On May 14, 2025, the news that “Nezha Automobile has been applied for bankruptcy review” set off a public opinion storm. This car company, which once topped the sales list of new forces with an annual sales volume of 150,000 vehicles, is now pushed to the brink of the cliff due to a debt of 2.15 million yuan owed to an advertising company. From being a “dark horse” to “running into trouble”, the downfall of Nezha Automobile is not only an enterprise crisis but also reflects the deep-seated pain faced by China’s new energy vehicle industry after a decade of rapid development.

I. The Dilemma of Nezha: An Epitome of the “Great Leap Forward” in New Energy Vehicle Manufacturing

1. A Cliff-like Drop in Sales In 2022, Nezha topped the sales list of new forces with 152,000 vehicles. However, its sales volume dropped by 16% to 127,500 vehicles in 2023, and was halved to 64,500 vehicles in 2024. In April 2025, it even had a “zero delivery” record. The low-price strategy has instead become a “poison”. It has accumulated a loss of 18.3 billion yuan in nearly three years, with an average loss of 80,000 yuan for each vehicle sold.
2. A Complete Collapse of the Supply Chain It owes 6 billion yuan to suppliers, and there are more than 400 judicial cases. More than 20 dealers have collectively safeguarded their rights. The core three-electric system has been outsourced, and after-sales service has come to a standstill. Ironically, during the May Day holiday, the App lost its network connection due to “running out of data traffic”, exposing that its capital chain is so fragile that it can’t afford the basic service fee.
3. The Consequences of Technological Emptiness The intelligent driving team has all left, and the patent application has been zero for 8 consecutive months. The skateboard chassis project originally planned for mass production has been suspended. Fang Yunzhou, the founder, bowed and apologized, but it’s hard to hide the cruel reality of unpaid salaries for employees and the shutdown of the factory.

II. The Hidden Dangers under the Policy Dividends: A Double-Edged Story of Carnival and Crisis

1. The Aftereffects of Subsidy Dependence Nezha Automobile has received state-owned capital injections from Nanning, Yichun and other places. With 22.8 billion yuan in financing, it’s still difficult to hide its nature of “burning money”. The market expansion driven by policies has covered up the defects in the profit model, and finally fallen into a vicious cycle of “losing more while selling more”.
2. The New Points Policy Forcing Transformation In 2025, the new policy has increased the proportion of new energy vehicle points to 48%, and tightened the technical indicators comprehensively. This directly impacts the enterprises that rely on low-end models to boost sales. The financial report data of Nezha with a gross profit margin of -14.9% exposes its difficulty in adapting to the era of technological universal benefits.
3. The Double-Edged Sword of the Trade-in Policy The state has increased the replacement subsidies for new energy vehicles, but the market has shifted from “incremental competition” to “存量厮杀”. When giants like BYD and Xiaomi crush with intelligent and vertical integration capabilities, the living space of second-tier brands has been extremely compressed.

III. The Major Industry Reshuffle: From the “Capital Carnival” to the “Blood Mill”

1. Accelerated Elimination Following the crises of WM Motor and HiPhi, the crisis of Nezha reveals that the “death list” of new forces is still lengthening. The industry concentration continues to increase, and the market share of the top 5 car companies exceeds 70%. Small and medium-sized players are facing a life-and-death situation of “either progress or perish”.
2. The Escalation of the Technological War Ouyang Minggao predicted that in 2025, new energy vehicles will enter the 3.0 era of “AI defining cars”. When the DeepSeek large model lowers the threshold of intelligent driving, leading car companies are accelerating the construction of the “algorithm + chip + data” closed loop, and those with weak technical reserves are doomed to be out.
3. The Lifeline of Globalization Nezha once planned to break the situation with a Thai factory, but the Southeast Asian market has become the main battlefield of BYD and Great Wall. “Going global” without core technology support is ultimately a mirage.

IV. The Revelation of the Future: Who Can Survive the Cycle?

1. Fine-grained Operation Determines Life and Death The industry has shifted from competition in “financing ability” to competition in “cash flow management”. The deep binding of NIO with Hefei state-owned capital and the profit 转正 of Li Auto prove that a healthy financial system is the foundation of survival.
2. Ecological Integration Becomes the Key The success of Huawei AITO and Xiaomi SU7 reveals the ability of “smart terminal + user ecosystem” to carry out a dimensionality reduction strike. Pure car-making enterprises may become the foundries of technology giants.
3. The Readjustment of Policy Orientation The points management has shifted from “encouraging scale” to “emphasizing quality”, and the equipment update subsidies are tilted towards core technologies. Only the enterprises that can overcome the “stuck neck” technologies such as solid-state batteries and end-to-end intelligent driving can enjoy the next wave of policy dividends.

Conclusion The collapse of Nezha Automobile is like a thunderbolt splitting the cracks in the prosperous scene of new energy. When the subsidy withdrawal, technological revolution and capital winter are superimposed, this elimination competition has entered the stage of “hand-to-hand combat”. Although the industry reshuffle is cruel, only through the tempering of the “blood mill” can China’s new energy vehicles truly transform from “quantity change” to “quality change” and give birth to global giants of this era.