There is new news about FF founded by Jia Yueting.
On February 26th Beijing time, Faraday Future (FF) released an open letter from its global CEO Matthias Aydt on its official WeChat account, sharing FF's current status and development goals for 2024.
The letter revealed that FF has invested 3 billion US dollars (approximately 21.59 billion yuan) so far to build an electric vehicle platform and I A. I Technical, product development, and manufacturing capabilities. "We continue to make progress in financing and believe that FF will successfully complete a new round of financing."
In terms of the next steps, the open letter disclosed four major aspects, covering operations, products and technology, manufacturing/supply chain, and financing and finance. Among them, in terms of products and technology, it pointed out that the next generation product FF 92 will be developed to maintain FF's leading advantage in product and technological strength. It is reported that it just announced on the 3rd of last month that it will complete the delivery of 10 FF 91 2.0 Futurist Alliance units in 2023.
It is worth noting that the Middle East market is also a top priority for FF's layout this year. In terms of product planning and implementation in the Middle East, it claims to launch FF 91 2.0 aiFalcon this year. Next, it will rapidly achieve industrialization, product technology access and localization, and establish a user ecosystem in the Middle East.
In the past two years, many car companies, including BYD, Geely Krypton, and Xiaopeng, have been betting on the Middle East market. With players competing from all sides, it remains to be seen whether FF, which only entered the delivery stage last year, can break through. For more specific developments in the Middle East market and the current delivery situation of FF, Time Weekly reporters also interviewed FF, and relevant personnel said that it will be uniformly announced in the announcement.
So far, we have invested 3 billion US dollars
In this open letter of over two thousand words, Matthias Aydt not only talked about FF's opportunities and achievements, products and technology, financial situation, cost reduction achievements, etc., but also revealed the next steps.
Specifically, in terms of opportunities and achievements, the letter mentions that FF is one of only five new electric vehicle companies in the world that have passed US compliance certification, while the other four are Tesla, Lucid, Rivian, and Fisker.
Meanwhile, it also revealed that FF has invested $3 billion so far to build an electric vehicle platform and I A. I Technical, product development, and manufacturing capabilities. The company's disclosed third quarter report for 2023 shows a net asset of $261.8 million.
Since 2014, Jia Yueting has been walking on this road for nearly 10 years to pursue his dream of making cars.
According to previous reports by The Paper, in May 2014, Faraday Future was officially registered and established by Jia Yueting and his partners in the United States. Jia Yueting's goal is to create a smart electric vehicle that surpasses Tesla and subverts the traditional automotive industry. In January 2017, three years later, FF made its debut as the brand's first model, the FF 91, at the Las Vegas CES exhibition in the United States, and claimed to have received over 64000 pre orders, expected to be released and delivered in 2018.
However, after experiencing multiple ticket cancellations, FF held the "FF 91&Faraday Future 2.0 Ultimate Release" event at the end of May last year, announcing the official launch of the FF 91 2.0 Futurist Alliance (2.0 version of FF 91 Futurist Alliance), priced at $309000 (approximately RMB 2.224 million).
At that time, Jia Yueting claimed that FF's customer portraits were similar in size and scale to Rolls Royce, Ferrari, Bentley, and Maybach, with a total annual sales volume of about 55000 vehicles. "We believe that the FF 91, as a unique and disruptive product, can one day become a leader in the ultra luxury market segment."
Subsequently, FF launched the first phase of delivery in June last year. According to its announcement on January 3rd this year, it completed the delivery of 10 FF 91 2.0 Futurist Alliance units in 2023.
"In 2023, FF began to enter the stage of delivering revenue, forming a closed loop of user acquisition, delivery, and user operation." Matthias Aydt stated in the letter that he believes this is a critical period for the company's business growth and a good opportunity for the company's next stage of development. Previously, Jia Yueting also referred to last year as a milestone in the development history of FF.
However, in the industry's view, for FF at this stage, how to accelerate the ramp up of delivery volume has become a top priority. According to the monthly delivery plan released by FF's official WeChat account at the end of October last year, it will ramp up to delivering two units per week from the end of November. Matthias Aydt also revealed that FF's Hanford, California self operated factory is expected to have an annual production capacity of 10000 units and an investment of over 200 million US dollars in the future.
In terms of the next steps, the open letter stated that it will reduce costs, improve expenditure efficiency, including daily operations and FF 91 material costs, as well as continue to deliver products to top celebrities and opinion leaders. At the same time, it will develop the next generation product FF 92, maintaining FF's leading advantage in product and technological strength.
Betting on the Middle East market
In his internal letter, Matthias Aydt repeatedly mentioned the Middle East market.
"The Middle East market has brought exciting opportunities for intelligent autonomous vehicle, which is very consistent with FF's product technology and brand positioning. We look forward to this move to open FF's business and cooperation in the Middle East," said the open letter.
It is reported that FF is expected to enter the Middle East market in 2024. In terms of the next steps, it stated that it will deeply cultivate the dual home markets of the United States and China, as well as the third pole in the Middle East; Rapid industrialization landing, product technology access and localization, and establishment of user ecosystem in the Middle East.
In fact, FF has already taken frequent actions in the Middle East market. Last year, FF announced plans to enter the Middle East and signed strategic cooperation agreements with Master Investment Group and Siraj Holding LLC, which have royal backgrounds in the United Arab Emirates. FF will customize a limited edition model for the Middle East market, the FF 91 2.0 Futurist aiFalcon, with delivery planned for 2024.
Afterwards, FF will collaborate with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) to establish a regional headquarters, manufacturing factory, and advanced research and development center in Abu Dhabi, focusing on next-generation tram and AI technology, and expanding opportunities in the UAE capital market. Officially, FF Abu Dhabi R&D Center will be committed to accelerating the innovation pace of AI and tram in the field of travel applications, and exploring cooperation and technology transfer opportunities with various universities in Abu Dhabi.
On November 28th last year, Jia Yueting stated on Weibo that within 72 hours of the successful launch of the FF Middle East Strategy Conference, the company received over 300 FF91 2.0 Futurist aiFalcon limited edition pre orders free of deposit.
Jiang Han, a senior researcher at Pangu Think Tank, told Time Weekly that the Middle East is an important market with abundant oil and gas resources, as well as a large population and wealth. Therefore, many car manufacturers have seen the potential to enter the Middle East market and have established businesses in the region. In addition, consumers in the Middle East are increasingly focused on environmental protection and sustainability, which also provides opportunities for electric vehicles and other environmental technologies.
Faced with the potential of the Middle East market, many car companies choose to enter by running. Taking this month as an example, on February 18th, Jike officially announced its debut in the four Middle Eastern countries, sparking a new wave of intelligent pure electricity in the Middle East. On February 22nd, Xiaopeng Motors announced its partnership with Ali&, a distributor group in the United Arab Emirates; Sons establishes strategic partnerships; It will start selling the Xiaopeng G6 and G9 SUV models in the UAE from Q3 onwards. Earlier, in March 2023, BYD announced a partnership with renowned UAE dealer Al Futtaim and officially launched the BYD ATTO 3 Yuan PLUS in the local market in June. In November, it opened its flagship showroom at the Dubai Festival City shopping center and officially launched the Han model for the UAE market.
In the industry's view, currently the Middle East market has gathered many players, and it is not easy for FF to stand out. At the same time, expanding overseas markets may also pose higher requirements for its capital investment.
Matthias Aydt also admitted in an open letter, "We believe that FF has the foundation to support future development, but additional funding is still needed."
In terms of financing and finance, the open letter revealed that FF will continue and accelerate its current plan to attract strategic investors. Optimize and upgrade the company's financial system in three regions, improve financial efficiency, establish healthy and sustainable cash flow management, and achieve positive cash flow as soon as possible.
Behind many measures, where will Jia Yueting, who has been running on the road of car manufacturing for nearly 10 years, and the FF he founded go?