The Ningde era, which stood at the trillion-dollar market value mark, is still constantly setting new records. As of the close of November 22, CATL's stock price rose by 6.57% to close at 681 yuan, with a total market value of 1.59 trillion yuan, surpassing Industrial and Commercial Bank of China to rank second in the A stock market.

　　At the close of trading on November 26, although the stock price of CATL has fallen slightly, it is still stable at 658 yuan, with a total market value of 1.53 trillion yuan. It seems that it is just around the corner to catch up with Moutai.

　　Despite this, the worries surrounding the Ningde era are endless. On the one hand, car companies have deployed in the field of power batteries, changing from customers in the Ningde era to friends; on the other hand, LG New Energy, which is behind the Ningde era, is chasing closely and may achieve overtake at any time.

　　The Ningde era urgently needs to find new growth points.

　　tentacles began to extend to the field of vehicle manufacturing. On November 5, Changan Automobile announced that Ningde Times invested 770 million yuan to acquire 23.99% of the shares of Avita Technology, a subsidiary of Changan Automobile, and became the second largest shareholder of Avita Technology. At the same time, CATL is also deeply involved in Avita's vehicle development and design, and jointly developed the CHN platform with Changan and Huawei.

　　According to the official disclosure of Ningde Times, when developing the CHN platform, Ningde Times had technical output in the fields of three-electric system, energy management, and charging network. In other words, the cooperation between CATL and car companies is no longer limited to power battery support.

　　Earlier, CATL also invested in Nezha Motors and Ai Chi Motors. There are indications that the "king of Ning" seems to be paving the way for car building. When auto companies have developed their own power batteries, why can't CATL not build cars?

　　Conjecture of car-making in the Ningde era

　　Entering 2021, the prospects for the new energy vehicle market will become brighter. According to Guosen Securities’ forecasts, global sales of new energy passenger vehicles are expected to increase from 3.24 million in 2020 to nearly 16 million in 2025. The global penetration rate of new energy passenger vehicles is expected to reach about 18%. Among them, China's new energy vehicle sales are expected to increase from 1.35 million in 2020 to 6.28 million in 2025, and the penetration rate of new energy vehicles is expected to reach about 23%.

　　So, more and more outsiders step into the field of car building. Internet giants such as Xiaomi and Baidu have bowed into the game, eager to share the big cake of new energy vehicles.

　　In addition to cross-borders, the authorities of the new energy industry chain are of course "just about to move."

　　"In the territory of new energy vehicles, the downward extension of the upstream companies in the industrial chain is also a force. When the strength is strong enough, there may be one or two (personally go to the market to build the car)." According to the company’s president, Cao He, CATL is one of the companies with the most car-making capabilities at this stage.

　　Source: Future Car Daily

　　The biggest advantage of building cars in the Ningde era is naturally the power battery. At present, CATL is a well-deserved leader in the field of power batteries. It has the R&D and manufacturing capabilities of the entire industry chain in the field of power and energy storage batteries, materials, batteries, battery systems, and battery recycling and secondary utilization.

　　According to GGII data, in the first three quarters of this year, CATL’s battery installed capacity reached 46.79GWh, accounting for 50.8% of the domestic power battery market, and the global market share was 30.9%.

　　In addition to holding power battery technology, CATL has also set foot in various fields related to car manufacturing in the form of investment.

　　According to Future Auto Daily, CATL has successively invested in new energy auto parts and service companies such as Shanghai Nassen, Guochuang Center, Carry Innovation, Sidley New Energy, etc. in the near future; it has also invested in Secco Travel, Blue Valley Wisdom, Wuhan Nineng , Zhima Energy, Ningde Zhixiang and other shared travel and charging and swap companies.

　　On May 24 this year, CATL also established Ruiting Times (Shanghai) New Energy Technology Co., Ltd. The company is wholly-owned by CATL, and its business scope includes technical services, technology development, and technical consulting in the fields of new energy technology and automotive technology.

　　It seems that everything is ready to build a car in the Ningde era. But for the CATL, the benefits of selling batteries are far more substantial than selling cars.

　　According to the financial report released by CATL, the gross profit margin of CATL was 27.76% in the third quarter. In contrast to the new car-building forces, the gross profit margin of Xiaopeng Automobile’s vehicle sales during the same period was 14.4%; the gross profit margin of Weilai Automobile’s vehicle sales was 18.0%; even Tesla, which is good at reducing costs and increasing efficiency, its gross profit margin in the third quarter was only Up to 30%, which is not much different from the Ningde era.

　　An industry insider close to the CATL era revealed to Future Auto Daily that the new energy vehicle market is about to usher in an explosive period. In order to maintain a 30% share of the global power battery market in 2025, CATL’s primary task is still to catch up with production capacity, and there is no time for it. Take into account building cars.

　　"By 2025, CATL needs to deploy a production capacity of 520GWh, and the current CATL capacity is 220GWh, and there is still a huge gap." The above-mentioned industry insider said.

　　At the same time, in the opinion of Zhong Shi, an automotive analyst, if the CATL transforms from a supplier status to a OEM, it may bring side effects to its main business.

　　"Supplier Ningde era is undoubtedly a comrade-in-arms deeply bound to car companies. If you build a car, you will become the enemy of car companies. This role change will undoubtedly directly affect its cooperation with car companies."

　　Making money is just appearance

　　At the moment, the road to building a car is still unclear. Perhaps the Ningde era will not cross-border car building in three to five years, but it is difficult to say in the longer term.

　　At present, CATL has invested real money in several new car companies, and has been deeply involved in vehicle manufacturing, step by step, and pave the way for car building.

　　Some people in the industry believe that the various actions in the Ningde era are based on the dual considerations of interest and technological development.

　　Since the announcement in 2020 that it "plans to invest no more than 19.06 billion yuan in high-quality upstream and downstream listed companies", the Ningde era, which is good at capital operation, has frequently been in many fields such as new energy vehicles, mineral resources, chips, and autonomous driving. "Spend money" to improve your hematopoietic ability.

　　Especially investing in new energy vehicle companies, it means "building a warehouse" in advance.

　　Ningde Times’ investment targets in the vehicle sector, including Jikr, Nezha, Avita, and Ai Chi, are all actively seeking IPOs. An Conghui, CEO of JK Auto, once said that the company will conduct multiple rounds of financing in the future until the IPO is realized; Nezha has long been talking to the outside world and intends to land on the science and technology innovation board; Avita declared that it has an independent listing when it was launched. Plan.

　　New Energy Dongfeng Zhengsheng, "In recent years, the auto companies that have landed on the capital market are expected to obtain good valuations. When these auto companies go public, CATL will benefit from equity." Insiders analyzed the Future Auto Daily.

　　"Money making money" is only one aspect. Another major factor in the participation of auto companies is the development of CTC (cell integration into the chassis) technology.

　　Lin Yongshou, president of Ningde Times Passenger Car Solutions Division, believes that highly integrated technology is an inevitable trend in the development of battery systems. According to the plan, CATL will launch CTC (cell integrated into the chassis) technology around 2025. By then, the energy density of the battery system can be increased to 250Wh/kg, the volume utilization rate can be increased to 70%, and the vehicle mileage is expected to exceed 1000km. Thanks to the high level of integration, CTC technology can save a lot of wiring harnesses, connectors, cooling systems and box structure, and the cost can be reduced by more than 20% compared with traditional designs.

　　Source: Ningde Times official

　　However, it is not easy to integrate the battery with the vehicle chassis. "This involves the assembly technology of the entire vehicle, requiring CATL to not only play the role of a supplier, but to participate in it from the beginning of the design and development of the entire vehicle. This requires the cooperation of automakers, and it also requires CATL to be able to master the entire vehicle. The first-hand data of manufacturing facilitates the improvement of CTC technology." An industry insider close to the Ningde era told Future Auto Daily.

　　Source: Avita official

　　Therefore, strategic investment in new energy vehicle companies is very important.

　　In March of this year, CATL became a shareholder of AIWAYS. The cooperation between the two parties includes battery technology sharing and joint exploration of next-generation power batteries. When investing in Nezha, CATL will not only provide power battery guarantee for Nezha automobile, but also jointly develop innovative integrated technologies for new energy vehicles with Nezha.

　　Through in-depth cooperation with the above-mentioned car companies, CATL will obtain favorable conditions to seize the high ground of power battery technology.

　　GGII data predicts that the global penetration rate of new energy vehicles will increase to more than 20% in 2025, and the power battery shipments will reach 1,100GWh, officially entering the "TWh" era. Public data shows that the global power battery shipments in 2020 will be 186GWh. In the future, the power battery field will undoubtedly be a vast blue ocean.

　　When the Ningde era has won this blue ocean, the next step is not far from building a car.