New car-making forces challenge the Shanghai Auto Show. What are their backgrounds?

Compared with previous years, one of the highlights of this year's Shanghai Auto Show is the influx of a large number of emerging car manufacturers. These include the well-known NIO, the recently unveiled Yundu, and some new faces that are still in the concept car development stage. These "uninvited guests" in the eyes of traditional car companies are using the constantly unveiled concept cars, new technologies and future strategies to realize their dreams and reality. What are the origins of these "new forces" in the car industry that were unheard of in the past?

NIO

In terms of the popularity of this group of emerging car manufacturers, NIO is definitely the best. The popularity of the booth is evident from the fact that even on a weekday when the exhibition was coming to an end, the NIO booth was still packed with people, just as popular as the 8.1 Luxury Car Pavilion. This Shanghai Auto Show is NIO's first show in China, with a total of 11 models on display, including the world's first SUV model NIO ES8, as well as the first EP9 and EVE concept cars in China.

This new Internet car-making company, founded by Li Bin, the president of Bitauto, at the end of 2014, was often compared with LeEco, another Internet car-making company, in the early days of its establishment, and was classified as a PPT car-making company. However, the biggest difference between NIO and other Internet car companies may be that it was the first to release the mass-produced model ES8, while LeEco Auto was absent from this year's Shanghai Auto Show after a series of major moves before.

Among a number of emerging car manufacturers, NIO's car manufacturing technology is relatively mature and its experience is relatively rich. At present, NIO has established three-electric system manufacturing bases in Nanjing, Kunshan and Changshu. The Hefei vehicle factory built in cooperation with JAC is also nearly completed. The production layout and supply chain system have been fully laid out. NIO seems to have made the final preparations before mass production. In April this year, NIO and Changan Automobile announced that they would carry out full-field cooperation, share the advantages of both parties, and conduct research and development in new energy technology, intelligent technology and other aspects, and actively promote the rapid development of the field of intelligent networked new energy vehicles. Except for the lack of an electric vehicle production qualification, the first half of NIO's car manufacturing has ended.

Zhengdao Automobile

In addition to NIO, another new face in the Shanghai Auto Show that attracted much attention was Zhengdao Auto, which was closely related to the man behind it, Yang Rong. This legendary car man founded the "Brilliance Group" at the end of the last century, which wrote a glorious chapter in the history of Chinese cars. After 2001, Yang Rong went to the United States for various reasons. It was not until 2009 that he announced that he would use the Zhengdao Group to realize his "car-making dream."

As a listed company headquartered in Hong Kong, the main business of the Zhengdao Group is the development and production of clean energy vehicles and their three-electric systems, including batteries, motors, and electronic controls. In fact, Zhengdao Automobile was established in the United States around 2010, and signed a land use agreement with the Alabama government and a development and design agreement with Giugiaro Design. However, after 2010, there was basically no news about Zhengdao Automobile.

The brand returned to the public's attention in February 2017, when the Zhengdao Group and Jingwei Co., Ltd. signed a "Memorandum of Strategic Cooperation". The two parties started to implement the mass production of the Zhengdao Group H600 new energy vehicle and subsequent products, and planned to build R&D centers and production bases in China and Europe and the United States. At the Geneva Motor Show in March, the Zhengdao H600 was officially exhibited, and the brand's appearance at the Shanghai Auto Show can be regarded as its first show in the domestic market. At this Shanghai Auto Show, the Zhengdao Group brought three concept cars, namely the Zhengdao H600, the Zhengdao K550 and the Zhengdao K750.

Yundu Automobile

Unlike most other new brands that are personal entrepreneurial projects, Yuntu Auto is backed by a traditional auto company, one of the investors is FAW Group. The brand was established in December 2015 and has invested in a vehicle production base with an annual output of 80,000 vehicles. It was not until the beginning of this year that Yuntu Auto officially obtained the tenth new energy vehicle project production qualification approved by the National Development and Reform Commission that it gradually came into people's attention.

As a latecomer in the new car industry, Yundu is not slow in launching new cars. On February 27, it held a brand launch conference; on April 19, it brought two mass-produced cars, π3 and π1, to the Shanghai Auto Show. At the beginning of its establishment, Yundu positioned itself as a smart connected electric vehicle, and took the current hot-selling SUV models as its entry point. The first mid-size SUV π3 is the brand's flagship product, and uses the concept of an integrated electric vehicle chassis. The small SUV π1 model was developed on the same platform and is expected to be launched at the end of 2017.

Qiantu Motors

In Hall 8.1, which is full of luxury cars, a blue sports car with a dragonfly-shaped logo on the front attracted the attention of many visitors. This unfamiliar brand is Qiantu Motor. As a Chinese pure electric vehicle brand, Qiantu Motor exhibited three Qiantu K50s in different colors.

In February 2015, Qiantu Motors was established in Suzhou. Its parent company is Beijing Great Wall Huaguan Automotive Technology Co., Ltd. (referred to as "Great Wall Huaguan"). Please note that Great Wall Huaguan and Great Wall are two different things. Great Wall Huaguan is an automobile design company and a complete vehicle development solution provider. Its main business is automobile design. With Qiantu Motors, its business scope involves the research and development and production of electric vehicles. In October 2016, the National Development and Reform Commission approved Qiantu Motors' new energy vehicle production base project in Suzhou, and Qiantu Motors became the third company in China to obtain new energy vehicle production qualifications.

Strictly speaking, this is not the first time that Qiantu Motors has appeared at a domestic auto show. The brand has exhibited at the 2015 Shanghai Auto Show and the 2016 Beijing Auto Show. However, the previous two exhibitions used experimental engineering vehicles of the electric supercar K50, while the models exhibited this time are the ones that have already been put into production. It is reported that most of the factory buildings of Qiantu's production base in Suzhou have been capped, and the first mass-produced car, Qiantu K50, is expected to roll off the production line at the end of 2017. Before the final mass production at the end of the year, Qiantu will also trial-produce nearly 100 cars for testing. It is expected that the annual production scale will be around 5,000 vehicles after mass production.

Singularity Motors

At this year's Shanghai Auto Show, Singularity Motors set up a booth on its own to exhibit three new cars, including two different versions of the Singularity iS6 and a gull-wing door SUV concept car. In fact, Singularity Motors had already appeared on the stage at the 2016 Beijing Auto Show, at that time, it borrowed the venue of its partner Alte to exhibit.

The founder of Singularity Motors is Shen Haiyin, who was once the vice president of 360 and Kingsoft Software Group. At the end of 2014, Shen Haiyin resigned and started his own business, establishing the Zhiche Youxing project, which focuses on the electric vehicle field. In March 2016, Zhiche Youxing officially launched the Singularity Motors brand and made its debut at the subsequent Beijing Auto Show.

Before the opening of this year's Shanghai Auto Show, Singularity Motors held an "Arrival" theme conference in Beijing on April 13 and announced a preview of the new car iS6. The Shanghai Auto Show is the first exhibition of the car. This car is positioned as a medium-to-large SUV with a double-door design and is expected to be mass-produced on a small scale by the end of 2017. Singularity Motors CEO Shen Haiyin revealed to the media that Singularity has currently signed a contract for OEM with a vehicle manufacturer, but since the other party is a listed company, it is inconvenient to disclose the details. Singularity Motors' Anhui Tongling base is expected to be completed and put into production next year, and will be used to produce Singularity's second model.

Taihang Automobile

At the dazzling Shanghai Auto Show, Taihang Motors was a breath of fresh air, with a simple booth layout and an equally simple exterior design. I believe that many people, like me, are seeing this emerging car brand for the first time.

It is reported that Taihang Automobile is headquartered in Xingtai City, Hebei Province. It was established in February 2016 with the approval of relevant departments. Its main businesses include automobile technology development, automobile and parts manufacturing and sales, etc.

At this auto show, the two new energy vehicles brought by Taihang Motors are both A00-class models, but the two cars code-named A1 and T1 have their own different positioning. A1 is a 4-seater passenger car, while T1 is a cargo logistics vehicle with a rated load of 250 kg.

WM Motor

Everyone is familiar with Shen Hui, a veteran in the automotive industry. He was the CEO of Fiat Powertrain Technologies China. He later joined Geely Auto and served as the chairman of Volvo China after Geely acquired Volvo. After bidding farewell to Volvo, Shen Hui joined PATEO Auto and became a powerful assistant to PATEO Auto Chairman Ying Yilun in promoting "Internet car manufacturing". However, PATEO Auto failed after a short-lived success at the last Shanghai Auto Show and became a "pioneer in Internet car manufacturing". Since then, Shen Hui has made a comeback and transformed into the founder and chairman of WM Motor.

It is understood that since WM Motor's office is located in the National Exhibition and Convention Center where the Shanghai Auto Show is held, it did not set up a booth in the exhibition hall. On the occasion of this grand event, WM Motor, which has a favorable location, will naturally not miss this excellent opportunity for publicity. During this Shanghai Auto Show, WM Motor released its first concept car AG2020. According to official sources, WM Motor's mass production car project is progressing steadily. The first platform and the first mass production car have accumulated a global test mileage of more than 1 million kilometers, and the first mass production product will roll off the production line in 2018.

Under the general trend of electrification and intelligent networking, all emerging car manufacturers are working towards new energy vehicles and Internet cars. New brands such as Weilai, Zhengdao, and Yundu participating in the exhibition are examples. According to information disclosed by several companies, the first mass-produced car will be launched in 2018, and some companies even claim that small-scale production will be completed by the end of this year. Faced with another car-making boom, the industry as a whole is cautious and wait-and-see. Which companies will eventually realize their dreams can only be tested by time and the market. After all, LeTV, the most popular Internet car manufacturer, has been absent from this Shanghai Auto Show.

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.