HiPhi X (Source: Human Horizons)
Chinese EV Human Horizons suspended its manufacturing of HiPhi vehicles on February 19, after months of insolvency rumors. HiPhi's founder, Ding Lei, declared that "It will take three months to do everything to save the company." Since then, every week has come with a surprise, from takeover speculations by Huawei, Li Auto, and Changan, to trade secrets infringement lawsuits from Faraday Future, to selling steak on live stream.
In just one year, we have witnessed the promising launch of HiPhi's third model, the HiPhi Y, selling as much as 1,606 in October 2023, to the sudden shutdown of its operations in early 2024, with sales completely collapsing.
A state-owned automaker and HiPhi marriage?
On February 28, HiPhi founder Ding Lei appeared at Changan Automobile and met with chairman Zhu Huarong. The photos immediately stirred speculations that "Changan will takeover HiPhi". Though Zhu Huarong refuted the rumours in an interview with local media, such a possibility remains. However, there are concerns that HiPhi's high-end positioning may cannibalize sales of Changan's luxury brand AVATR.
Changan is a state-owned auto manufacturer headquartered in Chongqing and is China's oldest automaker, founded in 1862. Currently, Changan is considered part of the "Big Four" state-owned vehicle makers, which include SAIC Motor, FAW Group, and Dongfeng Motor Corporation.
AVATR 11 (Source: AVATR)
Though at this point we are skeptical that Changan is willing to bear the risks of integrating HiPhi, cannibalization risks are low in our view. HiPhi has three products, with prices ranging from 339,000 to 800,000 RMB, meanwhile, AVATR 11 and 12 occupy strictly the 300-400k RMB range. At present, Changan's highest-positioned vehicle brand is AVATR, and venturing further up the echelon will either require launching in-house like BYD did with its Fangchengbao or Yangwang, or choosing the M&A route. Changan is currently behind other major players like BYD, Geely, and Great Wall in the high-end market and HiPhi may be a potential segway.
Faraday Future sues HiPhi on trade secrets infringement grounds
 & FF91 (right) (Source- Human Horizons & Future Faraday) .webp "HiPhi X (left) & FF91 (right) (Source: Human Horizons & Future Faraday)")
HiPhi X (left) & FF91 (right) (Source: Human Horizons & Future Faraday)
On March 5, U.S.-based Faraday Future Intelligent Electric Inc. officially issued an article saying that it filed a lawsuit against Human Horizons and its founder and former FF executive Ding Lei on the grounds of infringement of trade secrets and unfair competition. Regarding the prosecution of HiPhi, Faraday Future founder Jia Yueting responded that the lawsuit was prepared after a long-term investigation.
Jia Yueting further lambasted HiPhi on Weibo for alleged trade secrets infringement. Jia Yueting posted on Weibo claiming that anyone of conscience knows that HiPhi is plagiarizing, lying, deceiving its users, and continuing to deceive investors with false statements. "Everyone knows that they are cheating, they know that they are cheating, and they also know that they are cheating, but they continue to cheat. Perhaps they have reached the point where they have to use one perjury to cover up another perjury."
Jia Yueting also posted a comparison video about FF91 and HiphiX on Weibo, in which FF claimed that the physical design plagiarism was just a small share of their infringement claim.
HiPhi and its founder refuted Faraday's claims and said that in the 6 years of the company's operations, HiPhi nor Ding Lei have received a lawsuit from Faraday.
Selling steak on live stream
 .webp "HiPhi Project Director Live Streaming (Source: Jimu News)")
HiPhi Project Director Live Streaming (Source: Jimu News)
Today, Yang Yueqing, Project Director of HiPhi, started live-streaming to sell non-automotive products like steak, pizza, sausage, and other food. The live-streaming revenue will be used to finance the company's daily operations. As the company is in an audit process, vehicle sale is currently on freeze.
During the stream, peak viewership exceeded 5,000, and the goods sold were all food priced from dozens of yuan to hundreds of yuan. Some media reported over 700 orders were made within an hour, with sales of about 100,000 RMB.