93,500, WM Motor's bankruptcy fire sale
Author | Feng Xiaoting Editor | Wuren
Source | Rongzhong Finance
On the afternoon of April 28th, an almost 24 - hour auction on the Taobao Alibaba Auction platform came to an end.
The auction item was not complicated - after the bankruptcy liquidation of WM Motor New Energy Vehicle Procurement (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., 24 outstanding accounts receivable listed on the books, with a total amount of 127,591,590.42 yuan. The starting bid was only 100 yuan. 100 people signed up for the auction. After 332 bids and nearly 24 hours of fierce competition, a bidder became the new owner of this “hundred - million - yuan debt claim” with “93,500 yuan”.
Auction of WM Motor's outstanding accounts receivable
When the news spread, public opinion was in an uproar. Once one of the “Four Little Dragons” among the new car - making forces and a capital favorite with a cumulative public financing of 35 billion yuan, now the hundred - million - yuan debt claim of its subsidiary was being sold off like “cabbage”. Even more astonishing is that for this 127.59 million yuan debt claim, there is no contract, no original documents, and even the administrator does not guarantee its authenticity. Some debtors have even clearly replied in writing that “they do not owe”. The investigation form of the auction item also clearly states that “the purchaser shall bear the risks of the above - mentioned defects or undiscovered flaws on their own.”
This is not the first time WM Motor has sold off its assets like this. The same item had been put up for auction four times before and failed to find a buyer each time. The starting bid price dropped from 127.59 million yuan at the beginning to 12.7591 million yuan, and finally to 100 yuan before someone finally made a bid. On May 5th, the 139.6 million yuan of outstanding accounts receivable held by another wholly - owned subsidiary of WM Motor will also be put up for auction with a starting bid of 100 yuan, using the same “bare - bones auction” model and the same “no guarantee of authenticity, no contract” situation.
From raising hundreds of millions in financing to selling off debt claims at a 99% discount, the story of WM Motor is a complete sample of how a new car - making force in China “built a high - rise, entertained guests, and then the building collapsed”. And this absurd plot of the “cabbage - price” auction is precisely the most eye - catching footnote to this sample.
A hundred million on the books, an IOU in hand
According to the “Outstanding Debt Claim Situation Table” in the auction announcement annex, among the debtors of these 24 accounts receivable, there are many industry giants. Among them, Robert Bosch Automotive Components (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. owes about 51.69 million yuan, Shanghai Xipoke Technology Co., Ltd. owes about 50.6 million yuan, and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited owes about 2.52 million yuan. Just the amounts involved with Bosch and Xipoke alone exceed 100 million yuan.
Picture/Excerpted screenshot of the Outstanding Debt Claim Situation Table
On the surface, the debtors are well - known and powerful enterprises, so these should be a batch of “high - quality debt claims”.
However, the materials that the administrator can provide are extremely limited. The auction announcement clearly states that, apart from the civil ruling on the acceptance of bankruptcy, the decision on the appointment of the administrator, and the debt claim transfer agreement and notice that will be signed with the purchaser, “no materials or original materials related to the debt claim can be provided.”
The reason is that all transactions between WM Motor and its suppliers were completed through an internal procurement system. As recorded in the original auction announcement, the system “stopped being used at the end of 2022 and cannot be opened”. The administrator can only see the electronic financial account records, and there are no paper contracts, invoices, or reconciliation statements. A debt claim without original vouchers is almost impossible to prove in legal recovery.
The feedback on debt collection is even more unfavorable. The “Non - litigation Debt Collection Situation” column of the “Outstanding Debt Claim Situation Table” shows that Robert Bosch Automotive sent a reply on September 28, 2025, clearly stating that “it does not owe”; the debt collection letter to Tianjin Lishen Siliantai New Energy was returned; and many enterprises such as Xipoke and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited did not reply after signing for the letters.
The auction announcement also lists 11 flaws and risks: the debt claim may be wholly or partially invalid, non - existent, or unrecoverable; there may be disputes over unmet payment conditions or unexpired terms; the administrator has stopped centralized debt collection, and the purchaser needs to pursue the debt on their own. That is to say, this is not a “debt purchase at a discount” in the ordinary sense, but a game where it is even impossible to confirm whether the subject matter actually exists.
In fact, this debt claim has been put up for auction four times since February 26th this year. The starting bid was 127.59 million yuan for the first time, and no one bid; it was reduced to 63.7955 million yuan for the second time, and still no one made an offer; the third time it was 25.5182 million yuan, and the fourth time it was 12.7591 million yuan, and all auctions failed. It was not until the fifth time that the administrator set the starting bid at 100 yuan, which was equivalent to completely giving up the price bottom line, that someone finally took over this batch of debt claims.
There is also a “sequel”.
On May 5th, 123 outstanding accounts receivable held by WM Motor New Energy Vehicle Sales (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., another wholly - owned subsidiary of WM Motor, with a total book value of 139.6 million yuan, will also be put up for auction with a starting bid of 100 yuan. The same lack of authenticity guarantee and no contract.
What did 35 billion in financing burn out?
The root cause of a hundred - million - yuan debt claim being reduced to just a few tens of thousands of yuan lies in the complete collapse of WM Motor itself. And the speed of this enterprise's decline is almost as astonishing as its rise.
In 2015, Shen Hui, who once led Geely's acquisition of Volvo, founded WM Motor. Relying on his deep industry connections and resource - mobilizing ability, WM Motor quickly became a favorite in the capital market. Public information shows that since its establishment, WM Motor has completed 11 rounds of financing, with the announced financing scale exceeding 35 billion yuan in total. The list of investors includes Baidu, Sequoia China, Tencent, etc.
In 2018, WM Motor's first mass - produced vehicle, the EX5, was launched, and its delivery volume that year ranked second among new car - making forces. In 2019, the EX5 won the sales championship for a single model among new car - making forces for the second consecutive year. In September 2020, WM Motor completed a 10 - billion - yuan Series D financing, setting a record for a single - round financing among new car - making forces at that time, and its valuation once reached about 41 billion yuan. At that time, WM Motor was called one of the “Four Little Dragons” along with NIO, XPeng, and Li Auto, and was regarded as one of the most likely leading players to succeed.
But after the glory, cracks followed one after another.
WM Motor initially chose the heavy - asset route of “building its own factories”. The two production bases in Wenzhou and Huanggang have a planned annual production capacity of 250,000 vehicles in total. However, the actual sales volume was far lower than expected. In 2021, WM Motor only delivered 44,000 vehicles throughout the year, and the capacity utilization rate was less than 20%. This means that more than 80% of the production capacity was idle, while the depreciation and operating costs remained the same. This “high - profile” strategy might have been bearable during the upward period of the industry, but when the market growth slowed down and competition intensified, the heavy fixed costs quickly became a shackle that dragged the enterprise down.
In terms of R & D investment, WM Motor's shortcomings are even more obvious. According to the prospectus data, from 2019 to 2021, WM Motor's R & D expenses were 893 million yuan, 992 million yuan, and 981 million yuan respectively, with a total of about 2.866 billion yuan in three years. In the same period, NIO's annual R & D investment reached 4.59 billion yuan, and XPeng and Li Auto also invested 4.11 billion yuan and 3.29 billion yuan respectively. WM Motor's total R & D investment in three years was even less than that of its competitors in one year. In terms of the technical route, WM Motor has long relied on external supply chains, and its self - research ability is weak. When NIO, XPeng, and Li Auto have successively launched their second - and third - generation intelligent driving solutions, the product strength of WM Motor has long been left behind.
The financial data is even more shocking. According to the prospectus, from 2019 to 2021, WM Motor's net losses were 4.145 billion yuan, 5.084 billion yuan, and 8.206 billion yuan respectively, with a cumulative loss of up to 17.435 billion yuan. By the end of 2021, the company was already seriously insolvent.
After that, WM Motor tried to list on the A - share Science and Technology Innovation Board and the Hong Kong Stock Exchange successively, and also tried to list on the US stock market by back - door listing through Kaixin Auto, but all attempts ended in failure. The repeated setbacks on the listing path blocked the most crucial financing window and exhausted the market confidence. Since the second half of 2022, news of production suspension, salary arrears, and dealers withdrawing from the network have followed one after another. In October 2023, WM Motor officially applied for bankruptcy reorganization.
Excess production capacity, insufficient R & D, and failure to list - these three dilemmas are superimposed and strengthen each other, pushing WM Motor step by step into the current situation. Of the known 35 billion yuan in financing, nearly half was invested in factory construction, but it did not bring about equivalent sales volume and technological accumulation. The money was spent, but no moat was formed.
Can the “White Knight” save WM Motor?
The reorganization path of WM Motor starts in early 2025.
On April 3, 2025, the Shanghai Third Intermediate People's Court officially approved the reorganization plan of four companies including WM Motor Technology Group. Shenzhen Xiangfei Automobile Sales Co., Ltd. became the only reorganization investor and new shareholder. In September of the same year, WM Motor officially released the “White Paper to Suppliers” (this promotional tweet has now been taken down), announcing an ambitious “three - step” plan: from 2025 to 2026 is the revival stage, resuming the production of the EX5 and E.5 models and ensuring an annual production and sales volume of 10,000 units; from 2027 to 2028 is the development stage, with the annual sales volume jumping to 250,000 - 400,000 units and starting preparations for an IPO; from 2029 to 2030 is the leap - forward stage, aiming for an annual production of 1 million units and a revenue of 120 billion yuan. Xiangfei initially plans to invest 1 billion yuan for equipment upgrading, supply chain restoration, and product development.
In the following months, signals of “revival” were continuously released. In November 2025, WM Motor posted on the social platform “Good things are coming soon, please look forward to it”, with a picture saying “If you keep thinking about something, it will surely come true”. Although this message was later deleted. In the same month, the Xiaowei Suihang App was relaunched, and the Bluetooth vehicle control and remote vehicle control functions were restored. WM Motor also registered and established a new sales company - Zhima Xing (Wenzhou) New Energy Vehicle Sales Co., Ltd. These actions once made the outside world think that WM Motor was about to return to the arena.
Picture/The latest update of the official account article of WM Motor
However, in 2026, these signals did not translate into substantial progress, and WM Motor's voice fell silent again. Except for the blessing posters released on holidays, the article updates of the official account of WM Motor stopped in November 2025.
It was not until April 28th that the news that the 127.59 million yuan debt claim of its subsidiary was sold for 93,500 yuan spread, and public opinion refocused on WM Motor - except that the focus had changed from “when will production resume” to “can it still survive?”
Why does an enterprise that is promoting revival sell off a hundred - million - yuan debt claim with a starting bid of 100 yuan? Is this a normal operation to clean up historical burdens, or has the production resumption plan itself stalled?
The strength of Xiangfei itself is an unavoidable question. Earlier data showed that the initial actual controller of Xiangfei was Huang Jing, who indirectly held shares in Kunshan Baoneng Automobile Co., Ltd. through intermediate companies such as Shenzhen Zhuokai. On the same day that the white paper was released, the official WeChat account of Baoneng Automobile also pushed relevant information, which made the market more convinced that “Baoneng Group” was standing behind Xiangfei.
Picture/Company change dynamics
However, in 2026, Xiangfei first changed its business address, and then changed its main members. After these changes, the legal representative of the company was changed from “Huang Jing” to “Ma Tengfei”. The ambiguity and change of the actual controller have further shaken the already weak investor confidence. Without the backing of a stable and powerful shareholder, whether Xiangfei can fulfill its 1 - billion - yuan investment commitment has already put a big question mark.
The bigger difficulty lies in the mismatch between funds and the market. According to the audit report of the reorganization case, after auditing, the total book assets of WM Motor Technology Group are only 3.988 billion yuan, while the liabilities are as high as 20.367 billion yuan. Xiangfei's initial investment of 1 billion yuan may be able to start up one production line, but to rebuild a brand that has lost market trust, revive a supply chain that has been broken for a long time, and win back consumers - this level of funds is far from enough to solve these problems. Moreover, WM Motor's main models, the EX5, was launched as early as 2018, and the E.5 was also a 2022 product. In a market where products are updated annually,