Zhongtai Automobile's Wholly-Owned Subsidiary Resumes Production; Supply Chain System Returns to Normal Track

Zotye Auto (000980) finally brings good news to investors.

On the evening of March 18, Zotye Auto announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Zhejiang Shenkang Automotive Body Molds Co., Ltd. (referred to as “Shenkang Body”), held a resumption of work and production ceremony today, officially resuming production and operations.

It is reported that Shenkang Body has been specializing in automotive molds and body parts for over 20 years, with certain technical expertise and manufacturing experience. Zotye Auto stated that this restart will help improve the company’s parts supporting system and lay a supply chain foundation for the development of new platforms and production of new models.

However, it should be noted that Shenkang Body’s resumption of work is still in the early stages. Its capacity ramp-up, supply chain coordination, and quality control still require time to stabilize, and the stability of its operations remains to be verified. Currently, Zotye Auto still faces significant financial pressure and debt burdens. The full recovery of its vehicle business depends on the maturity and effort of multiple conditions, and there is considerable uncertainty.

Securities Times reporters note that since 2026, changes in Zotye Auto’s senior management have been gradually progressing, and various tasks are being carried out in an orderly manner.

On January 14, Han Biwen was elected as a director of the listed company at a temporary shareholders’ meeting. On the same day, the board of directors approved the election of Han Biwen as Chairman of the Ninth Board of Directors; at the same time, Zotye Auto conducted supplementary elections for members of the Ninth Board’s Strategy Committee and Nomination Committee. On January 28, after nomination by the chairman and approval by the Nomination Committee, the board of Zotye Auto decided to appoint Li Yan as the company’s board secretary.

On February 26, Zotye Auto announced another personnel change, stating that Lin Longhua resigned from his position as director of the board due to personal work plans and would no longer hold any position in the company. After review, the board of Zotye Auto agreed to nominate Zhong Yufei as a candidate for non-independent director of the Ninth Board.

Media reports indicate that Zhong Yufei has been with Xiaomi since the Kingsoft days, being the 21st employee with the employee ID, and later served as Xiaomi Mobile Operations Manager.

According to Zotye Auto’s announcement, Zhong Yufei was born in September 1978, graduated from China Agricultural University with a bachelor’s degree. From November 2005 to April 2010, she served as editor-in-chief at Beijing Kingsoft Software; from May 2010 to February 2017, she was a director at Xiaomi Technology; from March 2017 to December 2019, she was Vice President at Beijing Xiaobei Automotive Technology; from January 2020 to December 2020, she was Partner and Vice President of Marketing at Jiao Ge Peng You Holdings; and since January 2021, she has been Executive Director at Beijing Mogu Technology.

All signs indicate that Zotye Auto is gradually getting back on track. In February, the listed company stated on an interactive platform that it is making every effort to resume work and production in the vehicle sector.

At the Shenkang Body resumption ceremony, Zotye Auto Chairman and President Han Biwen said that in the future, the company will leverage Shenkang Body’s over 20 years of technical and manufacturing experience, with Yongkang as the core base, radiating to the Yangtze River Delta, continuously expanding market space, and striving to build a leading domestic vehicle supporting manufacturing base. Meanwhile, Shenkang Body will lay a solid foundation for Zotye Auto’s new platform development and new model production.

Han Biwen called on all employees to unite and work pragmatically on this new development journey, with a broader vision and more solid actions, to jointly strive toward the grand goal of “making Zotye Auto race globally.” The resumption of Shenkang Body marks that Zotye Auto’s supply chain system has officially entered the right track.

However, reality is harsh. According to Zotye Auto’s previous earnings forecast, preliminary calculations by the finance department estimate that the company will incur a loss of 281 million to 417 million yuan in 2025, representing a 58.32% to 71.91% reduction in losses year-over-year.

Zotye Auto stated that this is mainly due to legacy issues, which have caused the vehicle sector to be essentially shut down; additionally, to maintain the basic framework of the company and advance the resumption of work and production, the company still needs to bear necessary management, financial, and other fixed expenses, leading to continued losses in its main business.