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Author: Barosaurus

Editor: Shi Jie

Editor: He Zengrong

"HiPhi Auto's parent company Human Horizons was sentenced to bankruptcy and reorganization!"

“Didn’t iAuto invest $1 billion in HiPhi?”

"Do you believe that Yang Rong, the person behind iAuto, can give the money?"

……

The story of HiPhi, which kicked off another wave of collapse of new forces at the beginning of the year, is not over yet.

On August 8, 2024, a "Decision of the People's Court of Yancheng Economic and Technological Development Zone" was circulated. According to the document, HiPhi Auto's parent company, Human Horizons (Jiangsu) Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Human Horizons Company), was accepted by the court for a pre-reorganization application.

HiPhi Auto is therefore more like a "centipede that is dead but still alive". The wages owed to a large number of employees have not yet been settled, but the restructuring means that there will be no bankruptcy and liquidation in the short term, and the HiPhi brand will not disappear immediately.

Auto Commune has been tracking and reporting on HiPhi's automotive news since the beginning of the year, including the article "HiPhi was stopped by Bosch" which was deleted by the manufacturer, and the article "HiPhi R&D staff's hard work and sweat" which revealed the difficulties and sweat of HiPhi。

During our interviews with HiPhi employees, we repeatedly mentioned that "slow speed of intelligentization" has become one of HiPhi's shortcomings. Why is HiPhi lagging behind in intelligentization? In addition to the fact that a large number of management personnel who come from traditional automobile backgrounds cannot adapt well to the development trend of intelligent automobiles, it is also closely related to the inaction or even misconduct of the person in charge of intelligent R&D.

"The person who was exposed was Yu Hai, the former head of IOV. He was not proficient in intelligent technology, but he loved to monopolize power and had inflated personal desires," an insider told Auto Commune. "He almost disrupted the entire research and development of automotive intelligence, but the funny thing is that after he left, there was no suitable replacement."

At this point, the outline of the story of Gaohe's decline has become more complete, but it seems that it is still far from showing the full picture.

whenBYDWhile the leading new forces are making great strides, the mid- and low-level companies that are not enterprising or are dragged down by the company's top management have become a dim background color under the law of the jungle, contrasting with the bright halo of the successful ones.

According to the "Decision of the People's Court of Yancheng Economic and Technological Development Zone", on July 1 this year, Human Horizons (Jiangsu) Technology Co., Ltd. applied to the court for reorganization of the company on the grounds that its assets could not repay all debts due, but had reorganization value and possibility, and at the same time applied for pre-reorganization.

In fact, the verdict on August 8 was just the formal filing of the case by the People's Court of Yancheng Economic and Technological Development Zone and the approval of the preliminary reorganization of Human Horizons.

For Ding Lei, the founder of Human Horizons and HiPhi Auto, his return home in Yancheng by taking over the Yueda Kia factory was once seen as a hope for revitalizing the local manufacturing industry. However, it is regrettable that he is now being forced to undergo restructuring by the court in his hometown.

So what is "pre-reorganization"? What is the difference between bankruptcy reorganization and bankruptcy liquidation? Can HiPhi and Human Horizons survive?

The purpose of bankruptcy reorganization (compared with "bankruptcy restructuring" in some terms, "reorganization" is led by the court, more rigorous and has legal significance) is to save the enterprise, while the purpose of bankruptcy liquidation is to eliminate the enterprise. The former will integrate assets, including additional investment; the latter will distribute the bankrupt property, mainly through auction, forced sale, discount sale and other measures.

If a company enters restructuring, it still has a chance to survive or be reborn; if it enters liquidation, it is doomed to fail.Human Horizons and HiPhi have not yet reached the point of complete demise, and we can still continue to see related "tense reports".

"Pre-reorganization" is the preliminary step of reorganization. Major creditors, investors, debtors, reorganization investors and other entities reach a consensus on the key terms of the reorganization in advance through consultation and negotiation under the leadership of the People's Court.

However, HiPhi's business and employees are still suffering. According to the "Decision", "As of April 30, 2024, the company's known unpaid debts have exceeded the company's total assets, and its assets are insufficient to repay all debts, and it has bankruptcy reasons." Obviously, the insolvency has made it difficult for Human Horizons and HiPhi to continue.

On May 16 this year, it was reported that HiPhi obtained US$1 billion in financing from iAuto Group Inc. iAuto fully supports HiPhi Auto's resumption of work and production, and plans to complete the transaction before the announcement of HiPhi Auto's parent company's first-half 2024 financial report; Human Horizons also officially signed a "Comprehensive Strategic Cooperation Agreement" with iAtuo.

"iAuto is only willing to bear the employees' salaries, and does not want to take on many other debts. This is why the progress has been slow." An insider told Auto Commune.

At the same time, there have been changes in the relevant management personnel of HiPhi’s financial department. “These people have been removed, and it’s difficult for us to ask for our wages,” the rights-defending employees complained.

The pre-reorganization time also makes employees who are demanding their wages wait longer.

"The pre-reorganization period is six months from the date of this decision. If there are legitimate reasons, it can be extended for three months upon application by the pre-reorganization administrator." In the eyes of HiPhi employees, it has almost become a delaying tactic.

Why is HiPhi in danger? In addition to the high positioning of its models, the lack of product competitiveness, especially the level of intelligence, is a key factor.

Why is HiPhi’s level of intelligence insufficient?

We have summarized in previous articles: Coming from a traditional car company and having experience in local government politics, the corporate values ​​advocated by Ding Lei focus on machinery but despise software, focus on vehicle-road collaboration but despise vehicle-side intelligence, focus on product quality but despise the pace of replacement, focus on self-control and balance of the company, but despise the fact that the times and the industry have entered a new stage.

However, apart from Ding Lei’s own lack of knowledge of software, why did a group of R&D executives fail to turn the situation around? This is related to the recent revelation that the person in charge of HiPhi’s Internet of Vehicle (IOV) business has been ineffective for a long time, and even brought negative effects.

"Colleagues say that Gao He's mother tongue is silence."

"Smart connectivity remains, but general managers come and go. We can't say one is worse than another, we can only say one is more trashy than another. Some are obsessed with raising subordinates every day; some eliminate dissidents at all costs every day; some pretend to obey but secretly keep mistresses."

This was revealed by a former HiPhi employee.

The executive with the most concentrated firepower is Yu Hai, who served as general manager of HiPhi Auto's Internet of Vehicles business from early 2022 to early 2023.

"Yu Hai joined the company in early 2022. He was strongly recommended by a headhunter from a shell company with an annual salary of 3 million yuan. But in fact, he did not understand the technology of many business operations, which led to his misconduct in managing research and development work," said the whistleblower.

"He relied on his subordinates to organize materials for technologies he didn't understand, and he reported and took credit for them. If this was common in all companies, then nepotism, management beyond one's level, and exclusion of dissidents were even more serious than in other companies. He often appointed people who didn't understand the business to be in charge of a sector, and he also frequently gave direct instructions to engineers to do specific things, leaving the engineers' managers at a loss. He was just like Chiang Kai-shek, the master of micromanagement back then."

So in August 2022, some suppressed R&D employees wrote an anonymous letter accusing Yu Hai, saying that "some of the company's top executives don't have personal assistants, but Yu Hai has several assistants and flies all over the country. He likes to hold self-praise meetings, eat and drink a lot everywhere, buy good wine, go to good restaurants, and never let his subordinates get drunk..."

However, even after such a villain left, "there is still no suitable replacement."

It is obvious that there are serious loopholes in HiPhi's talent echelon mechanism and management mechanism.

“You say, from Ding Lei to the management committee, how could they not know about these messed up things? No, although the management committee did want to hide some things from Ding Lei. The essence is that the top leaders of the company are playing power games with each other, which is why they let people like Yu Hai take positions for the big leaders, which only damaged the research and development foundation of HiPhi.” The insider was disappointed.

In July, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles in China's auto market exceeded 51%, setting a new monthly high.auspicious、Aion,ideal,Hongmeng Intelligent DrivingandNIOWhile some continue to write brilliant achievements, names like HiPhi and Aiways are gradually sliding into the abyss.

After all, the fundamental factor that determines a golden signboard or a bloody list lies in the "person" himself.