Baoneng is embroiled in an official seal controversy. On November 8, Baoneng Automobile issued a statement regarding the loss of official seals for several subsidiaries under the Baoneng Automobile Group. In the statement, Shenzhen Baoneng Dongjiang Automobile Investment Co., Ltd. stated that due to improper management, the company's official seal and business license (original and copy) were inadvertently lost. A loss notice has been published in Shenzhen Commercial Daily (see Shenzhen Commercial Daily, November 8, 2024, A6 edition for details) and has also been publicized on the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System.

Prior to this, from November 4 to November 7, Baoneng Automobile had already issued loss statements for the official seals of four subsidiaries under the Baoneng Automobile Group for four consecutive days. These companies are Baoneng Automobile R&D (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd., Baoneng Automobile Sales Co., Ltd., Shenzhen Qianhai Ruizhi Investment Co., Ltd., and Baoneng Automobile Technology Co., Ltd.

All five companies stated in their loss notices that due to objective reasons, the companies would temporarily not apply for reissuing their official seals or business licenses. At the same time, the five companies warned all related parties that to prevent criminals from illegally using the invalidated official seals and business licenses to carry out illegal activities, from this date forward, any power of attorney without the handwritten signature and fingerprint of the company's legal representative will be considered invalid. Activities carried out, documents signed, and litigation activities engaged in under such invalid authorization will also be deemed invalid.

According to information, the legal representative of all five companies involved is Zhao Dongyang, who concurrently holds the positions of executive director and general manager of the companies. This means that for documents and activities of these four companies in the future, a power of attorney with Zhao Dongyang's handwritten signature and fingerprint is required; otherwise, it will be considered invalid authorization. In addition to these five companies, Zhao Dongyang also serves as the legal representative of 51 companies within the Baoneng Group and is currently restricted from high consumption due to being listed as a discredited person.

It is not a normal phenomenon for five subsidiaries to lose their official seals at once and choose not to reissue them.

It is worth mentioning that under the statements issued by Baoneng Automobile's official WeChat account, multiple negative comments about Baoneng Automobile were also posted, including complaints about unpaid wages and vehicle quality and after-sales issues. Generally, corporate WeChat accounts are more cautious about selecting comments to display, either only displaying positive comments or not displaying any comments at all. This also suggests that the loss of official seals for these four Baoneng Automobile subsidiaries may be more complicated than just "loss".

In response, it is rumored that Zhao Dongyang, a senior executive at Baoneng Automobile, had a falling out with Yao Zhenhua, the chairman of the Baoneng Group. The rumor mentions that due to Yao Zhenhua violating a promise and failing to resolve Zhao Dongyang's salary and subsequent expenses, Zhao Dongyang published loss notices for the official seals and business licenses of multiple companies under his purview in a fit of anger to restrict Baoneng Automobile's business activities. However, these rumors have not been officially confirmed.

In fact, Baoneng has also been involved in a "dispute over official seals" due to equity issues with its subsidiaries. On July 19 of last year, Yao Zhenhua was denied access to the Zhongju Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone for a research visit; on July 22, senior executives from the Baoneng Group were again denied access, and they announced the "dismissal" of the plant's security guards on-site. Both incidents attracted attention at the time. It is rumored that Yao Zhenhua and senior executives from the Baoneng Group visited the Zhongju Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone twice to "retrieve the official seal."

When it comes to Baoneng Automobile, the brand most recognized by the outside world is Qoros. After acquiring a 51% stake in Qoros for 6.63 billion yuan in 2017, Baoneng Automobile enjoyed a brief moment of glory—Qoros' annual sales reached 62,000 units in 2018 but then quickly declined and fell silent. At that time, Baoneng Automobile also invested 60 billion yuan to establish new energy vehicle industrial bases in Kunming, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, and other locations. In addition to Qoros, Baoneng Automobile has also launched two other automotive brands: BAO and Youbaoli, but neither has mass-produced vehicles yet.

Due to the unsuccessful progress of its automotive business and the parent company's deep debt crisis, Baoneng Automobile has been plagued by negative news regarding rights protection, layoffs, and unpaid wages. For example, at the 2019 Shanghai Auto Show, dealers caused a commotion at the Qoros booth; in April of last year, former Baoneng Automobile employees and dealers collectively "blocked the door" to demand unpaid wages; in June, employees demanding wages directly entered Baoneng's meeting room and projected a count of the number of days of unpaid wages and the number of days the executives were unreachable. Since then, there have been multiple incidents of Baoneng Automobile employees defending their rights.

However, Baoneng Automobile does not seem to have given up on the automotive sector. According to the latest official information from Baoneng Automobile, the project team for the Youbaoli brand is rapidly advancing the upgrade and replacement of its vehicle models. Currently, a team of nearly 100 professional technicians has been stationed at the Xi'an factory to conduct small-batch trial assembly and accelerate the mass production and market launch of annual models. Prior to this, in August, Baoneng Automobile also posted various job openings on multiple third-party recruitment platforms, such as workshop supervisors, project managers, engineers, and other positions, with work locations in Xi'an, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Changshu, and other places.

Amidst domestic automotive market competition and insufficient competitiveness, Baoneng Automobile seems to be placing its hopes on export business. It is reported that Baoneng's Export Business Department is currently promoting automotive export business, and its team has already reached cooperation intentions with multiple local dealers at the Khorgos Port and signed supply chain service agreements with the border trade zone at the port for warehousing, vehicle services, customs clearance, and other automotive export-related services. Prior to this, new forces in car manufacturing, such as AIWAYS and Skywell, also attempted to achieve overtaking by deploying or shifting to overseas markets. However, reality has shown that this path may not be as straightforward as it seems.

For Baoneng Automobile, it is still very difficult to return to prominence.