The auto industry is faced with the problem of financing should be more than one way to break the financing bottleneck

"In fact, the auto industry is generally faced with the problem of financing difficulties. You can ask, even those large enterprise groups, they have difficulties in financing channels." Financial Times reporter interviewed the Chinese auto industry on the "Eleventh Five-Year Plan" of the automotive industry When Zhang Shulin, the former executive deputy director of the association, talked about this issue.

In recent years, many non-industry companies have entered the auto industry, and many private capitals have invested in making cars at all costs. Is it really hard for companies to get money when the auto industry has been hot?

Single financing channel

The reporter called the phone to a larger vehicle company. A middle-level manager of the company stated that he does not think the company lacks money. “Our capital has been abundant. Now we are looking for new investment projects, mainly components and parts, while we are doing the whole vehicle.”

However, according to informed sources, the company is currently faced with financial problems. Originally, the company had negotiated with a foreign company and plans to introduce part of the offshore capital. However, due to certain special reasons, the project has now been stranded. This made it impossible for them to raise funds overseas.

According to analysts' analysis, as a capital-intensive industry, the demand for capital by auto companies is in the hundreds of millions, and the single financing channel is an important reason for the lack of funds for auto companies. For many years, domestic companies are accustomed to relying on banks for their major funds. As the operating capital of enterprises increases, the demand for loans from banks to banks is increasing. Currently, most auto companies in China are operating in debt, and their liabilities are more than 50%. Of these, a considerable portion are from bank loans. The changes in national policies, coupled with changes in the macro environment, make it increasingly difficult to rely entirely on banks.

Zhang Shulin told reporters that now the financing of the auto industry depends mainly on self-determination. It is impossible to introduce foreign capital to build new plants because of policy factors. The 6+4 lineup of the international auto industry has all come in, including the transformation of enterprises, markets, etc. All new projects need large amounts of funds for development. Therefore, this gap is very large.

The stock market has become a new approach

It is understood that few auto companies admit that they lack funds, even those who have already burned their eyebrows because of financial problems. However, a university researcher pointed out that taking a look at the whereabouts of many corporate executives recently, it is true that there is a shortage of money. Because in the past two years, the bosses of several major automotive companies have been busy with the company's listing. Some targets are the domestic stock market, while others are Hong Kong.

A bank analyst told the "Financial Times" reporter that the stock market has become an important financing channel for the development of China's auto industry. In recent years, the auto industry has absorbed as much as 10 billion yuan from the stock market. In 2005, it became the year in which China's auto industry achieved the largest amount of direct financing to the capital market. This resulted in 12 stock exchanges in Shanghai and Shenzhen, with 12 car names.

The reporter reviewed the relevant listed company information and found that the auto companies listed in 2005 were indeed a lot more than in previous years. On June 10, A shares of Changan Automobile were listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange; on June 18, the A shares of FAW Car had a successful offer; on May 8, A shares of Zhengzhou Bus were listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange; on July 28, Ankai A shares were Shenzhen Stock Exchange listed; November 7, Shanghai Automotive A shares issued 300 million shares in the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

At the same time, a number of spare parts and related industries for the automotive industry have also absorbed large amounts of funds from the stock market, including Changchun Changling, Hunan Torch, Wanxiang Qianchao, Dongfeng Electric Apparatus, Yueyang Hengli, and Hubei Axle. And so on, there are no less than 20 companies. Listing financing does play a significant role in promoting the development of these companies. Some parts and components companies saw opportunities and they are now in full swing plunging into listing plans.

Multi-finding solutions

In the past two years, the rapid development of China’s auto market has led to the influx of foreign companies and some foreign capital. They are eager to try and find profit opportunities. Some domestic companies have fixed their eyes on this financing channel after being trapped in financial difficulties.

In response, Zhang Xiaozheng, vice president of the China Federation of Machinery Industry and director of the China Association of Automotive Engineers, cautioned that for these offshore capitals, companies must have sufficient discernment ability and understanding, because these capitals do not come to China to help the poor, and they must There are benefits to take risks. At the same time, some capitals are subject to certain institutional supervision. Enterprises must not use this as life-saving money.

"To increase our own strength, it is important to obtain funds, but the accumulation of talent and technology is even more important." He said that it is very unrealistic for companies to expect rapid expansion at low cost.

Zhang Shulin’s point of view is that the state can introduce policies to support the development of a sales service system, and support conditional automobile manufacturers to raise funds through various channels to establish financial companies so as to make up for deficiencies in the banking system. He believes that in the current situation, financial companies can play a greater role and they should strive to explore the feasibility of setting up financial companies.

Experts from an investment institution suggest that automobile manufacturers and their dealer networks should strengthen cooperation with banks in order to obtain more solid support. From the point of view of auto companies and dealer networks, it is possible to obtain stable sources of financing and favorable interest rates. From the perspective of banks, auto companies and dealers whose financing provides business development and good credit records can also obtain a stable return on investment. This is a win-win strategy.