The new energy industry is never devoid of dramatic turns. Geely Evergrande Auto, which had temporarily paused, seems to be showing signs of restarting recently.

CEO Xia Yiping has rarely updated his Weibo, yet the official account has consistently released user protection statements, and there have even been whispers of "restructuring funds in place." As a high-end smart car brand jointly established by Baidu and Geely, is Geely Evergrande's "revival" a harbinger of industry recovery or yet another arduous self-redemption journey?

The inception of Geely Evergrande was once hailed as a paradigm of "strong-strong collaboration." Baidu contributed its intelligent driving technology, while Geely brought its vehicle manufacturing expertise. The first model, Geely Evergrande 01, launched in October 2023, embodied the concept of "automotive robots." However, the market's response was not as enthusiastic as anticipated. Within a year, Geely Evergrande 01 sold only 13,000 units, and the second model, Geely Evergrande 07, failed to make any significant impact.

By the end of last year, Geely Evergrande was exposed to a capital chain rupture and delays in payments to suppliers, followed by large-scale layoffs. CEO Xia Yiping issued an internal letter acknowledging that "the established business plan could not be executed," and the company entered the "entrepreneurial 2.0 stage." For a while, Geely Evergrande's offline stores closed, online live streaming rooms disbanded, and the brand fell silent.

Nevertheless, Geely Evergrande's "dormant" state did not persist for long. Since the beginning of this year, a series of actions suggest that the company might be attempting to return to the racetrack.

User services remain operational: The official app is largely functional except for car purchase features, and the mall has even resumed selling peripheral products, apologizing for the surge in orders. After-sales guarantees are in place: Geely Evergrande has reached an agreement with Geely's LYNK & CO to provide maintenance and roadside assistance services to car owners through the LYNK & CO 400 hotline. Technology update promise: The official announced that intelligent assisted driving OTA upgrades will be rolled out in the second half of the year, indicating that the R&D team is still active.

More notably, Geely Evergrande CEO Xia Yiping has recently become active again, reposting car owner videos and official statements. Meanwhile, former PR head Xu Jiye also revealed in a WeChat Moments post that "the board of Jidu has agreed to restructure." These signs have sparked speculation from the outside world: Does Geely Evergrande truly have a chance to turn the tide?

However, in the new energy vehicle market, once brand trust collapses, the difficulty of rebuilding far exceeds imagination. Geely Evergrande is currently facing a comprehensive trust crisis: suppliers are hesitant to accept orders, fearing repeated payment delays; dealers are reluctant to cooperate, wary of past mistakes; consumers are apprehensive about purchasing, concerned about a lack of after-sales service. This systemic distrust cannot be alleviated with a few statements or OTA upgrades.

Geely Evergrande's once-proud "Baidu Apollo Intelligent Driving" ace card is no longer unique. During its downtime, intelligent driving technology has undergone several iterations. Technologies like Huawei ADS 3.0, Xpeng XNGP, and NIO NOP+ are advancing rapidly, while Geely Evergrande's intelligent driving system lags behind industry leaders due to a lack of continuous investment.

More importantly, Geely Evergrande has consistently failed to establish differentiated brand recognition. In the minds of consumers, it is neither as technologically distinct as Tesla nor as unique in user ecosystem as NIO, and it even lacks a clear positioning compared to some second-tier new energy vehicle brands. This lack of clarity in brand recognition leaves Geely Evergrande without a clear focus as it attempts to restart the market.

The fate of Geely Evergrande is not merely about the survival of a brand; it also reflects the underlying logic of the new energy industry – technology, capital, and user trust are indispensable. For consumers, it might be prudent to wait and see; for the industry, the case of Geely Evergrande proves once again that there are no shortcuts in car manufacturing, and revival is more challenging than startups.