HiPhi is a premium brand owned by Human Horizons. The brand's cars are characterised by futuristic design, rich equipment and the use of the latest technologies. Also recently, a comparative winter power reserve test of electric cars was conducted in Norway and the HiPhi Z sedan outperformed all its competitors by driving 522 kilometres.
Human Horizons does not have its own car assembly plant. Instead, the company seeks help from contract manufacturers. For example, HiPhi cars are produced at the former Dongfeng Yueda Kia facility in Yancheng. This plant can produce up to 150,000 cars a year, but HiPhi sold just 4,829 cars in 2023.
In January, HiPhi announced to employees that all year-end bonuses would be cancelled and salaries would be cut.On 12 February, it was revealed that Hiphi had closed its shops in Chengdu and Guangzhou. Now local media have accessed an internal company newsletter that says the plant will be temporarily shut down for six months. Employees are not being laid off, but their salaries have been reduced to the minimum allowed. They are also banned from entering the plant.
CarNewsChina explains the temporary shutdown of HiPhi electric car production by the ongoing price war between Chinese electric car manufacturers. The level of competition in the local market has reached such a scale that companies are selling electric cars at a loss, using all possible platforms, including shopping centres and electronics shops. Only manufacturers with "deep pockets" will be able to survive the price war, and judging by recent events, HiPhi is not one of them.
Source: CarNewsChina
