no means the only brand that I saw on the E85 pillars ...

            What you repeatedly report about F (thanks for that), but makes me (at least a little) courage and hope that perhaps D here again could think and redirect. Even if bio-gas and ethanol have very little to do with each other. This requires two separate procedures and systems. But in principle (why not waste for one as well as the other use) you are perfectly right.
            F does it. Vive la France! ! !

          • Yes, hopefully Germany is still looking at something from its closest friend France.

            By the way: Another important argument that illustrates the whole madness of the diesel witch hunt is today's opinion of the pulmonologists, which discloses the irrelevance of the limit values ​​.. That was overdue! According to an interview with a pulmonologist that I just heard on the NDR, nitrogen oxides are also said to be natural substances that the body produces itself. In addition, on a summer day, for example, when taking a walk in the forest, the limit value is exceeded many times over - produced by the bacteria in the forest floor!

            Anyway, I'm going to buy a fuel-saving diesel-chromed-combo, sustainable (because already), as an environmentally friendly second and winter car, to spare my gorgeous BioPower Griffin Cabriolet! 🙂 And the next convertible trips to Sweden and southern France are already planned! 🙂

          • Yes, the diesel, New Year's Eve, candles in the house, cows in the pasture and even the forest ...

            I research the incredibly complex field of tension between people, the environment, health and nature myself almost every day. The more I know about it, the more firmly I am convinced that we, humanity, know almost nothing ...

            And yet there is - besides a certain amount of competence - there is hardly a member of the Bundestag or the state parliaments who, the more ignorant they are, the more precisely they do not know which sow is to be driven through the village with all their might, power and rhetoric ...

            PS
            Nitrogen is an integral part of the air / atmosphere we breathe. I'm not surprised that nitrogen oxides are also produced in the forest. Nitrogen oxides could only be reliably excluded if all oxidation (including the combustion of a diesel, a gasoline engine, a candle or the metabolism of a bacterium) took place in an atmosphere of pure oxygen. Maybe we should make friends with the atmosphere we have instead? I don't know any better ...
            But maybe one or the other parliamentarian has a horizon that extends very, very far beyond mine and that of this earth? But then he or she should return to their home planet and leave this to humanity, bacteria and the forest ...

            PS II
            Apropos forests, reforestation and renaturation would benefit us in many ways. The CO2 and oxygen balance of a growing (!) Forest is only one aspect. Forests cool too. Admittedly only micro- and macro-climatic, but ultimately the global climate is nothing more than the sum of all its parts. But you don't even hear such a demand from the Greens. All ride the same pig. Whoever drove them across the finish line first wins. “Once again there is no alternative”, wrote another and apparently clever reader recently ...

  • There is one more interesting news related to NEVS:

    https://www.saabplanet.com/what-is-required-for-the-citizens-in-trollhattan-to-be-prepared-to-share-a-car-with-others/

    Follow this link and you will learn that in Trollhättan a project has started to ask the inhabitants about their driving habits. This is done with the aim, if possible, of using NEVS vehicles for car sharing (in the future).
    For most of us, it is probably still common to own a car. The rethinking in the direction of car sharing is in Sweden probably desired by the policy. (?) The drive should be to be electric and autonomous driving at some point.

    • Interesting. And funny …

      It is said, among other things, and mutatis mutandis, that NEVZ is probably the only car manufacturer that wants to reduce the number of registered vehicles. You generate yourself in a progressive, environmentally aware and selfless way.

      I predict that NEVZ will find it very difficult to further reduce the number of approved NEDCs from the given zero. The truth is, you're desperately looking for a niche where other automakers - who deserve the name and actually build cars - may have forgotten a piece of the pie.

      And when I look at the lifestyle of the Swedes and other Scandinavians, and the structure of the relatively large and sparsely populated countries for European conditions, I assume that car sharing is only practicable for a few.
      How and with whom do I share a car when the next neighbor is a kilometer or 10 kilometers away and everyone wants to go to the bakery, go shopping, go to a festival, go into the blueberries, go hunting or collect mushrooms at the same time? This even applies to many city dwellers who like to spend a lot of time in nature and in remote, often even their own, huts ...

      I could well imagine a life in Sweden. But not without everything. Not without nature, without a house, without a fireplace and without a boat and without your own car that is freely available at all times (preferably a relatively large one and still with an AHK). That may sound a little reactionary today and like a refusal to progress, but I think it's simply realistic ...

  • Number game in the one to two digit range:

    Only 7 readers have been carried away to 10 comments so far. It's not because of the article. It's balanced and informative (thanks). A troll named Snurg generated 24 comments, as many as the last two articles in the NEVZ column put together. The readers even found the test drive of a 9000 so exciting and moving that there are 37 comments under the report - one generated more than the last 3 NEVZ-related articles combined ...

    Strictly speaking, there are even 11 comments generated by the 9000, because 10 comments in the category NEVZ do not refer to NEVZ, but to a Dutch museum. 26 NEVZ comments are left on each NEVZ article versus 8,66 for a troll and versus 24 for a SAAB 37. Between Snurg and the 9000 also joins a SAAB image puzzle with 9000 internationally generated comments.

    The interest of SAAB drivers in NEVZ is in a descent to dive. The test drive of a used SAAB, a longitudinally mounted SAAB engine and the story behind a colorful sticker are taken individually and alone as exciting and moving as 3 to 4 messages on the subject of NEVZ in total. Fascinating! ! !

    • Just a few numbers to the morning: Yesterday's article was worth a visit 2.5k readers. Exactly the values ​​that Troll Snurg had.

      • Also fascinating. Thanks for the info ...

        Consultation: Is the number of readers perhaps independent of the article and its content relatively constant? Will not every subscriber and every other reader at least have a quick look, no matter what?

        Are the emotions and interests of the readers in the comments thus possibly more reliable than in the perhaps relatively constant calls?

        In any case, beyond the references and comparisons I made, I have the feeling that the NEVZ topic was discussed here earlier in a more emotional and committed manner and with more international participation. I can of course be wrong, but when in doubt I only trust the statistics that I faked myself ...

        Well, of course that was a Kalauer. Let's put it that way, numbers and facts usually allow a surprisingly large amount of scope for different interpretations.

        The number of readers alone does not seem to me to be a reliable indicator of interests or possible shifts in the same ...

        • No. What is striking is the falling interest in NEVS, which has been emerging for months. In return, “normal” Saab articles have more readers than before. An old 9000 beats a NEVS EV in the public interest. This is relatively new.

          • Too bad that there is no (worthy) successor to SAAB. But it's nice that the reader's interest is so clear per SAAB. It's a SAABBLOG 😉

            It's also nice that the blog started the new year with a large number of very enthusiastic posts, just as if the blog team had prophetically foreseen the relatively new development ...

            PS
            And it's nice that you still haven't taken NEVZ out of focus. Some readers still have an unbroken optimism and an unbroken interest. That may continue to change and reduce, but for the moment this is (still) evident from the comments. A fantastic start for all readers ...

            Can and should one already donate for 2020, or is it too early?

          • The declining interest in NEVS may also be related to the fact that in the meantime, taking a closer look, electric cars are no longer quite as uncontested in terms of environmental performance.

            As Herbert Hürsch correctly commented a few days ago, well-made hybrid vehicles or also traditional E 85 vehicles would actually be the better solution in terms of the environment compared to purely electric cars. Unfortunately, E 85 is almost no longer offered in Germany for a flimsy reason - unlike, for example, in France (still available there at many branded petrol stations).

          • That's certainly correct what Detlef Rudolf writes. In addition: 2012 an electric car would have been something special. Meanwhile, the criticism-free advocacy of electric cars annoyed by some parts of the press and politics only. And also a Tesla, I thought it was great, you do not want to drive anymore if you read the attitude of Tesla people in the relevant forums.

          • Hello Mr. Rudolf,

            the topic Hybrid / E 85 I see exactly the same! In France, not only "still" but also, due to a government initiative, since the spring, 2018 is increasingly being placed on E 85. Were it in April a little more than 1.000, it should now be well over 3.000 gas stations where E 85 is sold at a liter price of about 60 to 70 cents! In some districts in the south of France, buses have recently been operated exclusively with E 85, which is obtained from waste from wine production. If you think of the misguided German energy policy, you can only get angry and shake your head in the face of incomprehension! What is actually with all the biogas plants in this country? From which could be won instead of gas so well E 85.

            One question: You write "Unfortunately, E 85 will be offered on a flimsy basis in Germany AS WELL AS NO MORE".

            Does anyone still know any gas station in Germany that currently offers E 85 ?? For pertinent and relevant information, I would be willing to make a higher donation to the blog, even for 2020! 🙂

  • Do not believe that NEVS can only survive on electric vehicles alone.

    • Hybrid vehicles made in Trollhättan would also be nice - at least for the European market. Why not use the old brand name again? Let's see what Evergrande has on the pan.

  • Thanks to the editorial team for this “enlightening” article. It is probably the many unknown facts from the Far East that make an objective assessment of the whole situation difficult / impossible ...
    Whether it will turn out to be a “happy ending” ... we will see and read. I think the thought of using “play money” by the mega-rich is possible. I cannot say whether this is useful for the market ... Time will tell whether sheer size means long-term success. I remain skeptical.
    This article also shows how fast companies, responsibilities and cash flows change !!!

  • ..thank you for the text. Let's wait and drive SAAB! … ..And if something new comes from Sweden that we like, .. all the nicer!

  • The fact is that NEVS has been engaged in increased marketing in various social media in recent weeks. Slowly, the whole thing seems to start rolling, for which one has heard almost nothing for years.

    But what should one think of the takeover? Volvo was taken over at the time with financial difficulties, but there was a functioning production there, there were vehicles and - part of which is part of the success of Volvo for me - SAAB went bankrupt during this period of the growing success of Volvo. Many engineers have found their way to Volvo. It’s not for nothing that the new Volvo sedan has recently started in the center console 😉

    And even though Volvo has saved a Chinese investment, I do not hope Evergrande is tempted to negotiate the brand name of SAAB AB. It's bad enough that the NEVS is the history of the original SAAB, the milestone reached by the 99 Turbo, or the highly acclaimed 900 Convertible for marketing events and is resting on it.

    On the contrary, it might be interesting to know how the patents are distributed.
    Is there a level of knowledge? For any attempts to bring the brand back to life.

  • Too big to fail ...

    ... is a key phrase of the article for me. According to the Western understanding, it is primarily aimed at the last major financial crisis. Ergo on internationally operating western banks and the real estate bubble especially in the USA.

    Too big to fail ...

    ... has been going through my head for some time in connection with NEVZ. You're not an automobile manufacturer until you've actually built and sold cars. NEVZ has solved this question elegantly and with minimal effort. You have simply built a handful of SAAB 9-3 sedans and from now on you can call yourself a “car manufacturer” - regardless of whether you developed them yourself, no matter how few cars there were, no matter how high the investment and the amount Losses since the SAAB takeover are.

    Because that's not what this is about. After the (Western) real estate bubble comes the (eastern) automobile bubble. KJJ and others will make their cut or have done so long ago. Western or Eastern understanding of the situation or not, with NEVZ it is just as little about competitive and high-quality cars, as it previously went in the US for rock solid properties.

    It is poker. And whoever considers his own bet smaller than his own winnings has won.
    Private millions or billions as very personal play and pocket money. We will see …

    • “Too big to fail” probably means something different than the matter with the western real estate bubble or even the eastern automobile bubble - I do not even consider the latter to exist because the great demand for automobiles is actually there.

      A fitting example would be GM in the US - at times the world's largest automaker.

      As is known, a few years ago, when bankruptcy and looming finalization of this company, the US Treasury intervened protectively and put an end to the decline with state aid billions.

      I would class such processes around large corporations in the category “too big to fail” - the Evergrande conglomerate certainly belongs in this category as well.

      • Well, we could argue about the details here ...

        But if you put the “Evergrande conglomerate” into this category (“too big to fail”), then we agree on all the essential points.

        What should or could I oppose to you? ? ?

        I find the comparison of an immobile and an automotive bubble very stimulating and useful, if only for semantic and semiotic reasons. In the case of NEVZ and China, however, I definitely see other references. For example the fact that NEVZ is only one of 400 companies there that want to dedicate themselves to EVs ...

        This is almost the pure culture of a bubble that you are part of a large whole, which is already significantly larger than anything that the market will ever make sense. I am convinced that China has a need to catch up on this point (however modern you may be there).

        Western democracies have been working on the social market economy since WW II at the latest. For a few years, the undemocratic China, which is questionable on human rights issues, has been trying to overtake these social market economies with their own and since then suddenly radically antisocial market economy.

        In theory, these are good prerequisites for adventurers. But you also have to take action before the bubble bursts. Well on! ! ! Just go for it, KJJ ...

  • Already exciting (again)…. Perhaps Evergande will turn NEVS into Tesla 2.0? Or negotiate with SAAB AB and buy back the trademark rights. Yes, yes, one can dream.

  • Clearly the Chinese have to say it now in the Betreibs world but it is always exciting with them. Is it going on or is it failing somewhere on the way to success?
    Let's hope for Sweden it keeps up.

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