Wed, Jul 01, 2020 page14

• Wheels falling off China’s ‘deep fake’ car manufacturer 中國「山寨大王」眾泰汽車踢到鐵板

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  Chinese automobile manufacturer Zotye Auto is a household name in China. The company is famous for manufacturing copies of car models by luxury international brands including Audi, Porsche and Lamborghini. After a long delay, on June 22, Zotye Auto finally released its 2019 year end financial results. The report revealed that last year, the automaker suffered losses of 11.2 billion yuan (approximately NT$46.6 billion), or an average of 30 million yuan per day. The company’s market value also shrank from 30 billion yuan to a mere 3.6 billion yuan. Even worse, because the company is unable to guarantee the authenticity, accuracy and completeness of its financial report, Zotye Auto has been issued with a “risk of delisting warning” by Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

  Seemingly without a care for the outside world, Zotye Auto has been audaciously building slavish copies of imported luxury car models. The company became a household name in China after producing facsimile versions of the Audi Q3 (Zotye SR7), Porsche Macan (Zotye SR9) and Lamborghini Urus (Zotye Concept S). Due to Zotye Auto’s uncanny ability to produce lookalike cars, there is a joke currently doing the rounds in China: “If you want to get behind the wheel of a Lamborghini, pay a visit to Zotye Auto.”

  However, having relied on imitating the work of others, the company lacks home-grown innovation, while the quality of its vehicles has not kept pace with the sophistication of its copycat designs. Annual sales have been steadily falling too: in 2016, the company sold 330,000 vehicles. This fell to 310,000 in 2017 and only 230,000 in 2018. Zotye Auto initially set a sales target of 480,000 vehicles per year, yet in 2018 it failed to reach even half that figure. Last year, sales declined at an even steeper rate with the company only managing to shift 116,600 vehicles.

  

  Pictured left is a Porsche Macan; the Zotye SR9 copy is on the right. 左為一輛保時捷Macan，右為眾泰汽車SR9的山寨版。

  Photo: Wikipedia Commons 照片：維基共享資源

  To make matters even worse, Zotye Auto chief executive Lou Guohai has stated that he cannot guarantee the authenticity, accuracy and completeness of his company’s year end financial report, citing various reasons including uncertainty over the company’s ability to continue operating, multiple lawsuits and outstanding obligations.

  (Translated by Edward Jones, Taipei Times)

  以模仿奧迪、保時捷、蘭寶堅尼等高級進口車，在中國家喻戶曉的車商眾泰汽車，六月二十二日終於發布二○一九年財報，顯示全年慘虧一百十二億元人民幣（以下同），約新台幣四百六十六億，相當於每天平均虧損三千萬，市值也由逾三百億縮水至僅剩三十六億元；更慘的是，該公司因為無法保證年報的真實性、準確性和完整性，已被深圳證券交易所實施「退市風險警示」。

  

  Cleaners work near a Zotye B-21 SUV at the Shanghai Auto Show in Shanghai on April 17 last year. 清潔人員去年四月十七日於上海車展一輛眾泰汽車B-21 SUV旁邊工作。

  Photo: AFP 照片：法新社

  眾泰汽車因為不顧外界觀瞻，大膽模仿進口名車，而在中國家喻戶曉，該公司推出的眾泰SR7模仿奧迪Q3，眾泰SR9模仿保時捷Macan ，眾泰Concept S模仿蘭寶堅尼Urus。由於模仿能力出眾，中國坊間甚至流傳著一句調侃話：「這輩子能不能開蘭寶堅尼，就看眾泰了！」

  但靠著山寨別人，缺乏自主創新，且品質也未同步提升的營運模式畢竟無法持久。眾泰汽車二○一六年、二○一七年的年銷量還分別有三十三萬輛、三十一萬輛，但此後每況愈下，二○一八年僅剩二十三萬輛，為四十八萬輛的目標的一半不到，二○一九年進一步跌至十一點六六萬輛。

  雪上加霜的是，眾泰汽車董事婁國海表示，無法保證該公司年報內容的真實性、準確性和完整性，理由包括：公司的持續經營能力存在較大不確定性，公司面臨眾多訴訟及擔保事項等。

  (自由時報)
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