Corner overtaking joke

In September 2022, an explosive news shocked the real estate, automobile and financial circles at the same time: Zhang Xiugen, the founder of Huatai Automobile, was arrested by the police for "illegally selling land".

Who's Zhang Xiugen? Maybe many people don't know. But in the history of China automobile industry, Zhang Xiugen is definitely a figure who has to be mentioned.

Huatai Automobile, founded by him, is the originator of SUV in China, and his cars are known as "Cayenne" in China.

His Santa Fe, which used to be a special car for China peacekeepers, was named as the annual model of CCTV.

Founder Zhang Xiugen, with a net worth of 1, 4 1 billion yuan, successfully entered the Forbes list of global billionaires.

Zhang Xiugen, founder of Huatai Automobile

However, while Zhang Xiugen is firmly on the rich list, Huatai Automobile has experienced frequent scandals in recent years.

Not only the sales fraud was exposed, but also the reported data was rejected by the China Automobile Association; Also accused by employees of pulling banners because of arrears in employee wages; In addition, the equity was pledged and the production base was completely shut down.

At this time, people were shocked. Huatai Automobile has already become "the tears of the times"!

How did a "light of domestic products" that once swept the country fall?

How did billionaire Zhang Xiugen go to prison?

Zhang Xiugen's story begins with Baotou workers.

1983, Zhang Xiugen retired from the army, formed a construction team with six brothers, and enthusiastically joined the urban construction team in Baotou City, Inner Mongolia.

Years of military life have cultivated Zhang Xiugen's rigorous style of doing things. He has working procedures and standards. Soon he stood out from the mixed construction team and became the first choice for many township enterprises.

At 199 1, a construction team of 230 people was established in Zhang Xiugen. In addition, there are fixed assets1670,000 yuan and working capital of 400,000 yuan.

In that era when millions of families were scarce, the wealth of Zhang Xiugen was beyond the reach of many people.

In order to manage the growing team, Zhang Xiugen founded Hengtong Group on 1993 and began to set foot in real estate development, investment and other fields.

Zhang Xiugen made a lot of money in the first decade of the booming construction industry.

Zhang Xiugen

By 2000, people's living standards had been greatly improved, and the number of cars on the street began to increase. Zhang Xiugen keenly felt a new way out.

How to get in? Outsider Zhang Xiugen knows nothing about this. However, at this time, a golden opportunity appeared in front of him.

Zhang Xiugen learned that Shandong Rongcheng Automobile Factory had been divested by FAW, and was eager to find capital to become a shareholder.

He immediately went to Rongcheng, 0/500 km away from Kloc, and became the new owner of Rongcheng Automobile Factory. Immediately, Huatai Automobile was established.

Many years later, Zhang Xiugen recalled that it was an "unrealistic business".

Why?

First of all, geographical advantages. Rongcheng is located at the easternmost tip of Shandong Peninsula, facing South Korea across the sea. As the saying goes, "Take the advantage first, get the moon", and cooperation between Rongcheng and Korean enterprises has a natural geographical advantage.

This is also a fact. 199 1 year, after the establishment of Rongcheng Automobile Factory, it cooperated with Hyundai to produce "Auburn" Jeep.

Secondly, the technology of Rongcheng Automobile Factory has been verified by the market. 1April, 1999, Rongcheng Automobile Factory was merged into FAW, and "Auburn" was renamed as "Jiefang". After it was put into the market, it was very popular.

After taking over Rongcheng Automobile Factory, Zhang Xiugen has changed from a layman in automobile manufacturing to a ready-made automobile production line, reliable technology, mature market, scarce automobile production qualification and famous products.

Capital, technology, market, qualifications and fame are simply the right place at the right time.

Huatai automobile was bombed by the king when it started, which made countless peers jealous.

In 2003, Huatai Automobile cooperated with Hyundai to launch the first SUV“Traka "in China, which became an instant hit.

"600,000 configuration, 300,000 price", the advertising words are very attractive, so that every car buyer is shaken.

How hot was Traka then?

In the first year of listing, it sold 15000 vehicles, which was the best-selling model on the market at that time. Don't underestimate 1.5 million vehicles. That was 20 years ago, when the annual output of FAW-Volkswagen was only 300,000 vehicles.

Huatai at that time was really "the light of domestic products".

Traka

In 2005, while the iron was hot, Zhang Xiugen and Hyundai signed Santa Fe. This is the most successful model of Modern, and it became the "CCTV SUV of the Year" after it was listed in China.

Endorsed by CCTV, Huatai became a god in World War I and was called "the originator of China SUV" by the industry.

Santa Fe

At that time, Zhang Xiugen scenery infinite. He was invited from all over the world, hoping that he could set up a factory in the local area and give him super affordable policy support.

In 2005, the Ordos government invited Huatai to build a factory and gave money and land. Huatai got 6000 mu of land, 1 100 million loan, plus two coal mines.

How many peers envy such treatment?

Zhang Xiugen patted his chest and painted a pie: In the next seven years, Huatai will build a comprehensive production base integrating complete vehicles, clean diesel engines and auto parts.

With the help, Huatai embarked on the road of independent research and development.

Huatai first launched "Huatai B 1 1" on 201,and then launched "Huatai Baolige" known as "China Cayenne".

The sales data is also very eye-catching, with a cumulative sales volume of 3,000 vehicles in four months.

Independent research and development of automobiles

The beautiful sales performance has brought all kinds of invitations to Zhang Xiugen.

At the beginning of 20 13, Zhang Xiugen moved the headquarters of Huatai Group from Beijing to Tianjin.

At the signing ceremony of the cooperation agreement, Zhang Xiugen was in high spirits and full of confidence. He not only plans to establish the third R&D center and production base in Tianjin, but also plans to invest 8.6 billion yuan to build Huatai into an internationally competitive independent intellectual property brand.

At this time, the state issued the "New Energy Vehicle Promotion Plan", hoping to achieve "overtaking in corners" on the new energy vehicle track. Zhang Xiugen, with a keen sense of smell, realized that the era of electric vehicles was coming.

In 20 17, Huatai automobile built the first pure electric SUV with a sales volume of nearly 654.38+10,000 vehicles.

Huatai group

The second highlight of Zhang Xiugen's life has come.

In an interview, he announced that Huatai has mastered the core technology of new energy vehicles, owned the independent intellectual property rights of pure electric vehicles, and also obtained the relevant invention patents.

Moreover, Huatai has established a new energy project for lithium batteries, from upstream materials of lithium batteries to vehicle production, forming a complete industrial chain of lithium batteries.

In order to obtain more advanced technology, Zhang Xiugen also opened an R&D center in Munich.

At this time, Zhang Xiugen, who holds Huatai Automobile, is a big shot in the industry.

In 20 18, Zhang Xiugen invested 3 1 100 million yuan to acquire Shuguang shares in the new energy market, obtained the qualification of new energy vehicle production, and successfully listed on the backdoor.

Looking at the whole new energy vehicle market, Weilai has just taken shape, BYD is still concentrating on making batteries, and Huatai can be said to be invincible in the world.

automobile plant

In his heyday, Zhang Xiugen called "Huatai" the "No.1 brand of independent automobiles in China" and predicted that in 20 18, the sales volume of Huatai automobiles will reach 200,000, and by 2020, it will exceed 500,000.

The world is waiting for Zhang Xiugen to create more glories. However, reality gave Zhang Xiugen a slap in the face.

In 20 18, the news that China Automobile Association refused to use Huatai's sales data was like a bomb, which unveiled the "emperor's new clothes" in Zhang Xiugen.

It turns out that Huatai Automobile's sales volume has been seriously flooded in recent years, and its beautiful performance depends entirely on fraud!

Huatai automobile is booming, but it is all shiny on the surface.

In fact, the two cars that Zhang Xiugen cooperated with Hyundai were really popular in the market at first, but after leaving Hyundai, Huatai had a hard time.

After the "modern" logo was removed, the sales of Huatai Santa Fe declined day by day.

Although "Huatai B 1 1" and "Huatai Baolige" were introduced later, the sales volume was bleak.

In particular, Huatai Automobile and various luxury cars in the cottage have caused the whole industry to vomit.

The appearance of B 1 1 is almost completely copied from "Bentley" because of the serious collision between Huatai model and luxury car; "Polaroid" is almost the same as "Porsche Cayenne", and even the interior is vomited by users, completely copying "Toyota Camry".

Zhang Xiugen's talk of "independent research and development" is a complete joke.

Huatai automobile looks like a cottage, and its quality is even more worrying. There are frequent quality problems such as gear shifting and engine, and there are problems in production capacity, which leads to the listing of new cars that year and the shortage of licensed cars 100.

Huatai automobile factory

However, all this was covered up by Huatai.

20 1 1, Huatai claimed to have sold 3,000 vehicles in the first four months, but actually only sold 100 vehicles.

2018,65438+10, Huatai automobile announced 13 16 vehicles, but a month ago, they advertised that they would sell 2 10000 vehicles a month.

On the premise of no major events, the sales data of last month actually differed by 16 times! I'm afraid the data of Huatai Automobile was filled in with your eyes closed!

In a fit of pique, China Automobile Association zeroed Huatai's annual sales data.

The official end, the myth of making a car Huatai, instantly became the laughing stock of the industry.

A stone stirred up a thousand waves, and the Huatai scandal blossomed in an all-round way.

20 19 Huatai automobile will enter bankruptcy proceedings due to the outflow of internal mail from a bank.

At the same time, Huatai employees accused Huatai of wage arrears. More Huatai employees revealed that the once-infinite new energy vehicles have long been discontinued, and the entire R&D department is empty and there are no R&D personnel.

Huatai's production base in Ordos has long been shut down, and more than 6,000 mu of production workshops are idle.

After investigation, the reporter found that after Huatai acquired Shuguang, all its shares were pledged and frozen because of insolvency.

Huatai, together with several of its subsidiaries, is on Lao Lai's list.

The production base stopped production, the R&D personnel left their jobs collectively, the suppliers defaulted on payment, the stock rights were frozen, and the thunder set by Zhang Xiugen broke out!

By the end of 20 19, Huatai's liabilities had reached 29.4 billion.

To everyone's surprise, Zhang Xiugen still sits firmly at the top of Forbes list of global billionaires in recent years!

20 19 years, Zhang Xiugen was worth13.8 billion yuan.

In 2020, Zhang Xiugen was worth 654.38+03.99 billion yuan.

In 202 1 year, Zhang Xiugen was worth1465438+300 million yuan.

On the one hand, Huatai Company is insolvent, and on the other hand, the wealth of Zhang Xiugen, the big boss, is increasing instead of falling, which makes people wonder why Zhang Xiugen?

At this time, they discovered that the coal mines and land obtained by painting cakes were all changed hands by Zhang Xiugen and replaced with real money!

It turned out that Huatai did not invest in R&D and produce cars after it settled in Ordos and obtained land and coal mines, but used it as a mortgage to obtain huge loans from banks.

Just two coal mines changed hands, which made him earn 4 billion. This kind of quick money is much easier than building a car and selling it.

Zhang Xiugen

Zhang Xiugen, who tasted the sweetness, began to repeat his old tricks.

On 20 18, the lawsuit between Zhang Xiugen and Erdos City was deadlocked.

At this time, Zhang Xiugen went south to Hunan without changing color, and continued to fool the lake with car-making projects.

He used false data and fraudulent performance to push forward the automobile manufacturing project exceptionally smoothly. It took only 4 1 day from signing the contract to handing over the land.

Have to say, a recruit "white wolf with empty gloves" was played to perfection by Zhang Xiugen.

Zhang Xiugen owns a lot of land and coal mines, and uses them as collateral to obtain high loans from banks. But this is far from satisfying Zhang Xiugen's ambition. In order to obtain a higher credit, Zhang Xiugen used Huatai Automobile to buy shares in the bank, and then pledged the land to the bank for money.

Even after the listing by Shuguang, the acquired shares were immediately pledged and exchanged for money.

Although the "big plan" is flashy, the borrowed money will eventually be paid back.

Huatai has never had good products, and its main business lacks hematopoietic capacity. It's only a matter of time before the funds break.

In the first half of 2022, the whole network was looking for Zhang Xiugen.

The company directly announced that the chairman had lost contact, and even Zhang Xiugen's son said that he could not find his father.

Until September 20th, Dawning announced that Zhang Xiugen, the long-lost chairman, had been arrested.

With the endorsement of CCTV, the originator of car-making, Zhang Xiugen has gradually changed from a myth of car-making to a liar who circles money, which is really embarrassing.

Maybe Zhang Xiugen didn't want to "build a car" from the beginning. He once compared the business model of Huatai Automobile to "ten jars and nine lids", that is, constantly using the project financing and turnover in his hands.

In his eyes, "building a car" is just a financing tool.

After all, the land and resources exchanged for "building a car" can be earned with a few hands, which is much easier than building a car.

It is precisely because I took the shortcut that I got out of control and took the road of no return.

Shortcut is the farthest detour, and the bubble created by counterfeiting will be broken one day.

If I knew today, would Zhang Xiugen be willing to focus on making cars in a down-to-earth way?