Die Hälfte der Verkaufszahlen gefälscht: Dieses aufstrebende Unternehmen hat sich in große Schwierigkeiten gebracht.

The first big scandal of a new car - making force in 2025 comes from Nezha Automobile. Three years ago, it was the sales champion among new car - making forces, but now it is caught in a bankruptcy storm of "headquarters disbanded, employees demanding unpaid salaries, and dealers seeking debts".

However, the drama of Nezha Automobile is not over yet. Just last weekend, Nezha Automobile was exposed for "falsifying sales figures". This is not only a "final blow" to a struggling entity but also a trace of its business collapse, and it has also lost face abroad.

According to documents reviewed by Reuters and interviews with dealers and car buyers, Nezha Automobile has inflated sales in recent years to meet aggressive targets.

Nezha Automobile arranges for vehicles to be insured before they are sold. Dealers and car buyers said that according to the domestic car registration practice, this allows the company to confirm sales in advance to meet monthly and quarterly targets. In the domestic automobile industry, vehicles confirmed as sold before delivery, known as "zero - kilometer used cars", are also a mode strictly prohibited by the state.

Internal records of Nezha obtained by Reuters and revelations from dealers show that the brand inflates sales by insuring vehicles to be shipped in advance. The records include the details of each vehicle's insurance policy and the names of insurance agents. Dealers transfer the insurance policies after finding buyers.

An anonymous dealer revealed: "Nezha clearly told dealers that insuring a vehicle in advance means it is considered sold."

"We need to explain to buyers that the traffic insurance is a gift and remind them that it will expire early and they need to renew it in time." But three Nezha car owners told Reuters that dealers concealed the fact that the insurance took effect early and they only found out when the policy expired. The dealer said that Nezha has been using this method to defraud the soon - to - be - cancelled new energy subsidies since the end of 2022.

According to dealer records, from January 2023 to March 2024, Nezha inflated the sales of at least 64,719 vehicles through this method, more than half of the 117,000 vehicles it claimed to have sold in 15 months.

Before entering the decline period, Nezha Automobile once stood out in terms of data. In 2022, Nezha Automobile's cumulative sales exceeded 152,000 vehicles. It not only won the sales championship among new car - making forces that year but also became the first new car - making brand with annual sales exceeding 150,000 vehicles.

However, since the relevant documents do not cover the 2022 sales, it is temporarily unknown whether Nezha's championship sales in 2022 were falsified.

So, how did Nezha Automobile end up like this?

"Zhang Yong, the former CEO of Nezha Automobile, missed strategic opportunities," said a person familiar with the ins and outs of new car - making forces.

On the one hand, since 2021, international giants such as Volkswagen have been looking for partners in China. More than one company has approached Nezha Automobile, but "Zhang Yong got carried away at that time". Eventually, Volkswagen chose to jointly develop technology with XPeng, and Stellantis formed Leapmotor International with Leapmotor. At the same time, the two giants hold equity in the two new car - making forces respectively and provide funds.

On the other hand, Zhang Yong was accused of "having a dream of sports cars", so he insisted on prioritizing the development of the Nezha GT, missing the market boom period for mid - size SUVs. By the time the corresponding model was delayed and became the Nezha L, competitors had completely occupied the market.

According to Nezha Automobile's prospectus, from 2021 to 2023 (during the reporting period), Nezha Automobile achieved revenues of 5.087 billion, 13.0496 billion, and 13.55 billion yuan respectively; net losses of 4.84 billion, 6.666 billion, and 6.867 billion yuan respectively, with a cumulative loss of 18.373 billion yuan in three years; and gross profit margins of - 34.4%, - 22.5%, and - 14.9% respectively. The cumulative net loss in three years was 18.373 billion yuan.

The "emperor's new clothes" will eventually reveal their true nature.

In 2022, Nezha Automobile's sales of 152,000 vehicles became the company's swan song. In 2024, Nezha's sales plummeted to 87,948 vehicles (including 23,399 exported), and only 1,215 vehicles were sold in the first quarter of 2025. After querying the retail volume, "Automobile Commune" found that in the first half of 2025, Nezha's domestic terminal sales were only 1,023 vehicles.

Currently, Hozon New Energy, the parent company of Nezha Automobile, has been in a financial crisis since the end of 2024. It entered the bankruptcy process last month, and both the "debt - to - equity swap" for suppliers and the attempt to seek investment from the Japanese chemical company Toyota Sangyo (unrelated to Toyota Motor) have failed.

"The warehouse is full of unsold zero - kilometer used cars," a relevant dealer said bluntly. "The company only has one attitude: just do as you're told, anyway, everyone is doing it."

If Nezha Automobile goes through bankruptcy liquidation, who will bear the accounts of zero - kilometer used cars at that time?

This article is from the WeChat public account "Automobile Commune" (ID: iAUTO2010), author: Diplodocus. Republished by 36Kr with permission.