“Investor Network” Zhang Wei

A serious traffic accident quickly made Cyrus (601127.SH), a new car builder that has already received much attention and is currently participating in the Beijing Auto Show, quickly hit the headlines.

On April 27, a netizen with the screen name “Three Mu Mu” posted on various social media that while driving at the Xia County Expressway in Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province, a fire broke out after being rear-ended by a sprinkler in front of the overtaking lane, causing the 3 people in the car to be unfortunately killed. The incident quickly attracted public attention.

An urgent response from the community

According to public information, the AITO (AITO) M7 is a high-end smart car brand model owned by Cyrus. It uses extended-range power. There are five models in two versions (the 2024 QQ M7 will increase to 7 models), with a starting price of 249,800 to 329,800 yuan.

On September 12, 2023, the new M7 was officially released and delivery began. On Baidu, search for the M7, and on the promotional page that pops up directly, you can also see words such as “ask the new M7 smart, large space, super safe,” “Hongmeng Zhixing official,” and “versatile and comfortable, large cockpit, full-dimensional and ultra-long body.”

“Three Mu Mu” said in an interview with Zhengguan News (hosted by Zhengzhou Newspaper Group) that the accident occurred at around 4 p.m. on April 26. She was not at the scene at the time. It was already 8 p.m., after she saw the families of the victims. The videos of the scene of the accident were all filmed by netizens.

The “Three Mumu” raised a series of questions, including whether maintenance vehicles occupied the fast lane, whether there were road warning signs at the time, and whether maintenance personnel had the ability to rescue in a timely manner, etc., and called for accountability. “I just want the truth”.

At noon on April 28, AITO Auto responded via its official Weibo: At around 16:34 on April 26, a serious traffic accident occurred in Yuncheng, Shanxi Province. It was deeply saddened by the casualties that occurred during the accident.

AITO Motor said that according to the national platform data access regulations, it was learned that the vehicle had a speed of 115 km/h at the time of the accident, the airbags were opened normally, and the characteristics of the power battery pack were normal. For specific investigation results, please refer to the subsequent notification from the traffic police department.

Afterwards, Cyrus Auto's official Weibo retweeted AITO Auto's Weibo saying, “We are deeply saddened by the accident and express our deep condolences to the victims. We are actively cooperating with the local traffic police department to investigate the accident, provide all necessary data to restore the cause of the accident, and provide all possible support to the families.

ADAS version “Rashomon”

Currently, the traffic department in Xiaxian County, Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province has not issued a notice on the investigation results of this traffic accident. Public opinion also focused more on questioning the M7, the accident car itself.

The “Three Mu Mu” video revealed that the car his younger brother was driving was a Wenjie M7 bought at the Yuncheng 4S store on January 14, 2024. It's only been 3 months old. “Three Mumu” raised questions and asked that M7 advertised effects such as AEB automatic emergency braking, GAEB automatic emergency braking for special-shaped obstacles, and impact of flame retardant materials and heat loss of control protection technology. “But at the time of the accident, where were these functions performed? Where are the airbags?”

It is understood that AEB is an active safety technology for automobiles. Its core function is to warn the driver through sound, images, etc. when a risk of collision is detected in front of the vehicle to remind the driver to take measures to avoid the collision. If the driver does not respond in time, or if the system determines that the risk of collision is extremely high, the AEB system will automatically activate the braking function to avoid or mitigate the collision.

Some car bloggers pointed out that AEB is mainly responsible for identifying and emergency braking common obstacles such as pedestrians, vehicles, and bicycles to protect the safety of drivers and the surrounding environment; GAEB is an advanced version similar to AEB, which can recognize and perform emergency braking on non-whitelisted non-whitelisted obstacles under certain conditions.

However, some netizens pointed out based on live video and pictures that the “Three Mumu” brothers drove the Wenjie M7 Plus is an entry-level model of the Wenjie M7, also commonly known as the “intellectually disabled version.” Also, according to information provided by the families of the parties concerned, the accident vehicle was purchased at a price of around 250,000.

According to data from the automobile website Easy Car, the Qunjie M7 (2024 model) currently has a total of seven models: 5-seater rear-wheel drive Plus, 6-seater rear-wheel drive Max, 6-seater rear-wheel drive Max, 5-seater 4WD Plus, and 6-seater 4WD Max. Moreover, only the guide price for the five-seat rear-wheel drive Plus is less than 250,000 yuan.

In response, some netizens judged that the model should be the M7 Plus rear-wheel drive version (large five-seater), which does not support Huawei advanced smart driving, no lidar, no GAEB, and no high-speed intelligent driving assistance (Highway NCA).

At noon on April 28, AITO Auto stated in an announcement that the model where the incident occurred was an entry-level non-smart driving version. It was not equipped with Huawei's advanced intelligent driving assistance system, but instead used the Bosch solution.

According to public information, BOSCH (BOSCH) is the world's largest supplier of automotive technology. It is engaged in the automotive and intelligent transportation technology, industrial technology, consumer goods, and energy and construction technology industries, and is famous for its innovative and cutting-edge products and system solutions.

AITO Auto said that the operating range of the Bosch solution AEB was 4-85 km/h, and the 115 km/h speed at the time of the collision far exceeded the Bosch AEB trigger range; the characteristics of the accident car's power battery pack were normal, indicating that the battery did not ignite spontaneously. The specific cause of the fire still needs to wait for the traffic police department's investigation results; when the accident occurred, the airbags of the accident car were opened normally, and there was no situation where the airbags were not working.

Subsequently, however, Bosch issued a “Statement on Traffic Accidents in Yuncheng, Shanxi,” stating that Bosch was concerned about the recent traffic accident in Yuncheng, Shanxi. After investigation, the vehicle involved was not equipped with a Bosch Smart Driving System (including AEB). Bosch is deeply saddened by the deaths and injuries caused by the accident and expressed deep condolences to the victims.

So what kind of system does this M7 have? For a while, netizens couldn't touch their minds.

Meanwhile, Big V, certified as an “AutoLab Evaluator,” said that Autolab exclusively learned that the M7 Plus (also known as the M7 Intellectual Disability Edition) in the Yuncheng accident in Shanxi did not come from Bosch, but from Fretech FreeTech. Both companies are equipped with the M7 and are from AB.

The ADAS mentioned by Big V, also known as an advanced driver assistance system, uses sensors such as millimeter-wave radar and single/binocular cameras installed in the car to sense the surrounding environment at any time during the car's driving, collect data, and perform system calculation and analysis, so that the driver can detect possible dangers in advance, and effectively increase the comfort and safety of driving a car. ADAS also includes the AEB and GAEB mentioned earlier.

Regarding AB supply, some people in the automobile industry chain said that in simple terms, it is a selection of different material suppliers based on the configuration level of the same model.

Currently, there is no trace of this “AutoLab Evaluator” activity. Shortly after the “AutoLab Evaluator” posted the news about “AB Supply” at 17:24 on April 28, at 18:37 on April 28, the “AutoLab Evaluator” posted a Weibo video with the content “250,000 Most Powerful High-End Smart Drivers, Ask the World M5 to Get the First Static Experience”.

According to enterprise research information, Freitech's full name is Freitec (Zhejiang) Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd., founded in 2016. According to its official website, FreeTech is an assisted driving solution developer. The company is committed to providing related enterprises with technical solutions related to assisted driving such as dynamic object recognition, road condition investigation, vehicle tracking, and map data analysis.

Currently, the “Partners” section on Fretech's official website cannot be opened, and there is no way to know if its partner has Cyrus. Regarding the M7 ADAS system, is there an AB supply? The matter is becoming increasingly confusing. More truth, as time progresses, I believe one day will come to light.

However, in response to this matter, some netizens said that the original safety product supplier for the same model may also be different; use Fretech for less money, and Huawei for more money. However, some netizens think that AB supplies are very common in the auto parts industry, “after all, one penny is worth the price.”

2023 results under pressure

The reason why Cyrus questioned the M7 vehicle accident attracted great public attention. Apart from the seriousness of the accident itself, it is also related to the high-profile appearance of Cyrus currently being held at the Beijing Auto Show.

According to “People's Daily News”, on April 25, Cyrus appeared at the 2024 (18th) Beijing International Automobile Exhibition. Zhang Xinghai, chairman of Celis Group, said that Cyrus's development logic follows “two focus on one cooperation” — “user-centered, wholeheartedly serving users”; focusing on software-defined vehicles; and comprehensive cooperation with Huawei's cross-border automotive business, and joint design and marketing.

Zhang Xinghai also mentioned, “We will continue to deepen and further explore comprehensive cooperation with Huawei's cross-border automobile business, strengthen cooperation with ecological partners such as user centers and supply chains, and work together to provide users with the ultimate experience throughout the life cycle, and jointly explore China's solutions and Celis' practices in the automotive industry, so that more Chinese people can drive luxury cars made in China.”

During the Beijing Auto Show, He Hao, CEO of Celis Auto Platform Technology, also said in an interview with the media that one of the biggest essential differences between our safety and the industry is that we have designed and developed a full-scene smart safety system based on users' safety scenarios.

He Hao believes that in the past, the traditional safety development system was more aimed at how many points I needed to get, probably five stars, but our current development concept doesn't take into account a single point value at all. We focus on the user's full security scenario to carry out scenario-based design to bring users an “easy to drive, easy to use, and super safe” car experience.

However, on the day after the chairman and executives expressed their ambition and pride, something happened to M7. In this accident, the issue of vehicle safety and protection of passengers attracted particular attention. In fact, looking at its development, Cyrus has faced quite a few questions along the way.

According to Wind information, the predecessor of Celis was Yu'an Group. In 1986, Chongqing Baxian Fenghuang Electric Spring Factory, the predecessor of Yu'an Group, was established. The company's products are mainly electric springs and micro car seat springs. In 2023, Yu'an Group formed a joint venture with Dongfeng Company to establish Dongfeng Yu'an Vehicle Co., Ltd., and began entering the automobile industry. In 2007, Chongqing Xiaokang Automobile Group was established on the basis of Dongfeng Yu'an Vehicle Co., Ltd.

In June 2016, Chongqing Xiaokang Auto Group was listed on A-shares and became the third A-share listed automaker in Chongqing. Its securities are abbreviated as Xiaokang Shares. In July 2022, Xiaokang Co., Ltd. changed its name to Cyrus.

At present, Cyrus has developed into a high-tech manufacturing group with new energy vehicles as its core business. Its business involves R&D, manufacturing, sales and service of new energy vehicles, core three-electric vehicles (batteries, electric drives, electronic controls), traditional automobiles, and core component assemblies.

According to the production and sales report released on April 1, Cyrus sold a total of 9,4,825 new energy vehicles in the first quarter of this year, an increase of 374.77% over the previous year. Looking at a single month, in March of this year, the entire Qunjie series delivered a total of 31,727 vehicles, winning the sales championship of new Chinese brands for three consecutive months.

Among them, the new Wenjie M7 delivered 24,598 vehicles in March, with a cumulative total of more than 120,000 units; the Wenjie M9 delivered 6,243 vehicles in March, ranking first in sales of models over 500,000 yuan by China's new forces, and is in the front line with traditional luxury cars BBA and Tesla.

However, Cyrus, which has strong sales momentum, is still working hard to “reverse the loss.”

According to the January 24 announcement, Cyrus expects to achieve operating income of 35.5 billion yuan to 36.5 billion yuan in 2023, and realized net profit to mother with a loss of 2.1 billion yuan to 2.7 billion yuan. In the previous three years, Celis had continuous losses, with a total loss of 7.385 billion yuan from 2020 to 2022. In its performance forecast, Cyrus said that in the fourth quarter of 2023, net profit due to mother is expected to be corrected to 194 million yuan, achieving profit in a single quarter.

Some analysts pointed out that the sharp increase in Cyrus's revenue in the fourth quarter of 2023 was mainly due to the sharp increase in delivery volume of the new M7. The new M7 quickly became a hit after its launch on September 12, 2023, and made the market think that the new M7 may become a “booster” for Cyrus to achieve profit correction in 2024. However, it remains to be seen whether the car accident in Yuncheng, Shanxi will have an impact on sales of the new QIJE M7 and other series. (Produced by Thinking Finance) ■