The first IPO of a car-making company this year broke its issue price.

Investment Circle - Tian Tian IPO learned that today (March 19th), VOYAH Automobile officially listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, becoming the "first high - end new energy stock of central and state - owned enterprises". The opening price was HK$7.5 per share. After the opening, the stock price fell, and the latest market value exceeded HK$25 billion.

Located in Wuhan, VOYAH Automobile was born with a "golden spoon" in its mouth. It was officially established in 2021, carrying Dongfeng Motor's "high - end dream". Its MPV, VOYAH Dreamer, is well - known to the outside world. In five years, VOYAH Automobile only completed one round of external financing before stepping onto the IPO stage.

No one wants to miss the last entry ticket. Through VOYAH Automobile's IPO, a fierce elimination race in the automotive circle is unfolding.

Dongfeng Motor's "Beloved Son"

Ring the Bell for IPO Today

The story dates back to 2018.

At that time, Dongfeng Motor launched a high - end self - owned model, Dongfeng A9, with a price of only 180,000 yuan, but the results were meager. Therefore, Dongfeng Motor decided to launch the "H Project" internally, hoping to create a real high - end self - owned brand. The following year, the "Dongfeng H Business Unit" was established.

Soon, in July 2020, Dongfeng Motor launched a high - end new energy brand - VOYAH, a homophone for "blueprint", symbolizing a beautiful plan and prospect, implying to draw a blueprint to the end. One year later, VOYAH Automobile Technology Co., Ltd. was officially established, with Lu Fang serving as the CEO and later as the chairman.

Lu Fang, who is in charge of VOYAH Automobile, is also a "veteran" in the industry. Born in 1976, he graduated from Tongji University with a bachelor's degree in Automotive and Tractor Engineering and later obtained a master's and a doctor's degree in Vehicle Engineering from Jilin University. His career started at FAW - Volkswagen and he worked in the FAW Group for nearly 20 years. In 2018, he joined Dongfeng Motor and served as the technical director of special projects in the Strategic Planning Department.

When talking about creating the new brand VOYAH, Lu Fang once said, "For me, I studied automotive in college and have been dealing with cars since graduation. On the one hand, I have an automotive complex. On the other hand, I have goals for myself and am willing to take on challenges." He even joked that he had bet all his professional reputation, so he could only succeed.

In the same year the company was established, VOYAH Automobile launched its first mass - produced model, "VOYAH FREE", a mid - to large - sized new energy SUV. Since its delivery in August that year, the monthly sales of VOYAH FREE increased from 408 to 1,139 in November. The cumulative delivery in four months exceeded 3,000 units, which was a great success in the first battle.

Then in May 2022, VOYAH Automobile launched "VOYAH Dreamer", positioned as a high - end new energy MPV. In November of the same year, VOYAH Automobile also announced the completion of a 4.55 - billion - yuan Series A financing, which was the largest first - round financing for new energy vehicles in China at that time.

26 models of VOYAH Dreamer

This was a typical state - owned capital round: Dongfeng Group Co., Ltd. contributed 900 million yuan in this round of financing. Other participating institutions included the Mixed - Ownership Reform Fund, ICBC Financial Asset Investment, BOC Financial Asset Investment, Wuhan Economic Development Zone Fund, ABC Financial Asset Investment, Ganfeng Lithium, Zhongxin Gaotou Fund, Dongfeng Bank of Communications Fund, Qianhai Hongsheng, and Hubei High - Quality Fund.

Following the rhythm of launching one model per year, VOYAH Automobile successively launched the mid - to large - sized new energy sedan "VOYAH Chasing Light", the mid - sized new energy SUV "VOYAH Zhiyin", and the six - seat SUV "VOYAH Taishan". Meanwhile, VOYAH Automobile also started to sprint for IPO.

Actually, as early as 2023, Shen Jun, the then CFO of VOYAH Automobile, said that if the monthly sales could reach about 10,000 units, the company would meet the listing conditions. After entering 2025, VOYAH Automobile's monthly sales exceeded 10,000 units for several consecutive months, and obviously the pre - conditions for listing were met.

However, what was a bit unexpected was the way VOYAH Automobile completed its listing. In August last year, Dongfeng Group Co., Ltd. issued an announcement saying that VOYAH Automobile would list on the Hong Kong stock market through introduction, and Dongfeng Group Co., Ltd. would complete privatization and delisting simultaneously.

In this regard, Dongfeng Group said that affected by factors such as the pain of industry transformation, the company's valuation performance has been low in recent years, and the stock market value has long been far lower than the net assets. The listing of VOYAH Automobile on the Hong Kong stock market is expected to promote the value reshaping of Dongfeng Motor's brand matrix.

So far, in five years, VOYAH Automobile has created the largest automotive IPO this year.

Rising in Wuhan

Sell 150,000 Cars a Year

How can VOYAH Automobile support an IPO?

In the prospectus, VOYAH Automobile introduced that its business is in the high - end segment of the new energy vehicle market. The target customers are the backbone of the new era. The products mainly cover the price range from 200,000 to 500,000 yuan. Since 2021, it has launched five new energy vehicle series.

Sales volume is undoubtedly the most concerned figure by the outside world. The prospectus shows that in 2023, 2024, and 2025, VOYAH Automobile sold 50,285, 80,116, and 150,169 vehicles respectively. The compound annual growth rate of sales volume from 2023 to 2025 was 72.8%.

Among them, VOYAH Dreamer is the well - deserved main sales model. According to CIC's data, in 2024, the VOYAH Dreamer series achieved sales of 47,000 units, ranking second in the sales of high - end new energy MPVs.

Thanks to this, VOYAH Automobile's performance has also increased. The prospectus shows that in 2023, 2024, and 2025, VOYAH Automobile achieved revenues of 12.749 billion yuan, 19.360 billion yuan, and 34.865 billion yuan respectively. Correspondingly, in 2023, VOYAH Automobile had a net loss of 1.496 billion yuan and turned a profit in 2025, with a net profit of 1.017 billion yuan.

However, VOYAH Automobile is not without a sense of crisis. It admitted in the prospectus that "the new energy vehicle market in China is highly competitive, and we may not be able to win in the competition in this industry." Therefore, VOYAH Automobile has been expanding its "circle of friends". In January this year, it also signed a deepened strategic cooperation agreement with Yinwang under Huawei. The cooperation includes aspects such as joint development of intelligent driving and intelligent cockpit, and joint operation of To C software.

Through VOYAH Automobile, the new energy vehicle map of Wuhan emerges.

Located in the center of China's hinterland, Wuhan is known as the "thoroughfare to nine provinces". It is not only an important transportation hub in the country but also has a profound industrial manufacturing foundation accumulated in modern development. As early as 2003, with the relocation of the headquarters of Dongfeng Motor Corporation to Wuhan, the automobile industry in Wuhan really began to flourish.

In recent years, as the development of new energy vehicles has become a consensus, Wuhan has also built advantages in intelligent connected and electric vehicles on the basis of the traditional automobile industry. Especially Wuhan Economic Development Zone, known as the "Automobile Valley of China", has become one of the most concentrated areas for the global automobile industry.

In 2025, the annual output of new energy vehicles in China exceeded 16 million. Among them, Wuhan contributed more than 3% - last year, the output of new energy vehicles reached 524,000, a year - on - year increase of 56.7%, accounting for 55% of the total vehicle output.

Today, Wuhan has gathered 11 vehicle manufacturers, 15 vehicle factories, and more than 1,000 auto parts enterprises, forming a diversified pattern of central enterprises, joint - ventures, self - owned brands, and new forces.

Among them, Geely also has a deep relationship with Wuhan. In 2017, Geely Holding acquired Lotus, a world - famous super - luxury sports car brand. Then in December 2020, Lotus Technology was established, and its global headquarters was located in Wuhan. In February 2024, it was officially listed on the NASDAQ.

Not only that, but also a number of star enterprises such as ECARX, Core - Engine Technology, Black Sesame Intelligence, and NIO Energy are located here, covering almost all segments of the new energy vehicle industry chain from power batteries, electric drive and control to intelligent connected vehicles and vehicle body lightweighting.

At the same time, Wuhan places the parts and components at the same important strategic position as the whole vehicles, implements the "Three - Year Action for the Transformation and Upgrading of Parts and Components", and promotes the optimization of the vehicle - to - parts ratio to 1.1:1. The annual output value of parts and components enterprises is expected to exceed 130 billion yuan.

In the words of a VC investor, "If you want to invest in the automobile industry chain, you must go to Wuhan and have a look."

The Chinese Automobile - Making Arena

Compete for the Last Ticket

The rise of VOYAH Automobile is not an isolated case.

Different from the previous rounds of unicorn car - making companies, domestic traditional automakers, especially central and state - owned enterprises, are pushing their "beloved son" new energy brands to the forefront, raising funds and making friends at the same time, competing for the last entry ticket.

Coincidentally, Avatr, under Changan Automobile, officially submitted an IPO application for the Hong Kong stock market in November last year. It had completed four rounds of financing before, with a total financing amount of more than 19 billion yuan. The most significant one was the Series C financing in December 2024. Avatr raised more than 11 billion yuan, jointly funded by Changan Automobile, Yufu - affiliated funds, Southern Asset - affiliated funds, SDIC - affiliated funds, Bank of Communications Investment, and other strategic and market - oriented investors, with a valuation of more than 30 billion yuan.

Almost at the same time, IM Motors under SAIC Group also announced the successful completion of the Series B1 equity financing, supported by state - owned investment institutions and market - oriented investment institutions. Previously, in March 2024, IM Motors had successfully obtained more than 8 billion yuan in Series B equity financing, led by BOC Asset under the Bank of China, with ABC Investment, Lingang Group, etc. participating in the investment, and technology companies such as CATL, Momenta, and Qingtao Energy following the investment. At the same time, SAIC Group, ICBC Investment, and Bank of Communications Investment continued to increase their investment. So far, IM Motors has raised a total of 9.4 billion yuan in the overall Series B financing.

Impressively, GAC Aion's Series A financing was as high as 18.3 billion yuan, introducing a total of 53 strategic investors. It was jointly led by PICC Capital, China Southern Power Grid Energy Innovation, China Structural Adjustment Fund, Shenzhen Capital Group, CITIC Jingshi, and funds or institutions under Guangzhou Industrial Investment Group. After the investment, the valuation exceeded 100 billion yuan. Previously, documents from the Beijing Equity Exchange showed that GAC Aion was preparing for its IPO on the Hong Kong stock market.

On the other hand, the "struggling trio" among the new car - making forces have also turned the corner. According to NIO's latest financial report, its revenue in the fourth quarter of 2025 was 34.65 billion yuan, and the net profit was 283 million yuan, achieving its first quarterly profit. XPeng Motors will also announce its financial report soon. Previously, He Xiaopeng also repeatedly emphasized that the company was confident of achieving profitability in the fourth quarter of 2025. Although Li Auto's revenue and profit both declined year - on - year, it still achieved profitability for three consecutive years.

Undoubtedly, the Chinese automobile - making arena is still in a fierce battle. According to VOYAH Automobile's prospectus, there were about 146 active new energy vehicle brands in China in 2024. But at present, the number of players at the table may have been reduced by half. Li Bin also proposed in an internal letter that "the most intense and cruel stage of the qualification race in the intelligent electric vehicle industry has arrived. Only a few excellent companies will survive in two or three years."

Remember at the 24th China Private Equity Annual Conference, Zhang Wei, the chairman of Cornerstone Capital, once shared: "Car - making is an industry that requires more than 10 years and a long - term capital investment of 50 billion to 100 billion yuan. The reliability, safety, and stability of cars require long - term industrial accumulation and cannot simply rely on business model innovation and a single eye - catching product to succeed. Simply burning money cannot burn out the future."

He judged that the Chinese automobile industry will surely follow the path of the home appliance and smartphone industries: after a cruel price war, it will enter the maturity stage of mergers and integrations, and a few enterprises will become winners through market selection. A number of automobile manufacturers will go bankrupt, and the survival elimination race in the Chinese automobile industry is accelerating.

The Chinese new car - making arena never sleeps.

This article is from the WeChat public account "Tian Tian IPO", author: Liu Bo. Republished by 36Kr with authorization.