Are there still new players emerging in the car - making industry in 2025? Huolala has succeeded in car - making, and Jinyu Automobile has entered the market against the trend.
Unexpectedly, there are still "new players in the car - making industry" in 2025.
On June 5th, the official service account of "Huolala Duola Automobile" released a teaser poster with the caption "The first pure - electric van of Huolala Duola Automobile is about to make its debut."
In the 394th batch of new vehicle application catalog released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in April, Changan Kuayue applied for a pure - electric van with the logo "Duola Bafang" on the rear, which corresponds to Huolala Duola Automobile.
This seems to indicate that Huolala Duola Automobile uses Changan Automobile's production qualification. It is reported that this vehicle exceeds the regular medium - sized van in size, with a cargo compartment volume of 7.8m³. It is equipped with a battery of about 40kWh and has a CLTC range of approximately 300km. The cab can seat three people.
(Image source: Ministry of Industry and Information Technology)
Huolala is not the only "new player in the car - making industry" in 2025. Before Huolala, Jinyu Automobile, Chuneng New Energy, etc., were also gearing up to enter the automotive circle. In 2025, when the automotive industry is extremely competitive, the appearance of these new players going against the trend seems rather strange. Under the consensus that the window period for car - making has closed, what exactly are these latecomers up to? And how big a splash can they make?
The profiles of new players: logistics, knock - offs, and battery giants
At the 13th Zhengzhou New Energy Vehicle and Photovoltaic Energy Storage and Charging Exhibition, Henan Jinyu Automobile Co., Ltd. brought its first pure - electric sports car. Like a thunderbolt, it instantly caused a stir in the industry.
This pure - electric convertible sports car of Jinyu Automobile, which claims to have a range of 500 kilometers, looks very similar to the well - known Porsche 911. On the rear of the car, there is the Chinese pinyin "jinyu". The workmanship is rough and the headlights are shabby, as if it were a low - precision model, much like a knock - off car from the millennium.
Image source: Jinyu Automobile official account
In Jinyu Automobile's official promotional statements, it is mentioned that "In 2025, Jinyu Automobile and Haima New Energy will combine their advantages and carry out all - round and in - depth cooperation in areas such as new energy vehicle product definition, styling design, product experience, marketing management, channel construction, and user experience."
This passage has been interpreted as "Jinyu Automobile is actually the revived Haima New Energy!"
However, on the evening of June 11th, Haima New Energy Automobile Co., Ltd. issued a statement saying: Recently, our company has noticed some false information reported by the media about the so - called cooperation relationship between Henan Jinyu Automobile Co., Ltd. and our company. To avoid misunderstandings, we hereby issue this clarification statement. It stated that there is no relationship between Jinyu Automobile and Haima New Energy.
The background of this "new player in the car - making industry" has become rather mysterious for the time being.
Another "new player", Chuneng New Energy, seems to be more serious.
According to the revelation from "Jipian Lab", Hubei Chuneng New Energy has entered the field of vehicle manufacturing, and its automotive business department has a scale of about 100 people. This company has a battery production capacity of 110GWh and is backed by one of the top five national dealership groups with more than 300 4S stores. It has a complete supply chain, channels, and sufficient funds.
Image source: Chuneng New Energy official website
Chuneng was established in 2021 and entered the new energy field with energy - storage batteries. Just two years later, the company broke through the market price bottom line with a price of 0.5 yuan/Wh.
By the end of 2024, the effective production capacity of Chuneng's three major bases exceeded 110GWh, and the annual shipment volume of energy - storage batteries exceeded 20GWh. This year, Chuneng has successfully supplied batteries to automakers such as Dongfeng and FAW, and is also starting to make progress in the field of power batteries.
This also means that if Chuneng successfully enters the car - making business, it will become the second automaker that can fully self - supply batteries after entering the vehicle manufacturing from the battery field. The previous such company was BYD.
New players enter the market, but don't want to make money by selling cars?
Entering the car - making industry now, each player has its own motives.
As a listed logistics platform, Huolala's car - making move has a clear business logic behind it. In short, it is a strategic extension based on its core business scenarios.
Its ambition is to upgrade from a platform service provider to an ecosystem controller, forming a data closed - loop through the vehicle networking system. This may sound a bit abstract, but let me explain and you'll understand.
Image source: Huolala official website
In 2025, Huolala is once again aiming for the capital market as the "world's largest logistics trading platform". Behind the data of "three consecutive years of profitability" in its prospectus lies a multi - party game among capital and labor, the platform and drivers, and the market and policies. This Internet freight platform, which once used the slogan "Reconstruct the logistics ecosystem with technology", is now in a dilemma of "relying on luck to maintain its transport capacity". Many drivers say that the platform's order - dispatching system is unreasonable, which has actually been a long - standing problem for Huolala.
What does this have to do with car - making? In fact, self - developed vehicles offer more and more flexible options. For example, a vehicle networking system can be installed in self - developed vehicles to collect real - time data on the vehicle's location, battery level, and load status, thus optimizing the platform's order - dispatching algorithm. At the same time, data on the temperature, humidity, and vibration of the goods can be used to ensure the transportation of fresh produce and fragile items, and the driver's driving behavior data can be used to customize insurance rates.
In summary, in the short term, customized vehicles can reduce drivers' operating costs and attract more transport capacity; in the medium term, controlling vehicle data can improve dispatching efficiency and squeeze out competitors; in the long run, it can build a closed - loop of "people + vehicles + goods" and upgrade from a matching platform to a transport capacity service provider.
In short, car - making is a crucial step for the vertical integration of logistics platforms. Therefore, Huolala's car - making plan is not a gimmick, but its success is still uncertain, mainly depending on ecological synergy.
As for Jinyu Automobile, it reeks of "pyramid - scheme flavor". The information at its exhibition booth shows that you can become a "one - star partner" with 1,000 yuan and a "two - star partner" with 10,000 yuan.
The key benefit for partners is referral rewards: A "one - star partner" gets a 300 - yuan reward for referring another "one - star partner" and a 2,000 - yuan reward for referring a "two - star partner"; a "two - star partner" gets a 400 - yuan reward for referring a "one - star partner" and a 3,000 - yuan reward for referring a "two - star partner".
Image source: Jinyu Automobile official account
It's obvious that it doesn't seem to be serious about selling cars. Moreover, no relevant information can be found in the "Vehicle Production Enterprise Credit Management System" and the "Query System for Road Motor Vehicle Production Enterprises and Products" of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. So, let's put it aside for now.
Among these three "new players", it seems that only Chuneng New Energy really wants to sell cars seriously.
Chuneng's founder expressed the intention to enter the car - making business in some occasions in mid - 2024. Currently, Chuneng is on a talent - hunting spree for automotive positions, and many automotive industry insiders have received calls from relevant headhunters.
The combination of funds, channels, and battery production capacity will be the key chips for Chuneng to control costs in the long - term battle in the automotive industry.
But, does having these chips guarantee success?
The window has completely closed. Can the car - making dream come true?
Even if the players are full of confidence, we need to face the reality: Entering the car - making industry now is like throwing money into the water.
At the beginning of 2024, Apple announced the cancellation of all development plans for its self - driving electric vehicle project and instead increased its investment in the field of generative AI; Niutron burned through $500 million without achieving mass production; real - estate companies such as Baoneng, Evergrande, and Agile that entered the car - making industry have basically failed.
When Xiaomi Auto managed to squeeze into the market after investing tens of billions in R & D, the cruel reality has emerged: The entry ticket to the automotive industry is being completely taken back, and the window period for car - making has closed.
Assuming that a car is successfully made, this is just the first and the easiest step. What follows is the real "hell mode".
First of all, the policy constraints have tightened completely. The once - available "back - door listing" path was completely blocked in 2024. The new rule that production qualifications "can only be cancelled" means there are no "shells" to borrow. Xiaomi received Baowo's production qualification through a special approval from Beijing, which is likely to be the last "birth certificate" issued. Coupled with the fact that the national production capacity utilization rate is far below the safety line, The state has set extremely strict R & D, patent, and production standard thresholds for new players, making it difficult for latecomers to even obtain the qualification to participate.
Secondly, the market has changed from a blue ocean to a cruel red ocean. BYD, with its "technology - industry chain - channel" trinity barrier, holds a 26.9% market share. Li Auto, Wenjie, and Leapmotor have divided up most of the remaining market share.
Even Xiaomi, after investing tens of billions in R & D, only managed to achieve a "decent" sales volume of 137,000 vehicles in its first year. The harsh reality is that The entry ticket to the automotive industry is being completely taken back, and the window period for car - making has closed.
At the same time, The decline of WM Motor, HiPhi, and Neta, as well as Apple's withdrawal and the failure of many cross - border car - making attempts, have seriously eroded consumers' and capital's trust and patience in new players.
Then there are the technological barriers. When CATL and BYD's solid - state batteries are about to be commercialized and urban NOA has become a standard feature in vehicles priced at 150,000 yuan, Once a technological gap is formed, un - mass - produced new products will become obsolete. Latecomers not only need to catch up with the existing technology but also bet on the future, which is a huge challenge.
Finally, there is a point that most people may overlook, which is the geographical solidification of the industrial chain, leaving no room for new players to take root.
Industrial clusters in the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta, and the Chengdu - Chongqing area, with their monopoly advantages in battery, manufacturing, chip, software, and lithium mining, have deeply bound core resources such as land, supply chain, talent, and policies, forming an insurmountable moat. Do new players want to start their own business? Even basic land and power resources have been divided up by the giants.
The lock - in of production qualifications, market solidification, technological gaps, the withdrawal of capital, and resource monopoly all indicate that the door to the car - making industry has closed.
Therefore, when Xiaomi announced its entry into the car - making industry, Lei Jun said that Xiaomi's entry was "just in time". This was not a humble statement but an accurate description of squeezing into the remaining gap at the end of the three major waves of the maturity of the Chinese manufacturing industrial chain, technological explosion, and the change in consumer perception. But for those who want to enter the market today, the car - making industry has evolved from an era of "pioneer adventure" to a battlefield for "giants' meticulous operation".
Those who have missed the window period can only stand outside the torrent of industrial change and watch the curtain fall on an era.
This article is from the WeChat official account "Electric Vehicle Pass", and is published by 36Kr with authorization.