After five years of burning cash, two joint ventures, and the direct involvement of its top figure, Changan's high-end new energy brand AVITAR still struggles to realize its premium dream.

Sales are sluggish, with less than 30,000 units sold in half a year, ranking very low among new forces. Zhu Huarong ultimately failed to successfully save AVITAR.

1. Less Than 30,000 Units Sold in Half a Year

Half of 2024 has passed, and many automakers have unveiled their half-year performance reports. Among the new forces, leading automakers like LIXIANG and WENJIE have achieved impressive sales figures.

In contrast, AVITAR, under Changan, has less satisfactory sales results.

Data shows that in June this year, AVITAR sold 4,682 units, ranking very low among the new forces.

Not only is it inferior to other state-owned automakers' new energy brands like ARCFOX, IM Motors, and HOYON AUTO, but it also lags behind the fledgling Xiaomi Automobile.

In the first six months of this year, AVITAR's sales exceeded 7,000 units in January but fell below 2,500 units in February due to the Spring Festival holiday. Sales hovered around 4,000 to 5,000 units from March to June, even showing a downward trend from over 5,000 units to over 4,000 units.

In the first half of this year, AVITAR sold a cumulative total of 29,030 units, still ranking low among the new forces.

Not to mention compared to LIXIANG and WENJIE, which sold nearly 200,000 units, AVITAR lags far behind even compared to ZEEKR and DENZA. After operating for at least five years, AVITAR's sales performance is somewhat disappointing.

2. Zhu Huarong Fails to Save AVITAR

AVITAR can be traced back to 2018, originating from Changan and NIO's joint venture Changan NIO. However, as NIO shifted its focus, the cooperation gradually stalled.

In 2020, determined Changan introduced two giants, Huawei and Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL), to restructure Changan NIO into AVITAR.

Later, the AVITAR 11 and AVITAR 12 were successively launched, but sales failed to increase significantly.

In 2023, AVITAR sold a cumulative total of only 27,600 units, achieving just 27.6% of its annual delivery target.

Around the end of 2023, Changan took drastic measures to overhaul AVITAR.

The original Chairman and CEO of AVITAR Technology, Tan Benhong, was transferred to serve as Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Changan Automobile, and Zhu Huarong, the top figure of Changan Group, personally took over as Chairman of AVITAR, with Chen Zhuo appointed as President of AVITAR Technology.

Now, half a year has passed. Under Zhu Huarong's direct leadership, AVITAR's sales have improved somewhat, but there is still a significant gap compared to other new force automakers, basically ranking at the bottom of the new force sector.

3. AVITAR Cannot Yet Shoulder Heavy Responsibilities

As a key initiative of "the third venture" and a significant investment in electrification transformation in the premium sector, Changan has high hopes for AVITAR.

Backed by three giants, AVITAR's vehicle components are handled by Changan, intelligence by Huawei, and electrification by CATL.

With the support of multiple parties, AVITAR not only carries Changan's hope for electrification but also its ambition to move towards premiumization.

Although sales do not represent everything, AVITAR's current sales figures certainly cannot yet shoulder the heavy responsibility of leading Changan into an electrified future and competing in the premium sector.

More seriously, AVITAR's net losses have been expanding year after year.

From 2020 to 2022, AVITAR's net losses were 150 million yuan, 210 million yuan, and 2.015 billion yuan, respectively. In 2023, AVITAR's revenue was 5.643 billion yuan, with net losses expanding to 3.693 billion yuan, a year-on-year surge of over 83%.

Based on this calculation, AVITAR lost over 130,000 yuan for every car sold in 2023. Since its restructuring in 2020, AVITAR's cumulative net losses over the past four years have reached 6.07 billion yuan.

Among the new forces, LIXIANG and WENJIE have already turned profitable, while AVITAR continues to burn cash.

At the 2021 Chongqing Auto Show, Zhu Huarong said, "When the product is not good enough, rely on marketing tactics."

When Zhu Huarong took over as Chairman of AVITAR, he reassigned Tan Benhong, who had a technical background, and promoted Chen Zhuo, who had a public relations and marketing background.

In addition, AVITAR has undergone two significant changes: firstly, gradually eliminating the direct sales model and shifting entirely to the dealership model to reduce costs and increase efficiency; secondly, following the example of other brands, entering the hybrid market through electric-to-fuel strategies in hopes of overcoming sales difficulties.

As the automotive market competition intensifies and the industry enters a stage of profound reshuffling, there is not much time left for Zhu Huarong and AVITAR to turn things around against the wind.