Source: Zebra Consumption, Jiefang Daily, and Public Online Materials
After nearly two years of production suspension, Neta Auto has finally welcomed its "Taiyi Zhenren" (Master Taiyi).
On September 11, the fourth creditors' meeting for the bankruptcy reorganization of Hozon New Energy (parent company of Neta Auto) was held online. The "Reorganization Plan (Draft)" was disclosed for the first time, revealing that Zhejiang Taiyi Shenglian Enterprise Management Partnership (Limited Partnership) plans to invest CNY 3 billion to take control, acquiring approximately 70.62% of Hozon New Energy's equity. The remaining approximately 29.38% equity will be used by the administrator to offset debts to some creditors in the form of trust beneficiary rights shares.
This investment entity, named after a mythological allusion, was registered and established in April 2026. It was formed as a partnership by Sensteed HI-TECH Group. and Zhejiang Shanzi Yuxu Technology Co., Ltd., with the ultimate actual controller being Ye Ji, Chairman of Sensteed HI-TECH. The naming of Taiyi Shenglian was clearly designed to echo the myth of Taiyi Zhenren rebuilding Nezha's physical body with a lotus flower.
However, whether the CNY 3 billion can truly enable Neta to achieve "nirvana" depends on whether the reorganization draft can ultimately be implemented. For an automaker that has suspended production for two years, carries over CNY 26 billion in debt, and suffers from severe brand awareness decay, exactly how much industrial value remains to be reactivated?
CNY 3 Billion Investment: 60% Allocated to Resuming Production
According to the "Reorganization Plan (Draft)", the CNY 3 billion reorganization investment fund is strictly allocated: CNY 1.167 billion will be used to settle relevant claims and bankruptcy expenses corresponding to retained assets, while the remaining CNY 1.833 billion will supplement working capital to support production resumption, supply chain reconstruction, and operational turnover. In other words, only about 60% of the funds will actually flow into the core automobile manufacturing business.
This budget is far from generous. As of August 31, 2026, a total of 1,631 creditors filed claims with the court, with the total declared amount exceeding CNY 26 billion. However, the administrator confirmed claims of only about CNY 5.1 billion, and the company's available cash on hand has dwindled to just CNY 15.4591 million. Employee claims involve 2,715 people, totaling approximately CNY 209 million.
According to the repayment plan, the repayment rate for ordinary claims under CNY 800,000 is only about 12%. The portion exceeding CNY 800,000 will be converted into equity through a debt-to-equity swap, and priority claims will only receive interest payments for the first three years. After rough calculations, some creditors pointed out that every CNY 1 of ordinary claims can only be exchanged for less than CNY 0.63 in cash repayment.
In reality, only CNY 1.833 billion is left for resuming production. For an automaker that needs to simultaneously repair its supply chain, restore its after-sales system, and rebuild dealer confidence, this figure is far from sufficient.
Even more alarming is the uncertainty of funds being in place. The registered capital of Taiyi Shenglian, amounting to CNY 3.001 billion, is currently in the subscribed state, with the paid-in capital column left blank. The reorganization investment will be paid in three installments. Whether the funds can be delivered in full and on schedule remains a question mark hanging over the reorganization plan.
Qualification Countdown: Resuming Production is a "Race Against Time"
Neta Auto faces not only financial pressure but also a more urgent time window.
According to relevant regulations of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), complete vehicle enterprises with an average annual production of less than 2,000 units for two consecutive years may be placed on a special public notice list, facing the risk of having their "dual qualifications" for automobile manufacturing revoked. Neta Auto has suspended production since November 2024, approaching two years. This means that production resumption must achieve the mass production of at least 2,000 complete vehicles within 2026; otherwise, the qualifications could be directly revoked.
For an enterprise with a disrupted supply chain and idle production lines for two years, this is a race against time.
The reorganization draft outlines a "three-step" path for resuming production: the first phase is to resume production of the Neta X model, focusing on overseas markets with an annual sales target of 10,000 units; the second phase is to launch adapted models for the Asian, African, and Latin American markets, with an annual production target of 300,000 units; the third phase is to build global intelligent models, sprinting towards an annual output value of CNY 40 billion, and initiating IPO preparations.
From 10,000 units to 300,000 units, and then to an annual output value of CNY 40 billion, the targets escalate step by step. However, in reality, Neta Auto's annual deliveries at its peak in 2022 were only 152,100 units, and its full-year sales in 2024 had plummeted to 64,500 units, nearly halving year-on-year. After nearly two years of production suspension, doubling capacity in three years represents a massive leap.
The product line has also undergone a "drastic pruning" style of contraction. The assets of two affordable models, Neta X and Neta L, have been retained, while the Neta S and Neta GT, which previously attempted to break into the high-end market of CNY 200,000 to CNY 300,000, were not included in the retention list. This means that the reorganized Neta will completely abandon the illusion of breaking upward and retreat to its most familiar markets: lower-tier and overseas markets.
However, the issue is that in 2022, when Neta topped the sales chart among new forces relying on affordable models, media estimates suggested a loss of over CNY 80,000 per vehicle sold. Whether the old path of high volume at low prices can work post-reorganization, without fundamental changes in product definition and cost structure, remains unknown.
The situation in overseas markets is even more thorny. Neta Auto once had a brief moment of glory in Thailand, but in the first half of 2026, its cumulative sales in Thailand were only 365 units. The Thai Ministry of Finance previously filed a lawsuit against it for failing to fulfill its local production commitments and even planned to freeze its assets in Thailand. The competitive landscape of the NEV (New Energy Vehicle) market in Southeast Asia has also undergone drastic changes. With policy subsidies phasing out and competition intensifying, it will be much harder for Neta to regain a firm foothold in overseas markets than it was two years ago.
Can Taiyi, Under High-Consumption Restrictions, Hold Up Neta?
In August 2025, the administrator of Hozon New Energy publicly solicited reorganization investors. Within the specified time limit, only Sensteed HI-TECH completed the registration process. According to media reports, Sensteed HI-TECH proposed a CNY 4.5 billion composite reorganization investment plan at that time, covering cash, common benefit debt, supplier debt-to-equity swaps, and technology valuation. However, this plan faced strong opposition from the ordinary creditor group and failed to be approved at the creditors' meeting.
In March 2026, because the draft was not submitted on schedule, the original reorganization procedure was terminated, and Hozon New Energy was once transferred to bankruptcy liquidation. It was not until Taiyi Shenglian, an affiliate of Sensteed HI-TECH, entered the scene that Neta Auto once again saw a ray of hope.
Who is Ye Ji, the man behind Taiyi Shenglian? And what strength does he have to reshape Neta? Public information shows that Ye Ji was born in 1983 and holds a doctoral degree. He has served as the founder of YEZ Trading and the general manager of Ningbo Chancheng Ecological Construction Group Co., Ltd (now Ningbo Xinxin Industrial and Urban Construction Co., Ltd.). Xinxin Industrial and Urban Construction is a state-owned construction enterprise established in 1992. After restructuring in 2007, Ye Ji's father, Ye Licheng, became the major shareholder and actual controller. Business registration data shows that Ye Ji currently directly and indirectly controls over 90% of the company's equity and serves as its chairman.
In 2015, Ye Ji established Chiji Holdings and used it as the core to begin building the "Shanzi" capital network. In 2020, the "Yinyin" empire of Xiong Xuqiang, the former richest man in Ningbo, fell into crisis, with its flagship Yinyin Shares mired in a debt quagmire. Through Chiji Holdings, Ye Ji established Zihe Jinxin and, together with Ningbo state-owned capital, Geely, Haier Capital, etc., became the reorganization investor for Yinyin Shares with CNY 3.2 billion, making a name for himself in the capital market. Through this, Ye Ji indirectly invested in another listed company under the Yinyin empire, Kangqiang Electronics, and served as its chairman.
After taking control of Yinyin Shares, Ye Ji served as chairman and general manager, leading the divestiture of the original real estate business and the transformation towards auto parts and semiconductors. The company was renamed Sensteed HI-TECH.
However, it is worth noting that in its clarification announcement on September 15, Sensteed HI-TECH explicitly stated that there is no equity control relationship between the company and Taiyi Shenglian, and it has not directly or indirectly participated in the bankruptcy reorganization investment of Neta Auto through controlled entities. This means that the listed company itself does not bear investment obligations and debt risks, and how industrial resources will be transmitted to the reorganized Neta Auto remains unclear at present.
Burdened by historical baggage, the operational status of Sensteed HI-TECH is not optimistic. From 2021 to 2024, the company reported massive losses in net profit attributable to shareholders for four consecutive years, with a cumulative loss of nearly CNY 7.4 billion. In the first half of 2026, the company's operating revenue declined by 20.87% year-on-year, and the loss in net profit deducted from non-recurring gains and losses expanded by 85.69% year-on-year to CNY -349 million.
Meanwhile, business registration data shows that Chiji Holdings, the underlying investment platform under Ye Ji, faces significant debt pressure. It is involved in 17 judicial cases as a defendant, with the amount involved exceeding CNY 1.4 billion. Ye Ji himself, implicated in the cases of his affiliated companies, has been subjected to restrictions on high consumption multiple times from April 2025 to September this year.
Capital injection is easy, but industrial value creation is extremely difficult. For an automaker that has been idle for a long time, CNY 3 billion can settle some debts, pay bankruptcy expenses, and maintain operations for a period, but it cannot conjure up a competitive R&D team out of thin air, nor can it repair trust relationships with hundreds of suppliers in a short time, let alone bring a brand that has been out of consumers' sight for nearly two years back onto their car-purchasing decision lists.
Capital Provides the Shell, but the Soul Must Be Found by Itself
A commentary in Securities Times hit the nail on the head: whether Neta Auto can achieve "nirvana" depends on whether its "soul" still exists, whether the investors have genuine industrial empowerment capabilities, and more importantly, whether it can wear the "Qiankun Ring" of institutional governance well after reorganization.
The naming of Taiyi Shenglian embodies a romantic imagination of mythology. But in the NEV (New Energy Vehicle) market where "gods are fighting", capital only provides a new shell. It is not easy to win the "resurrection match". If quick money is made solely through capital operations, the damage to the brand will undoubtedly be devastating.
Neta Auto still holds some residual value: the after-sales needs of over 400,000 existing car owners, the market-validated Neta X product platform, and the early accumulated channel foundation in overseas markets. But whether these values can be activated depends on whether three core questions can be answered: Can the CNY 1.833 billion working capital sustain the company until the resumed production models generate positive cash flow? Can the auto parts and complete vehicle manufacturing resources of Sensteed HI-TECH be truly integrated into Neta's supply chain system? Can the reorganized corporate governance break away from the old path of blind expansion in the past?
If the answers to these three questions are negative, then the CNY 3 billion exchanged may only result in a costly "life extension" rather than a true "resurrection".
In "Ne Zha: Birth of the Demon Child", when the heavenly tribulation descends, Taiyi Zhenren uses the Seven-Colored Treasure Lotus to protect Nezha's soul. Although he ultimately has his three flowers atop his head shaved off by heavenly thunder and loses hundreds of years of cultivation, he wins a ray of hope for Nezha. In reality, facing the triple "heavenly thunder" of debt, qualifications, and time, can Ye Ji, the "high-consumption restricted" Taiyi, successfully resurrect Neta and rebuild its physical body?
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