Is Nezha Used Cars making a big splash overseas?

Neta Auto is experiencing a situation of extreme contrast.

On one hand, Neta Auto has been formally applied for bankruptcy. A large number of suppliers are deeply trapped in debt dilemmas, and car owners are facing the predicament of difficult after - sales service. On the other hand, many second - hand car dealers engaged in exports are competing to buy Neta cars at high prices, and many old Neta car owners are selling their cars at good prices.

On the Xiaohongshu platform, some netizens said that the purchase price of a 2023 - version Neta X 500Lite+ with 31,000 kilometers on the odometer is between 70,000 and 80,000 yuan. The purchase price of a Neta U400 registered in December 2021 with 51,000 kilometers on the odometer is 62,000 yuan.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

Zhang Lei (a pseudonym), a second - hand car dealer in China, admitted that the market for second - hand Neta cars has fluctuated greatly recently. Mainly after Neta Auto's bankruptcy reorganization, consumers' concerns about after - sales service, insurance companies' refusal to underwrite vehicle damage insurance, and the fierce price war of new cars have led to an obvious decline in the second - hand Neta car market. However, the increase in exports has led to an obvious recovery in the second - hand Neta car market, and the purchase price has increased by 5,000 to 6,000 yuan compared with the same period last year.

The second - hand car dealers' exports of second - hand Neta cars mainly focus on three aspects. First, they mainly purchase versions with a cruising range of 400 kilometers and 500 kilometers. Some dealers have no restrictions on the configuration and color of the Neta U 500 series. Second, in addition to low mileage and high price, whether the car can be exported is the key factor affecting the price. For example, the market price of the exportable Neta U400 series is more than 10,000 yuan higher than that of non - exportable ones. Also, due to the fluctuation of international freight prices, many dealers quote prices based on the current day's price.

Image source: A second - hand car dealer's WeChat Moments

Third, currently, the main overseas destinations for second - hand Neta cars are the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Western Europe. And because overseas customers have high requirements for second - hand cars, dealers also pick cars carefully. For example, some countries require that the registered vehicles be those registered after 2022, and some dealers refuse to accept Neta cars registered in 2021.

Moreover, vehicles exported overseas must pass inspections such as body quality inspection, battery health inspection, driving module inspection, static data inspection, and charging module inspection. However, due to the uncertainty of overseas customers' demand, the future market of second - hand Neta cars is still full of unknowns. This is why there are more than 1,000 second - hand Neta car source information on Made - in - China.com.

Image source: Provided by the interviewee

Image source: Made - in - China.com

Different from the rising market of second - hand Neta cars, Liu Yang (a pseudonym), a second - hand car dealer, said that compared with the exports of second - hand cars of other brands, the export of second - hand NIO cars is more troublesome.

Currently, most second - hand NIO cars in the domestic market are of the leased - battery version. However, how to connect and coordinate the leased - battery procedures at home and abroad, whether the new - energy markets in some countries in the cultivation stage can accept this model, whether NIO's battery - swapping stations overseas are popular, and whether local consumers can accept the price of second - hand NIO cars are all his concerns. This makes him not consider doing the export business of second - hand NIO cars in the next 3 - 5 years.

01. Neta Auto's Thai subsidiary's "self - rescue" attempt

Although Neta Auto mentioned in its reorganization statement that "overseas business will not be affected and will continue to operate normally." According to relevant reports from icartea, in addition to cooperating with EIH Automotive&Trading at the end of 2024 to become its exclusive distributor in the UAE and planning to launch models such as Neta X, GT, S, U - Ⅱ, and AYA with a starting price of 63,379 UAE dirhams (about 126,800 yuan), Neta Auto also plans to set up a R & D center and an assembly plant at the SAVI Smart Mobility Center in Abu Dhabi.

Image source: "Neta Auto's Reorganization Statement"

As of March 2025, Neta Auto had only delivered 110 cars in Abu Dhabi. And due to breakdowns caused by key component failures and the closure of showrooms in the main markets, car owners are facing the risk of their vehicles being completely out of service or having limited use. This has raised concerns among existing car owners about parts supply, intelligent function software support, and Neta Auto's ability to fulfill its promises in the region.

Compared with the Middle East market, Fang Yunzhou, the founder and chairman of Neta Auto, once clearly stated that Neta Auto will focus on profitable markets, and Thailand is the only "strategic market" it is optimistic about outside China. However, the problems Neta Auto is facing in Thailand are far more complex than those in the Middle East market.

According to the relevant requirements of the Thai government's incentive plan to promote electric vehicle production:

During the EV3.0 stage from 2022 to 2024: Although overseas automobile manufacturers could be exempted from import tariffs by the end of 2024, they must meet the requirement of a 1:1 ratio of import volume to local production volume. Due to the slowdown in new - energy vehicle sales and tightened credit conditions, in September 2024, automobile manufacturers asked Thailand to adjust the plan. Although the production gap in 2024 has been extended to 2025, the quota ratio has reached 1:1.5. If the production capacity matching is not met, the subsidies will be revoked, and the government can recover the subsidies already issued, require the payment of tariffs and liquidated damages, and seize the security deposit. For example, Suroj Sangsanit, a relevant person in charge of EVAT, said that if electric vehicle manufacturers fail to meet the government's production requirements, they need to pay a fine of about 400,000 Thai baht per vehicle to the authorities.

During the EV3.5 stage from 2025 to 2027, Thailand provides a subsidy of up to 100,000 Thai baht per vehicle for passenger car and pickup truck manufacturers, and reduces the import tariff on complete electric vehicles from 2024 to 2025 to a maximum of 40%, and the consumption tax from the original 8% to 2%. However, the price is that the quota ratio will increase to 1:2 in 2026 and 1:3 in 2027.

After Neta Auto entered the Thai market and established a subsidiary in 2022, it cooperated with Bangchan General Assembly, an original equipment manufacturer that assembles internal combustion engine vehicles for many brands locally.

In March 2024, it started assembling pure - electric vehicles, becoming its first pure - electric vehicle factory outside the Chinese market. This factory is located in Minburi District, Bangkok, Thailand, with an annual production capacity of 10,000 vehicles. This is why Neta's Nanning factory in China, which is mainly responsible for the international market, undertook the export task of 50,000 - 60,000 KD kits in 2024. As of May this year, Neta Auto has sold about 25,000 cars in Thailand, and its market share in the local electric vehicle market has plummeted from the peak of 14% in 2023 to the current 4%.

However, the liquidity crisis of Neta Auto's parent company has not only caused delays in vehicle maintenance for existing Thai Neta car owners due to parts shortages, but in some cases, the maintenance time for some vehicles has been as long as 10 months. To ease car owners' concerns about maintenance services and parts supply, Neta Auto opened a new parts distribution center in Nakhon Pathom Province, Thailand, in May this year, trying to improve after - sales service.

An even more serious problem is that the serious cash - flow shortage faced by Neta Auto's Thai subsidiary has led to many suppliers cutting off supplies, and the production factory is in a precarious situation.

According to a report from the Bangkok Post, if Neta Auto Thailand fails to meet the established production targets, it may need to repay more than 2 billion Thai baht to the government. Panupong Sriket of the Thai Excise Department said that since Neta cannot produce the required number of cars locally, the government has withheld part of the payment to Neta.

Also, because Bangchan General Assembly signed a memorandum of understanding with the Excise Department in November 2022, requiring it to produce a certain number of electric vehicles according to the government's requirements, this factory is also facing fines.

Image source: Neta Auto Thailand

In other words, behind the fact that domestic second - hand car dealers are buying second - hand Neta cars for export and have high requirements for the overall vehicle quality, Neta Auto is trying to solve the production capacity crisis in Thailand and the shortage of after - sales parts through this measure. This is also the reason why it mentioned in the reorganization statement that "currently, the Thai subsidiary has accelerated parts supply through an innovative business model."

However, whether this method can help Neta Auto's Thai subsidiary get out of trouble is still debatable. During the EV3.5 stage in Thailand, to protect and boost the development of the domestic automobile supply chain, Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers are required to use at least 40% of local parts in their electric vehicle assembly to support the domestic automobile supply chain.

For example, Changan Automobile will increase the localization ratio in its Thai factory from 60% to 90%, and Neta Auto once promised to increase the local parts ratio from 60% to 85%. Great Wall Motor said that it hopes that 80% - 90% of the electric vehicle parts will use local materials.

02. Dual constraints of modification costs and insurance barriers

Neta Auto's past glory in Thailand has provided innate conditions for domestic second - hand car dealers to expand overseas. However, it may not be easy for domestic second - hand car dealers to sell second - hand Neta cars from China well in Thailand and even the entire Southeast Asian market.

First, most of the vehicles on the roads in countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore are right - hand drive vehicles. For example, on the Thai second - hand car website One2car and the Malaysian second - hand car website mudah.my, the second - hand Neta cars being traded are all right - hand drive vehicles. Converting left - hand drive second - hand Neta cars from China into right - hand drive second - hand cars suitable for Southeast Asia is not only technically complex but also costly. More importantly, many countries' insurance companies either refuse to insure vehicles with large - scale modifications or charge sky - high premiums.

Image source: One2car

Image source: mudah.my

Second, the higher cost - performance ratio of second - hand cars compared with new cars is the key to promoting second - hand car transactions, especially in some less - developed Southeast Asian countries. For example, although Thailand's household debt has decreased from the peak of 99.5% in 2021 to 88.4% in 2024, the relatively high proportion of household debt makes local consumers particularly keen on using installment loans when purchasing high - value products such as cars and large household appliances. The longest installment - loan period for second - hand cars in Thailand is up to 84 months. In Malaysia, which has an even longer loan period, the longest installment - loan period is as long as 108 months.

Image source: One2car