"If you don’t leave today, you may not see anyone again tomorrow." At four o’clock in the morning on December 13th, Beijing time, there are still suppliers of Extreme Vietnam stuck at the entrance of the conference room in the office area of Extreme Vietnam.
It has been less than 48 hours since the extreme Vietnam announced its dissolution on the spot, but a series of chain reactions are taking place. Employees who are owed social security, suppliers who are owed payment for goods, and car owners who are unable to guarantee after sale have become victims of this incident.
Extreme Vietnam is now a chicken feather, but this "mess" and the related parties behind it have not come out to clean up.
The whole story of the extremely sudden collapse
When these four words were announced, many employees in Vietnam couldn’t believe it.
Xia Yiping invited Li Yanhong, Li Bin and Zeng Yuqun to give their platforms for the first time at the Extreme Yue 07 conference on September 10th, and Li Shufu said through video that Geely would support the Extreme Yue car as always.
A number of employees we contacted said that Xia Yiping has repeatedly said in the company recently that Baidu is the company’s major shareholder and will give support to the company. Xia Yiping also went to Baidu for financial support at the end of last month.
In the fourth quarter of this year, Extreme Vietnam changed the OKR of employees into KPI of mandatory assessment, with the primary goal of selling more cars and then cutting costs. An employee said that in the fourth quarter, the management of the company took the lead in sharing excellent cases of employees in marketing and cost reduction, and the management continued to convey positive emotions.
Compared with Xia Yiping’s tearful interview with the media in August this year, the sales volume of Extreme Yue has been much better. It is no longer "more than 100 sets" that makes Xia Yiping feel uncomfortable, but it is faster than 3,000 sets.
The internal work of Extreme Vietnam is also in normal development. "After the release of Extreme Vietnam 01 and Extreme Vietnam 07, the internal research and development of modified models is still underway, and it is planned to launch a model similar to ET5T." Tiger sniffing car verified this news with a number of internal employees.
Even on December 10th, there were rumors in Weibo that the company was going to be dissolved, and the internal staff thought that it was just layoffs, and there would be no worse result. Until that night, Ji Yue informed the staff that the company would hold a full-time meeting the next day.
On the afternoon of December 11th, Xia Yiping emptied his little red book and Weibo in advance. According to several employees, social media traffic was an indicator that Xia Yiping was extremely concerned about, because Li Yanhong once suggested that Xia Yiping learn Lei Jun’s personal IP style.
The letter of all the staff of Jiyue was accused of copying Weilai’s internal letter in 2023.
At four o’clock in the afternoon, Xia Yiping held a staff meeting in the form of video, saying that "the more difficult it is, the more departments that are merged and duplicated, improve efficiency, and cut off projects that cannot make money in the short term." The contents mentioned are basically consistent with the contents of the letter from all employees.
Originally, the meeting was supposed to be held for half an hour, but in fact it only lasted for 10 minutes, and it ended hastily.
After the staff meeting, the company communicated with the first-level department, and HR and the heads of various departments passed two solutions-
An employee used "bungling" to describe Yue Yue’s plan to lay off employees. Before the announcement of the plan, the employees of Extreme Vietnam pinned their hopes on Baidu and Geely. Some people speculated that Baidu would continue to give money, and some of them would lay off employees and continue to build cars after reducing costs and increasing efficiency. Others say that Geely and Baidu will each recruit some employees of the company.
In short, no one believes that Xia Yiping can lead the company out of the difficulties, but they are very optimistic, because there are two giant shareholders, "Baidu still has 200 billion cash in its account."
However, Extreme Vietnam collapsed at a high speed in one day and fell into a state of suspension. Throughout the history of China’s auto industry, the speed at which employees are laid off is also very rare. Weimar, Gaohe and other new car-making forces also had several rounds of layoffs before the official shutdown, giving employees and suppliers more adjustment time.
Employees and suppliers are collectively defending rights.
The sudden collapse of Chaoyue is triggering a series of chain reactions, including employees, suppliers, car owners and other related parties are moving towards the front line of rights protection.
Early in the morning on the 12th, employees of Chaoyue returned to the office to pack their things. They were surprised to find that Xia Yiping had actually come.
Hundreds of emotional employees immediately blocked Xia Yiping and asked him to hand over his passport, then explained why he suddenly told Ji Yue that he had encountered difficulties until now, and also put forward the following common demands to him:
First, establish a direct dialogue mechanism between shareholders and employee representatives, and some employee representatives will participate in the shareholders’ meeting together with Xia Yiping to obtain substantive solutions; Second, employees hope that government departments will come forward to coordinate and set up special classes to solve practical problems such as employees’ salary, social security and provident fund.
Photo of the scene of rights protection, source: Extreme Vietnam Rights Protection Group
In addition to making demands, some employees moved some items in the office area, such as printers and drinks in the tea room. Some employees took the initiative to call the police and asked the police to control Xia Yiping’s actions.
Xia Yiping repeatedly promised that he "is here to solve the problem and will not run away." He said that in recent days, he had intensive communication with the two major shareholders and made resolutions on issues such as social security for employees of the company, but no agreement was reached. He said that Baidu is a major shareholder with 80% voting rights, but it has no decision-making power.
At two o’clock in the afternoon, Xia Yiping began to communicate with representatives of human rights workers to determine the treatment plan. The main problem is to pay social security. From four o’clock in the afternoon to nearly eleven o’clock, Xia Yiping finally informed the employees in the company group that the social security payment paid by Baidu and Geely had arrived in November and was already arranging to pay social security. An employee stressed that the social security money was also given separately according to the share ratio of Geely and Baidu in Vietnam.
Hundreds of employees spent a day, only to get social security in November, but the unpaid wages and layoffs compensation have not yet been settled.
As of 4: 00 a.m. on December 13th, Extreme Vietnam has not given any solution to the supplier’s arrears, and has not communicated with the supplier for a long time.
At four o’clock in the morning on December 13th, Xia Yiping and employee representatives were still negotiating (the picture was taken by the supplier waiting for negotiation).
"No matter how late it takes, you can’t let him go anyway." At about eleven o’clock on the evening of December 12, a rights supplier said in a group chat.
At 2 o’clock in the morning, there are still suppliers in the office building. "Workers are waiting for money for the New Year. How can I explain it?" An activist supplier lamented, "Behind the suppliers, there are also tens of thousands of families." It is reported that some suppliers experienced the thunderstorm of Gaohe at the beginning of the year, and now they are once again in a dilemma because of the extreme collapse.
Judging from the situation of the supplier rights protection group, the supplier has been in a state of passive waiting for processing, and it is impossible to enter the conference room to negotiate with Xia Yiping positively. One supplier lamented that Xia Yiping’s kidney was made of iron, and he didn’t have to go to the toilet for 10 hours.
As of press time, the amount owed by the relay in the "Extreme Vietnam Supplier Rights Protection Group" has reached 265 million yuan, and the number of suppliers participating in the relay is 55. Among them, most of those who owe more than 10 million are marketing suppliers who provide social media traffic services, not auto parts suppliers.
According to relevant laws and regulations, these suppliers will be the last victims to get the money.
Two rich dads can’t raise a promising son.
The extreme flash collapse seems unexpected, but it is an early judgment in the industry to go to the edge of life and death.
Since its birth, it has been under the pull of Geely, Baidu and the core management team, and its business ideas are vacillating.
Jidu Automobile, the predecessor of Jiyue, was announced by Baidu in 2021 to cooperate with Geely to enter the automobile industry as a vehicle manufacturer and set up a joint venture company "Jidu Automobile", with Baidu holding 55% and Geely holding 45%.
However, due to the unresolved production qualification of Jidu, Baidu and Geely re-negotiated, and Jidu Automobile was renamed as "Jiyue". With Geely’s qualification, Geely and Baidu’s shares were changed to 65% and 35% (Hangzhou Jiyue Automobile Technology Co., Ltd.). At this time, Jidu has been established for more than two years.
From the outside world, with the support of the two major shareholders, the company can not only get financial support, but also eat Baidu’s intelligent meals, and also use Geely’s production qualification and car-making platform. However, in reality, the company gradually declined after the sales volume was trapped, but the main body of independent operation was actually controlled by many parties and blocked everywhere.
According to various sources, both Geely and Baidu have arranged for personnel to be stationed in Extreme Vietnam to hold important positions.
For example, a person familiar with the matter said that Geely arranged for Liu Jining to enter the Vietnam in mid-2023 to investigate whether there were any problems in the manpower, finance and legal affairs of the Vietnam from the perspective of internal audit, but Liu Jining did not gain real power after he arrived in the Vietnam.
In the middle of this year, Zhao Gang entered Jiyue as CEO consultant. It is said that "Zhao Gang was personally interviewed by Robin". He once worked in companies such as Huawei and Zero Run, and was good at marketing. It is even said that "Zhao Gang entered Jiyue to replace Xia Yiping’s position."
According to the internal staff of Extreme Vietnam, in the later adjustment, Zhao Gang has become the head of four product lines (including Extreme Vietnam 01, Extreme Vietnam 07, Intelligent and Innovative Business).
Within Vietnam, there are several people who are like Zhao Gang as a consultant. According to a person familiar with the matter, there is a group of "advisory group". Peng Gang is the head of the advisory group (who helped Zhou Hongyi to do IP). The function of the "advisory group" is to participate in the discussion of company affairs and make suggestions for the company’s development. But in business operation, this is what the CEO should do.
The involvement of many parties has gradually made Ji Yue go into chaos, but Xia Yiping, the core figure of Ji Yue, has always focused on marketing. Xia Yiping said in public several times that the core reason for the poor sales of Extreme Vietnam lies in poor marketing. In April this year, Xia Yiping revealed to Tiger Sniff Automobile that the entire marketing and sales team had undergone major changes since January 2024, and he personally led the team to start the reform of marketing and sales.
"Xia Yiping has a strong desire to control marketing. A slightly larger marketing event or marketing strategy should be reported to him, and even weekly topics should be reported." An internal employee revealed.
However, Xia Yiping’s judgment on marketing still needs to be questioned. "Some of Xia Yiping’s ideas have not been verified. What he sees and hears makes sense and will push down, but these decisions sometimes completely overthrow the previous marketing rhythm." An employee of Extreme Vietnam told Tiger Sniff Automobile, "He has a honeymoon with everyone he trusts, but everyone’s opinions and ideas are different."
"It’s common to change your mind." The employee said that he also mentioned that due to too many reporting levels, coupled with the different ideas of the advisory group, product marketing and content marketing, the decision-making chain of many things is very slow, and the execution cycle is very short. Even one or two days before the press conference, there are things that are difficult to finalize.
In September this year, Xia Yiping was controversial because he choked and shed tears in communication.
Xia Yiping is very keen on creating personal IP. In previous foreign exchanges, Xia Yiping repeatedly emphasized the number of live broadcasts per week and the number of short videos released to flaunt his personal efforts. During the Guangzhou Auto Show, it even published the "Short Video List of Car Enterprise Executives", with Lei Jun ranking first, followed by Nezha CEO Zhang Yong and Xia Yiping himself.
"He didn’t recognize his position. He is not Lei Jun, nor is he He Xiaopeng or Li Bin." An internal employee commented.
It is a foregone conclusion that "abandoning one’s child" is extreme.
Backed by Baidu and Geely, Jiyue was once a star enterprise of new forces in building cars. Previously, Tiger Sniff Automobile, an investment direction of Extreme Vietnam, said that the more it invested, the more it valued the support of Baidu and Geely behind it. "Baidu has invested in real money and added a layer of protection." According to the data released by Baidu, Baidu has invested 8.8 billion yuan in Extreme Vietnam.
Although Geely and Baidu are both controlling parties of Chaoyue, they are also suppliers of Chaoyue. The intelligent technology of Extreme Yue (including the large model of the car end, intelligent cockpit, intelligent driving and other capabilities) comes from Baidu, and about 70% of the parts are purchased from Geely, and the vehicles are manufactured by Geely.
It is reported that in February this year, Extreme Vietnam defaulted on nearly 1.5 billion yuan of Geely’s spare parts and OEM expenses. "Geely didn’t build a car for Ji Yue last month." An internal employee said to Tiger Sniffing Car.
Geely’s "letting go" of Ji Yue is not difficult to understand. Since Geely released the Taizhou Declaration in September this year, "strategic focus" has become the focus of Geely’s work. In the next two months, Geely has integrated several holding sub-brands, such as Geometry, Galaxy, Link and Krypton.
"Geely has a lot of cards in his hand, and there is no need to receive the business of extremely negative assets." An industry insider said.
On the other hand, Baidu is gradually losing confidence in Extreme Yue. An employee of Extreme Vietnam told Tiger Sniff Automobile that Baidu is deeply involved in Extreme Vietnam, and has different degrees of relevance in product design, product research and development, service and other aspects. "(But) there is a big gap between the upper strategy and the lower implementation."
The employee takes the application of the interconnection of people and vehicles as an example. The voice assistant in the cockpit uses Baidu’s small technology, but it is extremely difficult to use a complete product experience. "When we connect to each line, Baidu has to collect money with a separate supply. As a result, either the version on the bus will become a castrated version or the product rhythm will be delayed."
A similar situation happened in the use of ERNIE Bot. Baidu gave a lot of resources to get on the bus of ERNIE Bot model, but it also needed to pay for it. Considering the cost, Extreme Yue did not use ERNIE Bot’s complete ability, but chose some cheaper or free schemes, which led to Baidu’s dissatisfaction with the effect of getting on the bus in ERNIE Bot.
For Baidu, Extreme Yue is a major fulcrum for its application of intelligent technology solutions. However, after investing in money, people and technology, it has not only failed to show its strength, but has also been in a big loss, and Baidu has also given birth to resignation.
It is reported that the capital hole of Vietnam has reached 6 billion yuan, which has become a "hot potato". While Geely and Baidu left at the same time, so that the extremely short of funds went to a dead end.
The extreme collapse has caused many related parties to cry. In the rights protection videos of various group chats, the slogan on the wall behind Xia Yiping is weak and ironic-"In the history of smart cars in China, there must be every name of the most Vietnamese".
