Does not involve the China market! Polar Star Motor announced that it would lay off about 15% employees in order to accelerate the improvement of profit margin.

According to Reuters, Polar Star Motor recently announced that it plans to cut about 450 employees worldwide, accounting for about 15% of its total employees, due to the current challenging market. It is understood that the main purpose of this layoff is to accelerate the improvement of profit margin and reduce the company’s total capital demand, and to achieve cash flow balance by 2025.

"This layoff does not involve the China market." The relevant person in charge of Polar Star Technology (a joint venture between Polar Star Automobile and Xingji Meizu Group) told the reporter of national business daily.

In fact, this is not the first time that Polar Star Motors has laid off employees on a global scale. In May last year, Polar Star Motor said it would pay more attention to cost management, laying off about 300 people by 10% worldwide, and freezing recruitment.

It is worth mentioning that Polar Star Motor also lowered its annual sales target several times, first to 80,000 vehicles per year, and then to 60,000 ~ 70,000 vehicles again. The official of Polar Star Automobile said that the downward adjustment of the sales target was mainly due to the fact that the new model Polar Star 3 could not be delivered in mass production on time in the summer of 2023, and it had to be postponed to the first quarter of 2024.

Despite the downward adjustment of the annual sales target, polar star automobile still failed to complete. The data shows that in 2023, the global delivery volume of polar star vehicles was about 54,600, a year-on-year increase of 6%.

In addition, the polar star car has been hard to see improvement in the China market. In the fourth quarter of 2023, Polar Star Motor delivered about 12,800 vehicles worldwide, including 880 Polar Star 4 vehicles in China market. For the performance in China market in 2023, Polar Star Motor has not released specific data. Previously, in 2022, it was widely expected that the sales volume of polar star cars in China would be around one or two thousand. In 2021, Polar Star Automobile sold 2,048 vehicles in China, accounting for 7% of global sales.

Image source: Every photo by reporter Sun Tongtong

According to public information, Polar Star Automobile was established in 2017, which was jointly built by Geely and Volvo. It is positioned as a luxury pure electric high-performance automobile brand and headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden. Since its establishment seven years ago, Polar Star has replaced six CEOs in China, but it still failed to reverse its decline in the China market.

However, Polar Star Motor did not give up the China market. In order to reverse the decline, in June last year, Polar Star Motor announced that it would establish a joint venture with Xingji Meizu Group for the China market, namely Polar Star Technology, to fully take over the business of Polar Star in the China market. Among them, Jixing Automobile holds 49% of the shares, and Xingji Meizu holds 51%. Xingji Meizu is responsible for arranging the future financing of the joint venture company.

As a result, 2023 was called "the first year of China" by Polar Star Automobile, and the first product Polar Star 4 was also highly anticipated. During the Guangzhou Auto Show last year, Polar Star 4 adjusted the delivery price to 299,900 ~ 399,900 yuan, while the previously announced price range of Polar Star 4 was 349,800 ~ 533,800 yuan, further lowering the threshold for consumers to buy. At the same time, Polaris 4 will be equipped with a newly developed full version of Polestar OS operating system to realize the interconnection between mobile phones and cars.

Thomas Ingenlath, CEO of Polar Star Automobile, said, "Polar Star 4 is very popular in China market, and will be sold in European and Australian markets in the future. Increasing production is an important milestone for us. Polar Star 3 is expected to be delivered in the first batch this summer. We will change from a company with only one car for sale to a company with three cars, which will make us usher in a revolutionary and exciting year in 2024. "

Image source: Every photo by reporter Sun Tongtong (data map)

In fact, although the selling price has been greatly reduced, Polar Star 4, which has not yet formed its brand power, still faces considerable pressure in the increasingly fierce competition in China electric vehicle market. The reporter learned that in order to further enhance competitiveness, a few days ago, the terminal concessions of Polar Star 4 were upgraded again, with a maximum discount of 60,000 yuan.

"Now we have launched the exclusive rights and interests of Polar Star 4, including the experience official welfare of 30,000 yuan, the replacement fund with a maximum time limit of 30,000 yuan, and the rights and interests of 35,000 yuan in a limited time. The maximum is equivalent to a cash discount of 60,000 yuan. Among them, the replacement subsidy for the single motor version is 20,000 yuan, the subsidy for the double motors is 30,000 yuan, and the subsidy for the experience officer is 30,000 yuan, which is divided into four personal accounts, with 7,500 yuan each time. However, there is no discount for this model of 299,900 yuan, and it is necessary to buy another 30,000 yuan plus luxury kit. In this way, the hand price of the single-motor plus version model is 279,900 yuan, while the price of the same configuration model is 339,900 yuan, which is equivalent to a discount of 60,000 yuan. " A sales person of a polar star automobile in Shanghai told the reporter that the manufacturer’s requirements for the implementation of the replacement subsidy are not strict, as long as there are photos of the production certificate, it is not a real replacement.

In addition, at the capital market level, polar star cars do not seem to be optimistic. Since it was listed on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange in new york on June 24th, 2022, the share price of Polar Star Automobile has continued to fall, and its total market value has also plunged.

The data shows that on June 24, 2022, the closing price of Polar Star Automobile was $13/share, while on January 26 this year, the closing price of Polar Star Automobile was only $2.2/share, which was over 83% lower than that at the beginning of listing. In terms of total market value, on June 24, 2022, the total market value of Polar Star Automobile was $26.595 billion, while on January 26 this year, the total market value of the company was only $4.687 billion. In less than two years, the market value evaporated by $21.908 billion.

national business daily

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The chaos of the old scooter: the cottage "Lamborghini" sells well for 29 thousand.

  CCTV News:In recent years, many four-wheeled vehicles have appeared around us unconsciously, which look like cars and are one size smaller than cars, and the words "old scooter" are often marked in the prominent position of the car body. Sometimes these cars run parallel to motor vehicles, and sometimes they drive on sidewalks and bicycle lanes, and they walk freely through the streets and alleys of the city.

go to

△ At an intersection in Beijing, four-wheeled vehicles repeatedly violated regulations.

  So what exactly is this four-wheeled vehicle? Why can you drive on the road so willfully?

    The mystery of the life experience of "old scooter"

  During the visit, the reporter found that there are still many places to distribute this kind of car in Beijing. This kind of car is actually a low-speed four-wheel electric vehicle. It first came into the public eye as an "old scooter" around 2012, and the "old scooter" evolved from an electric wheelchair with a speed basically controlled below 10 kilometers per hour and belonging to medical devices.

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△ "Old scooter" evolved from electric wheelchair.

  Around 2012, after continuous modification, the "old scooter" has been very close to ordinary motor vehicles, powered by electric energy, and the maximum speed can reach about 40 kilometers per hour.

  In the past few days, the reporter visited a number of dealers and found that the sales of this kind of car in recent years are quite amazing. According to a first-class dealer of a certain brand, he sold 1,600 cars a year. When it was hot, he had to queue up to buy a car and sell one, but his sales were not the most.

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  According to rough statistics, in Beijing, there are at least ten primary dealers of a certain brand of electric vehicles with an annual sales volume of over 1,000 units, and there are several secondary distributors under each primary dealer; In addition to a few big brands of low-speed four-wheel electric vehicles, there are a large number of brand-name cars flooding the market. In recent years, low-speed four-wheel electric vehicles are growing at a high speed with an annual growth rate of tens of thousands in Beijing. The reason why it is still sold in the name of "old scooter" is that manufacturers and distributors have their own purposes.

   You can drive without a license? The treatment of scooter is very "special"

  Why can the so-called "old scooter" be sold so hot? The reporter consulted a number of dealers as buyers in Beijing, and all told reporters without exception: you can drive on the road without a license or a driver’s license! So is this the case? The reporter interviewed several car owners at random, and most car owners have not encountered inspection. A car owner who asked not to be named told reporters that if you want to buy a motor vehicle in Beijing, you must participate in the lottery, but you can’t shake it after several years, and finally you have no choice but to choose a low-speed four-wheel electric vehicle. In addition to not having to shake the license plate, car owners told reporters that the low cost of car use is also a major reason why they choose this kind of vehicle. First of all, the price of about 30,000 to 40,000 is close to the people. Secondly, the cost of running a hundred kilometers with full electricity is seven or eight yuan.

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  According to the Road Traffic Safety Law and relevant regulations of Beijing, this kind of vehicle is recognized as a motor vehicle in Beijing. In the past two years, the traffic control department of Beijing has also strictly investigated the illegal behavior of such vehicles on the road, but in fact, except for the core sections such as Chang’ an Street, such vehicles are still popular in the city.

  In addition, in order to attract consumers, some dealers have also launched preferential activities to buy cars and send insurance. So what kind of insurance is this gift? China implements the compulsory motor vehicle third-party liability insurance system, in order to ensure the liability of the insured motor vehicle to compensate the victims for personal injury and property losses caused by road traffic accidents. The so-called third party liability insurance given by the dealer is not motor vehicle insurance, but actually a personal accident insurance, and once an accident occurs, the amount of compensation is very limited.

  There are no national standards for industries with different policies in different places.

  The reporter contacted a number of electric vehicle dealers in Beijing and conducted a test drive on a variety of low-speed four-wheel electric vehicles. It was found that the top speed of these electric vehicles can generally reach about 40 kilometers per hour. At present, the management standards for low-speed four-wheel electric vehicles are not uniform in different places. For example, in Shandong, Hebei, Henan, Sichuan and other places, such low-speed four-wheel electric vehicles can be licensed and can drive on the road, but in Beijing, Shanghai and other places, such vehicles are prohibited from illegally driving on the road.

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  In China, domestic automobiles are certified by Announcement of Road Motor Vehicle Manufacturers and Products and China Compulsory Certification, that is, 3C certification. The public security traffic control department will take the Announcement of Road Motor Vehicle Manufacturers and Products regularly issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology as the basis for the registration of such vehicles. But at present, no low-speed four-wheel electric vehicle has passed these two certifications, that is to say, the country has not recognized it as a motor vehicle.

  On the one hand, the speed of low-speed four-wheel electric vehicles far exceeds the national standard that the speed of "old scooter" is less than 10 kilometers per hour. On the other hand, low-speed four-wheel electric vehicles do not belong to the category of motor vehicles in theory. This means that the low-speed four-wheel electric vehicle is currently in the gray area between the "old scooter" and the motor vehicle.

  The cottage Lamborghini only sells for 29 thousand

  The reporter found through investigation that at present, most of these low-speed four-wheel electric vehicles on the market are produced in Shandong, Jiangsu, Hebei and other places. Among them, Shandong Province, as the "birthplace" of low-speed electric vehicles, ranks first in the country in terms of industrial scale. According to the data released by Shandong Automobile Industry Association, the output of low-speed electric vehicles in Shandong Province reached 347,000 in 2015, and the market of low-speed electric vehicles in Shandong Province maintained rapid growth for four consecutive years from 2012 to 2015, with a year-on-year increase. What about the production and sales there?

  Wucheng County, Dezhou City, located at the junction of Shandong and Hebei provinces, is famous for its automobile parts production. In recent years, Wucheng County has rapidly developed into the largest low-speed four-wheel electric vehicle manufacturing base in Shandong and even the whole country. On the grounds of talking about agency, the reporter contacted a manufacturer located in the old town of Wucheng County. From the county seat, less than 20 kilometers away, there are no fewer than 20 large and small electric vehicle manufacturers. Some manufacturers just sell cars in a facade room in front, and then set up a shed at the back to start making cars.

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  Subsequently, the reporter came to the factory contacted in advance. As soon as he entered the factory, he saw a forklift truck being busy loading and delivering goods. Two workers in the workshop were installing an electric car that looked like a Ford Carnival. In order to show their strength, the sales manager also showed reporters a new model they are developing, which looks like Lamborghini and costs only 29 thousand.

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  This low-speed electric car, which looks like a sports car, is a new product being developed by the manufacturer. The sales manager told the reporter that the car is currently in the debugging stage, and they can mass-produce it at any time if there is an order. For these manufacturers of low-speed four-wheel electric vehicles, batteries and other parts are ready-made, and the biggest research and development cost is the appearance of the vehicle.

  The production of "old scooter" is made of unqualified iron.

  In the workshops of many manufacturers visited by the reporter, there are all kinds of models such as Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Ford Carnival, etc., and the car bodies made of iron sheets occupy the mainstream of the market. According to the reporter’s visual inspection, the thickness of these iron sheets used to wrap the car bodies is no more than 2 mm, and no safety test has been done.

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  The sales manager told the reporter that with the strength of their factory, it is not a problem to produce 20 cars a day. If the order quantity is large, they can also produce together with several small factories around them to ensure timely delivery. On the business license displayed by the manufacturer, the reporter found that this manufacturer does not have the relevant qualifications to produce four-wheeled electric vehicles. The reporter searched the registration data of dozens of electric vehicle enterprises in Wucheng County, including local first-class manufacturers such as Dexing, Weikerui and Xinaoyu, and found that the production and business scope of these automobile enterprises is only off-highway tourism sightseeing bus or indoor sightseeing bus, and does not include the R&D and production license of four-wheel electric vehicles. That is to say, these automobile enterprises all produce low-speed four-wheel electric vehicles with the qualification of producing sightseeing bus, and this phenomenon is also common in other parts of the country. 

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  How to solve the chaos of the old scooter?

  On July 29th this year, Shandong Province issued an urgent investigation notice for low-speed electric vehicles, and investigation teams composed of departments such as letter, quality inspection, public security, industry and commerce went to all parts of Shandong Province to investigate the production and sales of low-speed electric vehicles, so as to provide a basis for formulating management opinions on low-speed electric vehicles in Shandong Province in the next step. And where should the low-speed four-wheel electric vehicle go next?

  Professor Shi Jing from Tsinghua University Transportation Research Institute said that relevant departments should make more efforts in management instead of simply banning it. He believes that to solve the management problem of low-speed four-wheel electric vehicles, one is to solve its safety problem, that is, to reduce the speed, and the other is to solve the order problem, which can be managed according to the motor vehicle number plate.

  In addition, the reporter learned from the National Standards Committee that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology had submitted the national standard project "Technical Conditions for Four-wheel Low-speed Electric Passenger Cars" at the beginning of this year. In April this year, the National Standards Committee also solicited opinions on the project for the society and is currently organizing and handling the opinions received. In the next step, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine and the National Standards Committee will steadily promote the formulation of national standards, hoping to introduce relevant management regulations as soon as possible, so that the elderly scooter will no longer drive at will and reduce potential safety hazards.

Weather forecast for jiangsu new space-time 20240110

During the day on January 10th, Jiangsu was dominated by cloudy weather. Affected by cold air, the temperature dropped significantly. At two o’clock in the afternoon, the temperature in all cities was only about 5~7℃.

It is expected that the whole province will be sunny to cloudy from the night of the 10th to the 11th. On the morning of the 11th, the lowest temperature in all places is below zero. During the day, the temperature will rise rapidly, and the highest temperature in the whole province will rise to about 10~13℃.

On the 12th and 13th, it will be sunny in the whole province, and the temperature will continue to rise. On the 13th, the highest temperature in southern Jiangsu along the Yangtze River will rise to about 17~18℃.

It is recommended to wear thick coats and other clothing. The wind is strong and indoor exercise is recommended.

The specific weather conditions in Jiangsu on January 11th.

Nanjing is cloudy-1 ~ 13℃

Xuzhou sunny 0 ~ 12℃ 

Lianyungang sunny-3 ~ 10℃ 

Suqian sunny 0 ~ 12℃  

Huaian Qing-2 ~ 11℃ 

Yancheng Qing-4 ~ 10℃

Yangzhou sunny-4 ~ 12℃

Taizhou sunny-4 ~ 9℃ 

Nantong is cloudy and sunny-3 ~ 9℃

Zhenjiang sunny-3 ~ 12℃

Changzhou Qing-2 ~ 12℃

Cloudy to sunny in Wuxi-3 ~ 11℃

Suzhou sunny-1 ~ 10℃

(The copyright of this news belongs to Jiangsu Radio and Television General Station, please indicate the source.)

The Central Meteorological Observatory released the weather forecast for the next three days (May 13th-15th).


National precipitation forecast map


  The Central Meteorological Observatory issued the weather forecast for the next three days at 6: 00 on May 13th, 2009:


  Affected by cold and warm air, there will be moderate to moderate rain (snow) or showers in the central and eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, central and eastern Northwest China, most of North China, Huanghuai, Jianghuai, Jianghan, most of South China, and most of Southwest China in the next three days, including southwestern Shaanxi, southwestern Shanxi, eastern Sichuan, central and northern Chongqing, western Hubei, most of Henan, central and southern Shandong, northern Anhui and northern Jiangsu.


  Affected by surface cyclones, there are 4 ~ 5 northerly winds in the eastern part of Northeast China. Affected by the cold air in the north, there will be 4 ~ 5 southerly or northerly winds in the central and eastern Inner Mongolia, northern North China and northeast China. There is sand blowing or floating dust in the southern Xinjiang basin.


  The specific forecast is as follows:


  From 08: 00 on the 13 th to 08: 00 on the 14 th, there were small to moderate rains (snow) or sleet in northern Xinjiang, central and eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and western Sichuan Plateau; There are small to moderate rains or showers in the central and eastern parts of northwest China, south-west Inner Mongolia, western North China, western Huanghuai, Jianghan, western Jianghuai, western Jiangnan, western South China and southwest China, as well as in parts of eastern Zhejiang, southwestern Jiangxi and western Fujian. Among them, there are heavy rains in parts of eastern Qinghai, southern Ningxia and western Shaanxi, with precipitation of 25-30 mm. There will be thunderstorms in southwestern Shaanxi, Guizhou, southern Hunan, northwestern Guangxi and southeastern Yunnan. There is sand blowing or floating dust in the southern Xinjiang basin. There are 4 ~ 5 northerly winds in the east of Northeast China. There will be 4-6 southwest winds in Bohai Sea; There will be a westerly wind of 4-6 in the northern part of the Yellow Sea; There will be 4-6 grades of north to west wind in the central Yellow Sea; There will be 4-5 northeast winds in the southern Yellow Sea, most of the East China Sea and the Taiwan Province Strait; There will be 4-6 east to northeast winds in the east and south of Taiwan Province and most of the South China Sea.


  From 08: 00 on the 14 th to 08: 00 on the 15 th, there were small to moderate rains (snow) or sleet in northeastern Xinjiang, eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and western Sichuan Plateau; There are small to moderate rains or showers in central Inner Mongolia, eastern Northwest China, western and southern North China, most of Huanghuai, most of Jianghuai, Jianghan, western Jiangnan, western South China and most of Southwest China. Among them, there are heavy rains in parts of southwestern Shaanxi, southwestern Shanxi, eastern Sichuan, central and northern Chongqing, western Hubei and central Henan, and these areas will be accompanied by strong convective weather such as thunderstorms and strong winds. There are 4 ~ 5 northerly winds in the east and northeast of Inner Mongolia. There will be 4-6 west-southwest winds in the Bohai Sea, the northern and central Yellow Sea; There will be 4-6 east to southeast winds in the southern part of the Yellow Sea; There will be 4-6 northeast winds in most parts of the East China Sea and the Taiwan Province Strait; There will be 4-5 east to northeast winds in the east and south of Taiwan Province and most of the South China Sea.


  From 08: 00 on the 15 th to 08: 00 on the 16 th, there was light rain (snow) or sleet in the western Tianshan area of Xinjiang, eastern Tibet, southeastern Qinghai and western Sichuan Plateau; There are small to moderate rains or showers in southeastern Gansu, southwestern Shaanxi, south-central North China, Huanghuai, Jianghuai, Jianghan, most of the south of the Yangtze River, central and western South China, and most of southwest China. Among them, there are heavy rains in parts of northern Hunan, central and western Hubei, eastern Henan, central and southern Shandong, northern Anhui and northern Jiangsu, and there are heavy rains in parts of southern Hubei, northern Hunan, southern Shandong and northern Jiangsu, and these areas will be accompanied by heavy rains. There are 4 ~ 6 southerly winds in central and eastern Inner Mongolia, northeast China and northern North China; There are 5 ~ 6 southerly winds in Bohai and Huanghuai, and the gusts are 7 ~ 8.

  Related links:



  • The Central Meteorological Observatory issued a sandstorm weather forecast at 6: 00 on the 29th, 2009-04-29.

  • Central Meteorological Observatory’s Forecast of Dust Storm Again: Large-scale Precipitation in the East of China 2009-04-29

  • Meteorological Observatory inspects the source of sand in Inner Mongolia: There will be no dusty days in Beijing in the near future 2009-04-26

  • News: At 12: 00, Qingdao Meteorological Observatory released the weather situation in the parade sea area 2009-04-23.

  • China Meteorological News: The Central Meteorological Observatory released the rainstorm forecast again on April 19, 2009.

  • The Central Meteorological Observatory issued another foggy orange warning. Strong cold air will hit the north. 2009-04-14