WM Motor is caught in a cancellation storm, with a product cancellation rate of up to 30%

WM Motor, known as the "price butcher" in the industry, was exposed to have a product cancellation rate of up to 30% due to the "battery spontaneous combustion" incident of its supplier.

Although Shen Hui, founder, chairman and CEO of WM Motor, subsequently denied the rumor, Lu Bin, co-founder and vice president of strategic planning of WM Motor, also publicly responded on Weibo, saying that the products using GuShen batteries are not delivered to C-end users, but the public did not buy into WM Motor's statement.

In fact, WM Motor has been under suspicion for many reasons. Some industry insiders believe that in addition to the spontaneous combustion of the supplier's battery, the company's reluctance to release the details of the batteries used in its products and the detailed configuration of its models, as well as the unclear delivery time of its first product, the EX5, and its incomplete offline after-sales service, have caused the outside world to have more and more doubts about WM Motor.

Weimar Motors was reported to have 30% of its intended customers cancel their orders

Recently, the media reported that a Mustang new energy vehicle that had been used for only three months caught fire while charging. Due to the fierce fire, the accident vehicle was burned to an empty frame. So far, the cause of the accident has not been officially explained by the company. It is worth noting that Gushen Energy, the battery supplier of the accident vehicle, is one of the battery suppliers for WM Motor's first mass-produced model, WM EX5.

As the GuShen battery self-ignition incident continued to escalate, WM Motor’s product quality and safety aroused doubts among consumers, and WM Motor was pushed to the forefront of public opinion.

A Beijing News reporter saw in the forum that some car owners posted that "if the WM EX5 is equipped with Ceeson batteries, I will choose to cancel the order, which is inconsistent with the promise." Some media wrote that due to the negative impact of Ceeson batteries, nearly 30% of potential users of WM's first model EX5 have canceled their orders.

Several car owners who have reserved EX5 told the Beijing News that they have already submitted cancellation applications. "I canceled my order after the incident because I felt that the quality of Weimar was not reliable," said Mr. Liu, a car owner who just canceled his order.

Another car owner told the Beijing News reporter, "It's been a week since I canceled my order, but I still haven't gotten my money back."

Facing the crisis of trust brought about by the Gushen Battery incident, Shen Hui, founder, chairman and CEO of WM Motor, responded on his personal WeChat Moments on June 6, saying, "Currently, the cancellation rate of WM Motor is less than 0.3%." He also said, "Supply chain resources have always been WM Motor's advantage. In the selection of core suppliers, WM Motor will adhere to strict standards to select high-quality supplier partners."

Lu Bin, co-founder of WM Motor and vice president of strategic planning, also publicly stated on Weibo that the products using GuShen batteries are not delivered to end consumers (C-end) users.

The declared information has caused controversy

Just as the cancellation storm of WM Motor was intensifying, on June 8, Shen Hui once again responded to the doubts about the "battery spontaneous combustion incident" on Weibo.

In the response letter titled "Letter from WM Motor", Shen Hui emphasized that WM Motor's battery technology is at the leading level. "WM Motor has passed 16 safety tests for battery packs and is the first company in China to complete the comprehensive durability test standards for the entire three-electric assembly. All indicators meet and exceed industry standards."

At present, WM Motor has not disclosed specific battery information. "We want specific parameters. What kind of battery does the C-end EX5 use? Why don't you be honest with us?" "Except for knowing the price, we don't know any detailed information about the vehicle, such as what battery it is equipped with. After booking the vehicle, we have to browse the forum every day to collect various information. I really have no patience," several WM Motor EX5 owners who decided to cancel their orders complained to the Beijing News reporter.

In response to the above questions, Lu Bin replied on Weibo, "It's not time yet. We have our own pace."

In fact, as early as a month ago, WM Motor aroused external doubts because the vehicle battery declaration information was inconsistent with the official information.

According to the information previously released by WM Motor, the only battery supplier of WM Motor is CATL (43.800, 3.98, 9.99%). But soon after, the information of WM Motor EX5's declaration of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's motor vehicle product announcement was exposed. According to the 308th batch of new model announcements, WM Motor EX5 declared a total of 5 versions, 2 versions used CATL, and the remaining 3 versions all used batteries from Zhejiang Gushen Energy.

At the Beijing Auto Show in April this year, some media also discovered that of the two EX5s at WM Motor's booth, one was equipped with batteries from CATL, and the other was equipped with batteries from Zhejiang Gushen Energy.

Regarding the situation where the battery was "stolen", WM Motor said, "Generally, vehicle manufacturers will try different models and configuration combinations to declare catalogs during the product development stage, but the product matrix that is finally launched on the market will consider factors such as products, markets and sales strategies. Therefore, prospective users can get the key points by paying attention to the pre-sale and listing product information announced by the manufacturer."

Since its launch in April this year, WM Motor has not yet announced any parameters and configurations of the EX5.

On June 13, in response to questions from the public, WM Motor said in a response to a Beijing News reporter, "WM Motor has never said that all batteries are from CATL, and has not even claimed that any version will definitely use CATL batteries." The other party said that WM Motor's plan for next year is to produce 100,000 vehicles, and the resulting battery demand is 5G. Currently, basically no single battery manufacturer can provide such a large supply to a single OEM. WM Motor will choose a total of four battery suppliers, including CATL and Gushen Battery, to achieve the vehicle mass production target.

Claimed to start actual delivery in September

"The biggest challenge for new car manufacturers is delivery. This delivery means handing over the car to offline users, rather than delivering it to internal employees one moment and to acquaintances the next." Shen Hui's explanation of "real delivery" at the 2018 China Automotive Startup Summit on May 31 has become a hot topic in the automotive industry recently.

Shen Hui said at the meeting that WM Motor is preparing to start large-scale deliveries in September this year, and plans to deliver more than 10,000 vehicles this year. Users can pick up their cars at offline stores by then. This is also the first time that Shen Hui has publicly announced the delivery schedule for WM Motor's first car, the EX5.

In Shen Hui's view, after large-scale production and delivery, the next problem is to increase sales. "While the new energy industry is booming in China and the world, there are no popularizers. Popularizers are those who can sell 30,000 or 50,000 units of a product on a large scale and launch it on the market on a large scale. This is another hurdle for us. I think if we can overcome these two hurdles, we can survive and develop," Shen Hui said.

Industry experts pointed out that as the entry threshold for new car companies continues to rise, capital will gradually flow to the leading companies of new car-making forces in the future. In order to gain more capital favor, new car-making forces are bound to engage in more intense "internal fighting". There is no doubt that delivery will become the next round of civil war among emerging car-making companies.

On June 13, a reporter from the Beijing News contacted Weimar Motor about this matter. The other party said that it was normal for some users to cancel their orders for some reasons. It has not had much impact on Weimar Motor's sales. As of noon on June 11, Weimar Motor had received 11,285 orders for which deposits had been paid.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.