"Most electric vehicle companies will go out of business." Although Duan Yongping hasn't entered the market, he has stirred up the automotive manufacturing circle. Is Zhongtai Motors, which has suffered a huge loss of 25 billion yuan, starting a "rebirth game"?
At the end of 2025, the focus of the capital market was drawn and intertwined by two seemingly unrelated threads.
On one hand, Duan Yongping, a business legend who had been operating in a low - key manner for more than two decades, suddenly appeared frequently in the public eye. From discussing his investment in Tesla to sharing his philosophy of wealth, he even went so far as to reverse his previous evaluation of Elon Musk. His statement, "I won't be friends with him, but I can invest," made every word he uttered become the focus of public opinion.
On the other hand, Zhongtai Automobile, which had risen with the halo of the "national divine car" and then fallen into a desperate situation due to cumulative losses of over 25 billion yuan for six consecutive years, was quietly completing a crucial personnel reshuffle. In the new management team, veterans from the "Chery camp" such as Han Biwen and Li Lizhong, and executives with BBK backgrounds such as Xu Mingzhe and Yan Minxia took their positions one after another, outlining the outline of a "industry + capital" restructuring.
This personnel intersection across the two major fields of electronic consumption and automobile manufacturing has triggered a series of speculations from the outside world. Some people interpret Duan Yongping's high - profile appearance as a "pre - sentinel for car - building," believing that he is laying out the whole - vehicle manufacturing through the capital network. Some analysts also claim that Chery Automobile intends to use Zhongtai's listing platform to enter the A - share market and complete the strategic upgrade of new energy vehicles.
It is worth noting that as of now, neither Duan Yongping himself and the BBK Group nor Chery Automobile has confirmed through announcements or official channels their intention to directly invest in or take over Zhongtai Automobile. A relevant staff member of Chery Automobile directly told a reporter from National Business Daily that it was "false news."
The announcement board of Zhongtai Automobile has become the only outlet for facts. On the evenings of December 8th and 9th, Zhongtai Automobile (000980.SZ) issued two consecutive announcements: After 335 million shares were released from judicial freezing, it plans to dispose of no more than 151 million shares, and the approximately 580 million yuan in funds obtained will be all used for the resumption of vehicle production.
Previously, the personnel appointments have been fully implemented. Executives from the "Chery camp" lead the production and manufacturing, while executives from the "BBK camp" are in charge of finance and capital operation. This organizational structure setup full of stories and imaginations seems more like a last - ditch effort for a dying car company to save itself.
Picture source: Zhongtai Automobile announcement
"The situation of making a comeback will never happen."
Duan Yongping's business career is full of legends.
In 1989, when Duan Yongping went south to Guangdong to take over a small state - owned factory on the verge of bankruptcy, the factory had an annual loss of 2 million yuan. Seizing the opportunity of the short supply of game consoles in the domestic market at that time, he launched the Small Overlord game console, whose price was only one - quarter of that of imported products. It quickly occupied the market and brought the factory back to life, making it a benchmark enterprise in China's electronics industry in the 1990s.
BBK Electronics, founded in 1995, became another starting point and cornerstone of Duan Yongping's business career. This enterprise, which started with electronic products such as tape recorders and VCDs, quickly rose to the top camp in China's electronic consumption field again through accurate market positioning and in - depth channel development. Subsequently, through the design of the equity structure, Duan Yongping incubated two major mobile phone brands, OPPO and vivo, and built a business map covering the entire consumer electronics industry chain.
In the investment field, Duan Yongping is well - known for "value investment." Successful cases such as "buying at the bottom" of NetEase in the early years and heavily investing in Apple have made him a benchmark figure in the domestic value investment circle. In his recent frequent appearances, Duan Yongping has repeatedly emphasized the core logic of investment: "Buying stocks is buying a company. The key lies in the business model and corporate culture."
Duan Yongping (Picture source: Sina Weibo @Thank you series - talk together)
This concept is reflected in his investment decision in Tesla. From initially doubting Elon Musk personally to high - profile increasing his position after experiencing the Model Y himself, Duan Yongping showed his investment logic with the statement "I won't be friends with him, but I can invest," and the capital market also remained highly sensitive to the change in his investment direction.
Although he is optimistic about Tesla, Duan Yongping still made a calm and even cold - blooded judgment on the current new energy vehicle industry. "Most of the electric vehicles we see now will die. I'm sure of this." In a recent interview, Duan Yongping said bluntly that the current competitive landscape reminded him of the era when he was making game consoles - hundreds of enterprises were in a melee, and only a few could survive and make a profit in the end.
As early as 2021, in response to the rumor that "Duan Yongping is making a comeback and jointly building cars with OPPO and vivo," Duan Yongping said, "I retired 20 years ago. I said it many years ago, and I'll say it again today. 'Making a comeback' will never happen. By the way, I haven't heard that we're going to build cars. It's possible to learn about it."
Although Duan Yongping himself has stated that he won't build cars, OPPO and vivo, which he incubated, have been continuously deploying in the upstream and downstream of the automobile industry chain in recent years. They have not only increased investment in technical fields such as automotive - grade chips and intelligent cockpits but also intensively recruited professional forces from the automobile industry in terms of talent. The signs of their penetration into the automobile field are becoming increasingly obvious. At the same time, there are also reports that at least three members of the new board of directors, board of supervisors, and senior management of Zhongtai Automobile have "BBK camp" backgrounds.
This has also made the market speculate whether the "BBK camp" will officially enter the market through Zhongtai Automobile, a potential carrier. As a target with new energy vehicle production qualifications and existing production capacity, Zhongtai Automobile is undoubtedly a "shell resource" with practical value for the capital intending to enter the car - building track. Moreover, this is highly consistent with Duan Yongping's investment logic of accurately intervening in traditional industries during their trough periods. Coupled with the active expansion of the "BBK camp" capital in recent years, it has further magnified this imagination space - however, all this remains at the speculation stage.
Zhan Junhao, the founder of Fujian Huace Brand Positioning Consulting, said in an interview with a reporter from National Business Daily that BBK - camp executives are good at capital operation and corporate governance. If they can enter the market to help Zhongtai sort out its equity and debt issues, their accumulated experience in operating in the sinking market and offline channel resources can empower Zhongtai to innovate its sales model, adapt to the sinking market, and inject new operating ideas into it.
Multiple executives with "Chery camp" backgrounds enter Zhongtai
Zhongtai Automobile's situation in recent years has been completely opposite to the "value investment" advocated by Duan Yongping.
In September this year, a reporter from National Business Daily visited Zhongtai Automobile's Hangzhou factory on the spot. The former painting workshop, welding workshop, and sheet metal warehouse looked extremely "desolate" - empty and dilapidated, with gravel, broken glass, and sewage everywhere, and leaky windows all around. "This place no longer belongs to Zhongtai Automobile. It was sold a long time ago," a factory worker who refused to be named told the reporter.
Financial reports show that since 2019, Zhongtai Automobile has suffered huge losses for six consecutive years, with a cumulative loss of over 25 billion yuan so far. In the first half of 2025, Zhongtai Automobile achieved an operating income of about 280 million yuan and a net loss of 148 million yuan, with an asset - liability ratio of 97.28% and the equity attributable to the parent company's shareholders remaining at only 87.25 million yuan.
However, Zhongtai Automobile, which is in a worrying business situation, has shown a strong contrast in the A - share market. Since October this year, Zhongtai Automobile's stock price has risen against the trend, and the company's total market value once exceeded 20 billion yuan.
Picture source: Photo by a reporter from National Business Daily, Huang Xinxu
The fuse for the stock price fluctuation may be a series of personnel changes at Zhongtai Automobile. In October this year, Li Lizhong, who became the new chairman, once served as the chairman of Chery New Energy Automobile and led Chery's "full - scale new energy" strategy. In November, Han Biwen, who had worked in the Chery system for nearly 20 years and was responsible for the production, manufacturing, and quality management of Chery Jaguar Land Rover and Qoros Auto, took up the position of president of Zhongtai Automobile. The two together form the core strength of Zhongtai Automobile's management. In addition, in the board of directors of Zhongtai Automobile, members from the "Chery camp" such as Lin Longhua (former chairman of Chery's board of supervisors) and Wu Donglin (former executive of Chery Commercial Vehicle's international business department) took their positions one after another. Among the six non - independent directors, executives with "Chery camp" backgrounds account for three seats.
The entry of multiple executives with "Chery camp" backgrounds into Zhongtai Automobile was once interpreted and speculated by the industry as Chery Automobile's possible participation in Zhongtai Automobile's restructuring. However, there is no official information released so far, and relevant staff from Chery Automobile also said that it was "false news."
Regardless of whether the entry of executives with "Chery camp" backgrounds is just a personal career choice, Zhan Junhao, the founder of Fujian Huace Brand Positioning Consulting, said in an interview with a reporter from National Business Daily that executives from the "Chery camp" can bring multi - faceted core empowerment to Zhongtai Automobile. They can inject a mature whole - vehicle manufacturing, quality control, and supply chain system, and can also draw on previous new energy strategies and international experience to help Zhongtai Automobile revitalize its production capacity, promote new energy transformation, expand overseas markets, and reshape its product reputation.
At the end of 2025, when the reshuffle in the automobile industry has entered a deep - water area, the restructuring drama of Zhongtai Automobile has become a key sample for observing the industrial pattern and capital logic.
According to Duan Yongping's core investment logic of "buying stocks is buying a company," Zhongtai Automobile's current restructuring seems to be an adventurous attempt at "value reconstruction" in essence. On one hand, there is the potential empowerment of BBK - camp executives' capital operation and consumer electronics genes. On the other hand, there is the actual injection of the manufacturing skills and new energy experience of Chery - camp executives. This automobile company is trying to achieve a rebirth from the desperate situation in the intersection of the two forces.
Can Zhongtai Automobile succeed this time?
This article is from the WeChat public account "NBD Auto". Author: A reporter from National Business Daily. Republished by 36Kr with permission.