Going straight to the competition venue right after leaving the ICU. It's reported that Baoneng is acquiring WM Motor. Can this "weak-weak alliance" turn things around?
Is WM Motor Making a Comeback?
In recent days, two WM Motor display cars, one black and one white, a WM E.5 and a WM EX5 respectively, appeared in a BAONENG Automobile exhibition center in Luohu District, Shenzhen. An insider from BAONENG Automobile revealed through media channels that BAONENG has completed the "acquisition" of WM Motor, and the two sides are in the process of transferring assets such as production qualifications.
Image source: WM Motor
Two automakers in deep trouble have come together in a desperate situation of heavy debt.
WM Motor, once one of the "Four Little Dragons of New Energy Vehicle Manufacturing" and on par with NIO, Li Auto, and XPeng, now has debts exceeding 20.3 billion yuan; BAONENG, which once spent huge sums to acquire Qoros Auto, has been subject to enforcement of more than 12 billion yuan, and there have been frequent incidents of employees demanding unpaid wages.
Is this alliance, which the industry calls a "two negatives make a positive" situation, a last - ditch effort for survival or just another bubble in the capital game?
BAONENG + WM Motor: One Dares to Save, the Other Dares to Be Reborn
Back in 2019, it was the heyday of WM Motor. As a leading enterprise among new energy vehicle startups, WM Motor's annual sales ranked second among new energy vehicle startups, with cumulative financing exceeding 41 billion yuan, and it had capital giants like Tencent, Baidu, and Sequoia backing it.
At that time, the founder, Shen Hui, was full of confidence. This veteran in the automotive industry, who once helped Geely acquire Volvo, insisted on building his own factory instead of using the OEM model. The product quality won the reputation of "the Santana among electric cars" among car owners. A car owner's WM EX5 purchased in 2018 had run 300,000 kilometers without major repairs, which was a vivid example of the brand's reliability.
However, the glory was short - lived. Due to a series of problems such as a broken capital chain, insufficient product competitiveness, and a collapsed after - sales system, WM Motor completely shut down in 2023. As of March 2023, WM Motor's total liabilities reached 20.367 billion yuan, while its total assets were only 3.988 billion yuan, and the insolvency situation was shocking.
On September 10, 2023, Shen Hui posted on Weibo, "I'm on a business trip to Munich this week, and then to New York. Good things take time. Let's wait for the flowers to bloom." What seemed like an ordinary business trip comment actually hid the collapse of an empire that was gradually fading away.
Image source: Weibo
1,412 creditors were chasing debts totaling 44.2 billion yuan. It owed 40 million yuan in employee salaries and 1.7 billion yuan in supplier payments. The once - favored brand in the market had declined to a situation where the APP couldn't connect, the in - car system was slow, and the after - sales service was paralyzed, which triggered collective rights - protection actions by car owners and completely destroyed the brand's reputation.
Just when we thought the story of WM Motor was coming to an end, there was a turning point in its bankruptcy reorganization at the beginning of 2025. The reorganization plan draft was passed at the creditors' meeting in January, and Shenzhen Xiangfei Automobile Sales Co., Ltd. became the main strategic investor, promising to invest more than 10 billion yuan.
On the surface, WM Motor had found a white knight, but Qichacha data revealed a deeper connection: Shenzhen Xiangfei was established in September 2023, and its legal representative, Huang Jing, is also the actual controller of Kunshan BAONENG Automobile. Zhang Xiao, the legal representative of Shenzhen Fengyu Enterprise, a shareholder of Shenzhen Xiangfei, not only serves as a director of BAONENG New Energy Automobile Group but also holds real power in many BAONENG - affiliated automobile sales companies.
Obviously, the "white knight" saving WM Motor is BAONENG.
Image source: WM Motor
However, BAONENG is also in trouble. After BAONENG acquired 51% of Qoros Auto's shares for 6.63 billion yuan in 2017, Qoros' annual sales plummeted from 62,000 vehicles to almost zero. Its self - created brand, Youbaoli, has yet to see a mass - produced vehicle, and many new energy base projects in different places have either been abandoned or taken back by the government. At the end of 2023, BAONENG Automobile was listed as an executor. Public information shows that in May this year, BAONENG Automobile added a new piece of information as an executor. So far, the total amount of money BAONENG Automobile has to pay as an executor has exceeded 12 billion yuan.
Coincidentally, BAONENG Automobile, which had been quiet for a long time, also attracted some attention in recent days. On June 17, BAONENG Automobile officially issued a statement, saying that some media had distorted the facts and made malicious reports, claiming that BAONENG Automobile and its affiliated companies had issued dissolution and liquidation announcements, which seriously disrupted the online order and violated BAONENG Automobile's legitimate reputation.
BAONENG Automobile also said that the company's operations are normal and that new cars are about to be launched. It seems that there will indeed be new actions.
However, netizens are not convinced by the alliance of these two companies. Some netizens sharply commented, "Two lame people support each other and claim they want to run a marathon together." and "BAONENG's approach to car - making is like a playboy in a relationship, shouting loud slogans but taking no real action."
The Strong Go Alone, the Weak Band Together
On January 21 this year, the creditors' meeting for the reorganization case of WM Motor Technology Group Co., Ltd. was held via online video. The reorganization plan (draft) provided by WM Motor painted an astonishing picture:
From 2026 to 2027, the new WM Motor will increase R & D investment to build a full product line, launching 1 - 2 new models each year. It plans to sell more than 600,000 vehicles annually in 2027, initially showing a trend of large - scale development. From 2028 to 2029, the new WM Motor will launch 10 new models in the global market, covering high - end, mid - end, and economy markets. In 2029, the new WM Motor plans to sell more than 1 million vehicles annually in the global market, with an annual revenue of more than 110 billion yuan.
Against the industry background, these numbers seem a bit "magical". Shouting about million - unit sales right after coming out of the ICU is like asking a patient who just got out of the hospital to run a marathon next year.
If WM Motor really returns to the market, the technological gap will be the primary challenge.
WM Motor's technological advantage dates back to 2021. The intelligent driving technology installed in its models was relatively advanced at that time, but now it has been far surpassed by the urban NOA systems of companies like Huawei and XPeng. What's more fatal is that a large number of the core technology team has left due to the bankruptcy reorganization. It's difficult to catch up with competitors and even more difficult to reorganize the team.
In the current highly competitive new energy vehicle market, consumers have very low tolerance for "revived brands". Traditional automakers like BYD and Geely sell more than one million vehicles annually, and the Xiaomi SU7 has sold more than 150,000 vehicles in one year since its launch. If WM Motor fails to significantly improve its product strength, it will be difficult to gain a share in the existing market.
In 2025, the Chinese new energy vehicle market has entered the "intense competition" stage. BYD firmly occupies the mid - end market with its technological strength, while Huawei and Xiaomi quickly enter the high - end market with their ecological advantages. New energy vehicle startups like Li Auto, XPeng, and Leapmotor have also found their own rhythms. In this highly competitive market, the living space for small and medium - sized players has been severely compressed.
Now, BAONENG and WM Motor plan to use WM Motor's existing EU certifications and export channels to obtain cash flow in overseas markets such as Israel and Turkey. However, the reality is that Chinese brands like BYD and XPeng have already established a complete sales network overseas, and the overseas market is also highly competitive.
Putting aside the capital mystery, WM Motor still has some aces in its hand. The Wenzhou factory has a production capacity of 100,000 vehicles. As long as the funds are in place, restarting production is not impossible. The industry experience, production qualifications, and channel resources accumulated by WM Motor provide a certain foundation for its revival.
Even so, in today's electric vehicle market, why should consumers bet their hard - earned money on a new WM Motor vehicle without a "killer app", a brand that has just climbed out of the bankruptcy quagmire? The second act of the automotive market is more brutal than the first. The essence of this reorganization is not a last - ditch effort for survival but just an attempt by two "troubled companies" to survive by piecing together resources.
"Trust Bankruptcy" Is Harder to Save Than "Capital Bankruptcy"
The "weak - to - weak alliance" between WM Motor and BAONENG is not an isolated case. Under the trend of industry consolidation, the Chinese automotive industry is showing a situation where "the strong go alone, and the weak band together".
Especially since 2025, many well - known new energy vehicle startups such as WM Motor, Zhidou Auto, Reading Auto, and HiPhi Auto have all signaled their return through alliances.
On May 22, Jiangsu HiPhi Automobile Co., Ltd., an automobile manufacturing enterprise, was established with a registered capital of 143.2665 million US dollars. The investors are EV Electra Ltd. and Human Horizons (the parent company of HiPhi), holding 69.8% and 30.2% of the shares respectively. Public information shows that EV Electra was founded in 2017 and is the first electric vehicle company in the Middle East and the Arab world, with operations in Canada, Italy, Germany, Turkey, and China.
All signs indicate that HiPhi Auto's resumption of production is progressing rapidly.
Image source: HiPhi Auto
Not only HiPhi, but also Zhidou Auto has completed its reorganization with the help of capital from Geely Auto, Aima Technology, and Jinshajiang United Venture Capital. In March 2025, it announced that the long - range version of the Zhidou Rainbow would be launched soon, aiming to compete for a share in the A00 - class automobile market with models like the Wuling MINI EV, Changan Lumin, Geely Panda, and BYD Seagull.
Reading Auto is also being reborn. On March 21, Reading Auto officially revealed a new model and indicated that it was expected to be launched in the second half of this year, and also disclosed its subsequent new - car plan. Apparently, the reorganization of Reading Auto has made breakthrough progress. According to market rumors, Reading Auto has entered the normal inventory turnover stage and is determined to return to the market.
However, this doesn't mean that these revived new energy vehicle startups have a chance of survival. The biggest obstacle to revival is not money or production capacity but consumers' trust. The battle to "rebuild trust" is far more brutal than the challenges of technological R & D and production capacity recovery.
Take WM Motor as an example. The collapse of trust in WM Motor started with a systematic disaster for user rights. After it shut down in 2023, its service system completely collapsed, and the hardware was in a "vegetative state". Battery failures couldn't be replaced, and body parts were out of stock. A car owner reported that "the steering gear had abnormal noises, and the repair had been queued for 9 months without a result." The in - car system stopped working, causing the navigation to fail and the remote control function to paralyze. Some vehicles completely became "scrap iron".
(Image source: Social network)
Even if BAONENG solves all the historical problems, consumers will still have a reflexive rejection of the "bankrupt brand".
Firstly, as mentioned above, the technological backwardness is an undeniable fact. Secondly, there is a concern about a second - round collapse: BAONENG has a continuous stream of negative news such as unpaid wages and land reclamation, and users are worried that "buying a car today may lead to the company's bankruptcy tomorrow".
What's most fatal is the lack of value recognition. New energy vehicle consumption has evolved from "function - based purchase" to "identity - based recognition". Driving a BYD shows support for domestic products, driving a Tesla shows a belief in technology, but driving a WM Motor doesn't bring any emotional value.
For consumers, the name "WM Motor" no longer represents just a brand but a nightmarish collapse of trust. Unmaintainable vehicles, disappeared after - sales service, and completely disappointed expectations. BAONENG has cast a heavy shadow of a second - round collapse on this "new life". Technological gaps, brand stigma, and trust deficits are all more difficult to overcome than billions of funds.
When "bankruptcy reorganization" becomes part of a brand's DNA and "whether it can survive tomorrow" becomes consumers' primary concern when buying a car, any grand sales blueprint or attractive overseas story seems pale and powerless.