WM Motor may be making a comeback, but it's actually quite unlikely for WM Motor to stage a revival.

Guys, do you still remember the new - energy vehicle startup called WM Motor back then?

Just when everyone thought its grave had been overgrown with grass two meters high, WM Motor has unexpectedly put on the "resurrection armor" and is getting ready to make a comeback!

Last Saturday, WM Motor updated a post on its official WeChat account titled "White Paper to Suppliers". Although there are some minor grammar issues in the title, the last update from the company was about vehicle price adjustments before its near - collapse. After a two - year hiatus, it's highly likely that it's about to announce its comeback.

Indeed, although the post is quite long, it can be summarized into three points: WM Motor not only intends to make a comeback, but also plans to act swiftly, with strong confidence and lofty aspirations!

Acting swiftly means that WM Motor plans to resume production starting from September this year and aims to achieve a production and sales volume of 20,000 vehicles by the end of the year with its EX5 and E.5 models.

Having strong confidence means that this comeback is not just a simple revival. On the one hand, it has a new major shareholder, Xiangfei Automobile. On the other hand, the governments of Shanghai and Wenzhou have provided support in many aspects, including subsidies and giving priority to public procurement. Its background is very solid.

As for its goals, they are truly ambitious. It will pay off its previous debts and recruit new teams. WM Motor's current goals are to produce 100,000 vehicles in 2026, reach 400,000 vehicles and go public before 2028, and reach 1 million vehicles with a revenue of 120 billion by 2030!

Finally, the article ends with a recruitment notice for suppliers: Come and join us! The future is bright!

You know, Li Auto, the leading new - energy vehicle startup at present, had a sales volume of about 500,000 vehicles and a revenue of about 140 billion last year. This means that after its comeback, WM Motor plans to catch up with Li Auto's revenue in five years with twice the sales volume.

The release of this post has confirmed the various rumors about WM Motor's comeback in the past six months.

Many frustrated WM Motor owners can no longer sit still. They say, "Holy cow! This is not just a comeback; it's a real rebirth!" They won't have to bear the stigma of owning a car from a bankrupt brand anymore. They can use the car system and the mobile app normally. Will the after - sales service also resume, so they don't have to find parts and repair shops on their own?

However, after some research, I found that WM Motor's comeback may not be the glorious turnaround that everyone imagines. There are many strange things in it, and it also has to face extremely difficult challenges.

For example, the most obvious flaw is the sales target mentioned in the post.

Not to mention whether it can achieve a production and sales volume of 1 million vehicles by 2030. Just aiming to achieve a production and sales volume of 20,000 vehicles this year with the EX5 and E.5 models (an average monthly sales volume of 2,500 vehicles per model) is extremely difficult.

As for the reason, you can tell just by looking at the configurations of these two cars.

The E.5 is a mid - size sedan similar in size to the Tesla Model 3, and the EX5 is a compact SUV smaller than the Model Y. Both models were launched in early 2022. They are mainly targeted at the ride - hailing market, and the main models are priced in the range of 150,000 - 200,000 yuan.

Although their positioning and pricing seem okay at first glance, putting these two three - year - old cars in today's market is like sending cavemen to the future.

Their batteries have a capacity of about 50 kWh, and their claimed range is only 400 - 500 kilometers. The motors are all front - mounted, and the maximum horsepower is only about 200 (the sedan E.5 only has a pitiful 160 horsepower).

As for intelligent driving and comfort features, they are almost non - existent. The sedan E.5 even has a model with a severely limited center console screen, priced at over 160,000 yuan.

To put it bluntly, apart from slashing the prices to rock - bottom levels, I can hardly think of any way for them to reach the monthly sales target of 2,500 vehicles. But this also poses high requirements for WM Motor's cost control. For WM Motor, which is still in the stage of recruiting suppliers and has high expectations for future revenue, the difficulty is really high.

Of course, configurations can be changed, and prices can be negotiated. Compared with the outdated products, I think the new shareholder behind WM Motor this time is the most problematic part.

In June, Southern Metropolis Daily published a report saying that two WM Motor models (exactly the EX5 and E.5 mentioned above) suddenly appeared in the showroom of Shenzhen Baoneng Automobile.

Since then, rumors that Baoneng Group would rescue WM Motor have spread everywhere.

In the post last Saturday, although WM Motor didn't explicitly mention Baoneng, the new shareholder, Xiangfei Automobile, whether it's the actual controller Huang Jing or its complex shareholding relationship, actually points to Baoneng Group, which is fond of taking over bankrupt car brands.

This basically confirms the previous speculation about the acquisition.

The problem is that although Baoneng Group is large - scale and has diverse businesses, it has always been enthusiastic but not serious about the automotive industry.

For example, Qoros Automobile, which Baoneng started to invest in 2017 and completed the acquisition in 2019. When Baoneng invested in Qoros, it was as ambitious as it is with WM Motor today and listed many problems to be solved in the future.

For example, it promised to help suppliers solve the problem of low income and no rebates, to launch nearly 30 new models in five years to solve Qoros' low competitiveness problem, and to use a total of eight factories to make Qoros' production scale exceed that of Tesla.

However, the fact is that until 2022, Qoros had only launched one new model, the Qoros 7. Among the promised eight factories, only the two originally owned by Qoros were in operation, and the new factories were almost just on paper.

Meanwhile, in order to boost Qoros' sales figures on paper, Baoneng sold a large number of cars at low prices to the car - sharing rental platform LinkAway.

Although this method tripled Qoros' sales in 2018 compared with the previous year, the profits of dealers became even thinner, making it even more difficult for them to make money.

As a result, less than two years after Baoneng's acquisition of Qoros, Qoros showed various "collapse symptoms" such as dealers' rights - protection at auto shows, reports of large - scale wage arrears, factory shutdowns, and a large - scale departure of employees.

In 2022, it was even included in the consumer blacklist by the Shandong Automobile Circulation Association, warning people to be cautious when buying Qoros cars.

To this day, Qoros' sales have dropped to zero, and LinkAway, which used to be everywhere, has almost disappeared. Compared with the grand plans Baoneng made back then, Qoros is truly a complete mess.

Moreover, not many people know that in 2020, Baoneng also fully acquired Changan PSA, which was renamed Baoneng Automobile.

Now, for the Citroën DS models we can still buy, such as the DS9 and DS7, the name on the rear of the car is Baoneng Automobile.

However, just like with Qoros, after acquiring Changan PSA, Baoneng should have utilized the production capacity or technology of the latter's Shenzhen factory to improve its own car brand BAO.

But the result is that there has been no progress in the localization of DS models, and Baoneng's BAO brand is like Evergrande Automobile back then, with new cars still only in the planning stage.