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Presentation of the company from wikipedia.

Rongcheng HawTai Automobile Co Ltd is a Chinese passenger vehicle maker based in Shandong province. A former joint venture partner of Hyundai Motors, Hawtai continues to use technology from this Korean automaker.

Previously romanized as Huatai, the company is now known as Hawtai.

As of 2010 it has a production capacity of 350,000 vehicles/year.Production capacity figures may consider engines and vehicles as discrete. Its website states it has an annual production capacity of 200,000 whole vehicles and 300,000 engines.

Homepage:
http://www.hawtai-auto.com/

 

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History of Hawtai:
http://www.autohome.com.cn/culture/201407/827274.html

 

[dmitra]

Hawtai mismanagement, suspected sales data "manipulation"

Hawtai may be at it again, as a few articles have appeared alleging recurrence of a past misdeed: suspected sales data fraud, coupled with internal mismanagement as well as deviousness during the Huanghai acquisition.

http://www.cnwnews.com/biz/2018/1129/891662.html
http://finance.sina.com.cn/chanjing/gsnews/2018-07-23/doc-ihftenhy6464253.shtml

Recall in 2011 this happened:
http://chinaautoweb.com/2011/06/hawtai-motor-chastised-by-caam-for-grossly-inflating-sales-numbers/

This year, till end-October, Hawtai has reported sales (deliveries) of 88,353 cars (excluding commercial vehicles from Huanghai). Retail figures (published on Matt Gasnier's Best Selling Cars Blog) show sales of 2,664 only for the same 10-month period. Going back six months, for example, deliveries for Jan-Apr were reported as 16,005 whereas retail sales were just 898! Except for the New Shengdafei, monthly retail sales for the other Hawtai models are usually seen in single digits or low double digits. This is hard to reconcile, because taken at face value it would imply that dealers are being forced to add stock month after month (eventually sitting on lots) without being able to push inventory in comparable numbers. It is impossible to believe dealers would be happy keeping several years' worth of inventory on hand. It is also impossible to believe that most of the deliveries are exports since Hawtai is hardly known for to sell its cars in other markets in any significant amounts.

 

[Lawrence]

Re: Hawtai mismanagement, suspected sales data "manipulation"

This year, till end-October, Hawtai has reported sales (deliveries) of 88,353 cars (excluding commercial vehicles from Huanghai). Retail figures (published on Matt Gasnier's Best Selling Cars Blog) show sales of 2,664 only for the same 10-month period............

2,664? That's strange, as sales of 3,984 units of the “EV160” EV model alone were reported for one month, August 2018, by China Daily, quoting stats of the China Passenger Car Association.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201810/12/WS5bbfd4c5a310eff303281e78_4.html

On top of that, cleantechnica.com reports a total of 7,981 Hawtai NEV units (EV160 & xEV) for October 2018.

https://cleantechnica.com/2018/11/1...nother-record-china-electric-car-sales-month/

In any case, it's obvious there is an ongoing global race for bragging rights as number one in NEVs.

 

[dmitra]

2,664? That's strange, as sales of 3,984 units of the “EV160” EV model alone were reported for one month, August 2018, by China Daily, quoting stats of the China Passenger Car Association.

Yes, that is exactly what I am talking about.

Retail figures (supply to the end customer), sourced by BSCB in partnership with some automotive intelligence/consultancy company (like LMC), are collected from distribution points like dealer groups or regional distributorships, and are perhaps more truly representative of the domestic health of a manufacturer. These do not include exports.

The more widely and freely available figures that are usually quoted in general articles are from either CAAM or China Automotive Industry Information Network (CAIN, of CATARC) and are delivery figures (wholesales from factory to first distribution point). These are almost always manufacturer-reported. Delivery figures include exports. Reputable companies like Marklines or Fourin which sell "delivery" data (where you have to pay) rely nowadays on CAIN, and not CAAM.

It is naturally expected that retail figures and delivery figures for the same month (or cumulatively, same year) would not match, as dealers would tend to adjust subsequent monthly orders depending on the state of inventory and anticipated demand in a given month. A difference of 20-30% either way can still be accepted, but in Hawtai's case the chasm is just too great.

Your quoted figures of 3,984 or 7,981 are included in the 10 months' accumulated 88,353 units I mentioned in my previous post, and yes, they are "delivery" figures. It is precisely this vast (in order of magnitude) difference between 88,353 and 2,664 that raises a huge red flag.

 

[dmitra]

Here is the October snapshot for new energy vehicle+hybrid retail sales in China. You will note that the 10-month total for Hawtai is a poor 761 (this is out of the 2,664 for all Hawtai passenger cars).

(Save or print the page because it will get locked for non-subscribers)

 

[Lawrence]

Thanks for helping us wade through the data, Dmitra, and to understand the difference between the figures available.
It's good to know which sources of data we can rely on.
Among the many I would give high marks to Matt Gasnier.
How about CPCA and, carsalesbase.com, a quick reference..?

 

[dmitra]

Carsalesbase.com's figures and Matt Gasnier/BSCB's wholesale figures are taken from Chooseauto.com.cn, which ultimately sources data from CAAM (China Association of Automobile Manufacturers). [Wholesale figures refer to the "delivery" stats I mentioned]. These are good for quick references, but as I said, CAAM has a history of being hoodwinked by some of its own members (it is an association of all kinds of auto manufacturers, not just cars) in the past with inflated figures. But, on the whole, CAAM is considered to be authoritative and quoted by most publications.

CPCA is now known as China Automobile Circulation Association Automobile Market Research Branch (quite a mouthful!) and is an association of passenger and commercial vehicle manufactures (including new energy). It is affiliated to China Automobile Dealers Association, and the purpose of this organization is market research and analysis for the benefit of both manufacturers and dealers (including import dealers). Unlike CAAM, it does not include two-wheeler manufacturers. What it publishes is more analytical in nature (research on specific market segments, graphs, trends, indices, that sort of thing) and seldom make-or-model specific (or grainy data). See http://www.cpcaauto.com/.

 

[dmitra]

R&F Group to invest in Hawtai Auto

R&F Group, parent of Guangzhou-based R&F Properties - one of China's large real estate developers - is investing in Hawtai Auto. The particulars of the deal have not been disclosed.

https://kr-asia.com/chinese-real-estate-developer-rf-group-buys-into-besieged-hawtai-motor-to-steer-into-the-ev-sector
http://www.sohu.com/a/325509597_469168

 

[dmitra]

Looks like one more company is circling the drain: just another tale of financial mismanagement, deceit, over-leveraging of assets, closed factories, unpaid wages, unpaid dues, misrepresentation and misreporting to authorities, inflated statistics.

This detailed article looks at some of the ills plaguing Hawtai, towards the end talks about the same things we were discussing here in December.

https://xw.qq.com/partner/vivoscreen/20190611A0OSYW/20190611A0OSYW00

Meanwhile, a Rongcheng court has also frozen the shares of Liaoning Shuguang Automotive Group Co., Ltd. held by Hawtai (which Hawtai had received after a lot of wrangling with the regulatory authorities) for a period of three years, as an underlying guarantee for some financial obligations.

This article (link) explores whether R&F real estate group's recent announcement of investing in Hawtai will ultimately be beneficial for the latter as the former is a company with a high debt to assets ratio and recent cash flows have been negative. (Perhaps R&F is interested in Hawtai because of the latter's license?)

 

[dmitra]

R&F has stopped further cooperation with Hawtai and is no longer considering investment in the automobile industry. This comes on the backdrop of the recent woes of the auto industry in general, and the rather grim state of affairs at Hawtai in particular.

https://www.d1ev.com/news/qiye/97672

 

[dmitra]

A denouement to the Hawtai story

Hawtai Automobile has finally, reportedly, collapsed. There are, additionally, serious allegations of misappropriation/diversion of funds, and the company has been left with almost no liquid assets.

https://www.d1ev.com/news/qiye/98772