Three automakers that once worked for "Wei Xiao Li": one made a comeback, one gambled everything, and one disappeared entirely

(Source: Dianchetong)

Supervisor: Luo Chao

Relying on its cooperation with Huawei’s Hongmeng Zhixing, Seres (Chongqing Sokon, a listed company), which had suffered severe losses, achieved a net profit attributable to shareholders of 5.31B yuan in 2025, delivering a breathtaking turnaround.

On the road of automotive new-energy development, there are countless cases of cooperation between established automakers and new-force brands, but not all partners can replicate this kind of luck.

JAC, Haima, and Lifan—all of which have had deep interactions with the new-automaker “Big Three” (“WM-Pi-Li,” i.e., WM Motor, Li Auto, and NIO?)—were once important players in China’s auto industry. They managed to gain a brief window of relief through cooperation, but once “WM-Pi-Li” built their own production capacity and got rid of reliance, the fate of the three automakers diverged completely:

Some found a glimmer of hope amid massive losses; some bet everything on niche tracks; and some ultimately became a mere appendage of major giants and exited the auto stage.

JAC Motors:

A glimmer of hope in massive losses—hoping to turn things around with the Zunjie S800

Among these three automakers, JAC has the highest starting point and the strongest resources, and is also the most likely to turn things around.

As a state-owned automaker with more than 60 years of history, JAC has been deeply involved in the commercial vehicle sector for many years. It has complete passenger vehicle production qualifications and capacity—this was also the core reason that NIO chose to cooperate with it in 2016. At that time, NIO urgently needed a mature manufacturing partner to enable mass production of the ES8, while JAC used this to activate capacity and strengthen its capabilities.

The more than 6 years of deep cooperation between the two is arguably a mutual success story: JAC handled whole-vehicle production, while NIO led design, R&D, and sales. To meet NIO’s high-end standards, JAC comprehensively upgraded its production lines, introduced advanced quality-control systems, and completely shed the label of “low-end manufacturing.” NIO, in turn, leveraged JAC’s capacity to smoothly get through its startup period and achieved a breakthrough from 0 to 1.

In 2023, NIO acquired JAC’s Hefei manufacturing base; the contract manufacturing cooperation between the two was terminated, and JAC’s difficulties followed suit.

(Photo source: NIO)

In 2022, JAC Motors’ net profit attributable to shareholders was a loss of 1.58B yuan; in 2024, the loss expanded to 1.78B yuan; in the first nine months of 2025, the loss was 1.43B yuan.

The fundamental reason JAC Motors incurred losses is that its business structure became imbalanced. In 2025 full-year sales of 381.4k units, down 4.72% year over year; among them, cumulative passenger vehicle sales were 28.9k units, down 7.23% year over year.

To make matters worse, Volkswagen Anhui—JAC’s joint venture with Volkswagen—incurred an investment loss of over 1 billion yuan for JAC in 2025 due to unclear product positioning and poor market performance.

However, JAC’s turnaround appeared—its Zunjie S800 jointly launched with Huawei. This ultra-luxury sedan priced at 708k–381.4k yuan went on sale in the second half of 2025 and quickly ignited the market. From September 2025 to January 2026, cumulative deliveries reached 13,092 vehicles. This performance is already considered a successful turnaround in its segment.

(Photo source: JAC Motors)

Dianchetong (ID: dianchetong233) believes that although JAC is trapped in massive losses, it is by no means beyond saving. The cooperation with NIO laid the foundation for high-end manufacturing, and the alliance with Huawei found a direction to break the deadlock. The success of the Zunjie S800 is the best proof of its manufacturing strength.

As Zunjie is expected to roll out new models such as MPVs and SUVs in 2026, it will gradually improve its high-end product matrix. Zunjie’s annual sales are expected to reach around 40k units, and revenue is expected to exceed 36 billion yuan.

In the short term, pressure from losses will still remain, but with its high-end manufacturing capability and deep cooperation with Huawei, JAC is still the most hopeful of the three to pull off a turnaround.

Haima Motors:

Bet on hydrogen energy and go global—an idiosyncratic gamble from the brink of despair

Compared with JAC, Haima is in an even more perilous position. It has already reached the edge of a cliff and can only seek a way out by betting on a niche track and placing everything on the line.

As a locally rooted private automaker in Hainan, Haima once secured a place in the market during the gasoline vehicle era with models such as the Haima 3 and Fukang, but it failed to keep up with the transition to new energy and was gradually eliminated by the market. In 2017, its cooperation with Xiaopeng became a crucial lifeline.

At that time, Xiaopeng had just launched its first model, the G3, and urgently needed production qualifications and capacity. Haima, meanwhile, was facing idle capacity and falling sales. The two parties quickly agreed and started contract manufacturing cooperation.

Over more than 4 years of cooperation, Haima produced key models for Xiaopeng such as the G3 and P7, activating idle capacity and obtaining stable contract-manufacturing income to barely keep operations going. In 2021, Xiaopeng began production at its own factory, and the cooperation gradually decreased.

(Photo source: Xiaopeng Motors)

After that, Haima’s situation deteriorated rapidly. The domestic passenger car market was completely lost. In 2022, it recorded a loss of 28.9k yuan; in 2023, a loss of 202 million yuan; in 2024, a loss of 140 million yuan. In the first three quarters of 2025, it still had a net loss of 74.4371 million yuan.

To survive, Haima completely gave up the domestic gasoline vehicle market and rolled out two core strategies—betting on hydrogen energy and going all-in on going global—taking the differentiated path to survive.

In the hydrogen energy field, Haima is one of the most aggressive players domestically. As early as 2013, it began developing hydrogen energy technologies and also cooperated with Japan’s Toyota. In 2023, the two automakers jointly launched an MPV model, the Haima 7X-H. This car is equipped with Toyota’s second-generation Mirai fuel cell stack system. Refueling takes only 3–5 minutes; its CLTC range is 652 kilometers. It has already been operating in demonstrative use in Hainan with more than 50 units, accumulating nearly 2.8 million kilometers traveled and achieving “zero faults.”

Meanwhile, Haima plans to build a full industrial chain of “hydrogen production—hydrogen storage—hydrogen transport—hydrogen use,” leveraging the policies of Hainan’s free trade port, aiming to seize early opportunities in the hydrogen energy track.

(Photo source: Haima Motors)

Because it did not achieve major results in the domestic market, going global has become Haima’s lifeline today. Its overseas business covers more than 20 countries and regions, and overseas revenue accounts for more than 70%.

In 2024, it exported 8,000 complete vehicles. In 2025, exports grew year over year by 50% to 12,000–13k units. In 2026, the export target is 20k units. Among them, hydrogen-energy models account for more than 30%. The brand’s focus is on Southeast Asia and the Middle East. In Southeast Asia, it mainly offers right-hand-drive pure-electric MPV Haima 7X-E, tailored to family and ride-hailing needs. In the Middle East, it mainly focuses on gasoline vehicles and the hydrogen-energy 7X-H, using local policies to open up high-end markets.

With the help of Hainan’s free trade port, Haima can enjoy preferential policies such as zero-tariff imports of hydrogen-energy components, tax-free exports, and a 15% corporate income tax. Combined with the convenience of customs clearance provided by AEO advanced certification, it significantly enhances the competitiveness of overseas products. Thanks to the steady advancement of its hydrogen-energy vehicle business, although Haima Motors has been running losses for years in recent times, its stock price has continued to rise from 2022 through 2025.

(Photo source: Baidu stock market screenshot)

However, Haima also faces prominent challenges. In the short term, hydrogen energy faces bottlenecks such as high technological barriers, insufficient infrastructure, and unclear commercialization prospects. It will still require several years of construction to achieve large-scale adoption. Going global also faces pressure from leading automakers such as BYD, Great Wall, and Geely, and geopolitical risks cannot be ignored.

In Dianchetong (ID: dianchetong233)’s view, Haima’s transition is a high-stakes all-or-nothing gamble.

Its cooperation with Toyota is its biggest “lifesaver.” Toyota provides validation and backing for advanced hydrogen energy technology, but whether it can be converted into market competitiveness remains unknown.

Haima’s future depends on whether it can successfully keep itself alive through its going-global business before a hydrogen-energy commercialization explosion. Whether it can seize opportunities in the hydrogen-energy track to achieve a differentiated breakthrough will determine whether the ending will be even more perilous than Lifan’s.

Lifan Motors:

Renamed “Qianli Technology,” pivoting to “AI + cars”

Among the three, Lifan’s fate is the most heartbreaking and bleak. As a representative of a once-private automaker, Lifan entered the passenger vehicle market using capital accumulated from its motorcycle business, launching models such as Lifan 320 and X80. It held some market share in low-end segments, but due to weak R&D, shifting brand positioning, and frequent quality problems, it gradually fell into difficulties. In 2020, due to a debt crisis, it entered bankruptcy reorganization, becoming the first company among the three to decline.

Lifan’s cooperation with Li Auto began in 2019. In essence, it was a shallow deal where both sides took what they needed.

At that time, Li Auto was eager to launch the Li ONE but lacked the required qualifications. It acquired Lifan’s production qualifications for 650 million yuan, using Lifan’s production lines for contract manufacturing in the short term. Meanwhile, Lifan eased its debt pressure by selling the qualifications and earning from contract manufacturing income.

(Photo source: Li Auto)

Unlike JAC and Haima, Lifan only handled whole-vehicle assembly. The design, supply chain, and quality control of the Li ONE were led entirely by Li Auto. Lifan neither participated in R&D nor improved manufacturing capability. In plain terms, it was Li Auto’s early “tool operator.” Li Auto never admitted that the vehicles were produced via contract manufacturing by Lifan.

In 2020, Li Auto’s Changzhou factory began production, and the cooperation lasted only 1.5 years before being terminated completely. After that, Lifan’s debt crisis fully erupted. In August 2020, it entered bankruptcy reorganization. In 2021, Geely, together with Chongqing state-owned assets, acquired its core assets for 4 billion yuan. The era of Lifan Motors officially came to an end.

Today, Lifan’s core entity has been renamed “Chongqing Qianli Technology,” positioned as “AI + cars.” It cooperates with companies such as Baidu Apollo and CaoCao Chuxing, accelerating the large-scale deployment of Robotaxi. Its factories are contract manufacturing for Geely, mainly producing battery-swap models for brands such as RuiLan and Fengye.

Given Geely’s massive sales scale and the rapid development of the Robotaxi industry, this transition may not necessarily be a bad thing for Qianli Technology.

(Photo source: Qianli Technology)

According to a report by Sina Finance, Qianli Technology plans to target a Hong Kong stock IPO in the second quarter this year, and intends to raise 1 billion USD. If this IPO succeeds, Qianli Technology will have more funds to advance its “AI + cars” strategy.

Dianchetong (ID: dianchetong233) believes that Lifan’s decline was essentially the total explosion of its own problems—insufficient R&D investment, unclear brand positioning, and a collapse in quality reputation. Its cooperation with Li Auto was only a short-term continuation of life and did not solve the core issues.

Qianli Technology relies on Geely and loses the soul of an independent automaker. Although it has tried to pivot, its development trajectory is no longer related to “Lifan.” As a car brand, Lifan has completely exited the historical stage.

The fate of unequal cooperation—

core competitiveness is the foundation for survival

The cooperation between “Jiang Hai Li” and “WM-Pi-Li” is, in essence, an unequal deal.

“WM-Pi-Li” views cooperation as a stopgap measure at the early stage of development. Once they have enough strength, they will build their own factories and shake off dependency. Although the three traditional automakers gained temporary cash flow and exposure, they failed to internalize capabilities through the cooperation due to a lack of core competitiveness, and in the end they became stepping stones for the new-force players to grow.

Also contract manufacturing cooperation—Seres’ comeback stems from its deep binding and comprehensive integration with Huawei, enabling self-improvement through Huawei’s technology and brand.

For JAC, Haima, and Lifan, for various reasons, they ended up with different fates. JAC found hope to turn around through the Zunjie S800; Haima bet on hydrogen energy and going global to gamble for the future; and Lifan revived under the identity of “Qianli Technology.”

(Photo source: Doubao AI-generated)

The experiences of these three automakers serve as a warning bell for all traditional automakers: in the new energy era, there is no everlasting safe harbor. Cooperation with new-force players can only provide temporary breathing room. The key to long-term survival lies in your own core competitiveness.

Whether it is technological R&D, product manufacturing, or brand building—only by holding the core initiative can you stand invincibly amid fierce competition. Those who just want to “make ends meet” by leaning on contract manufacturing will ultimately be eliminated by the times.

Dianchetong (ID: dianchetong233) believes that change in the auto industry is brutal yet fair. Only by staying true to the original intention, deeply focusing on the core, and daring to innovate can one gain a foothold and take control of one’s own destiny.

The stories of JAC, Haima, and Lifan will ultimately become a microcosm of China’s auto industry transition, reminding every automaker: only by striving for self-improvement can there be no end.

(Cover image source: Doubao AI-generated)