Employees will be paid as usual until February 18, and after March 15 only HiPhi employees in Shanghai will receive basic pay, according to local media.

(Image credit: CnEVPost)

As other electric vehicle (EV) makers celebrate the first working day of the Chinese Lunar New Year, premium EV maker Human Horizons' HiPhi brand is halting production, marking a further deterioration in its operations.

Shanghai-based HiPhi held an internal meeting on February 18 and announced a six-month production halt with immediate effect, local media outlet Jiemian reported today.

Employee salaries prior to February 18 will be paid as usual, Jiemian said, citing an insider. HiPhi usually pays salaries on the 15th day of each month, the report noted.

Employees who remain with HiPhi until March 15 will receive only basic salaries, and after March 15 only Shanghai employees will receive basic salaries, according to the report.

Previously, HiPhi had already announced in an all-staff meeting that it was postponing January salaries, canceling year-end awards, and taking a pay cut across the board, with January salaries to be paid at the end of February, according to Jiemian.

HiPhi was founded in 2017 and is targeting the premium EV market of RMB 500,000 ($69,500) to RMB 800,000.

It unveiled its first model, the HiPhi X, in October 2020, which began deliveries in May 2021 and is currently priced at a starting price of RMB 570,000 yuan.

In August 2022, HiPhi launched its second model, the HiPhi Z, which is currently priced at a starting price of RMB 510,000 yuan.

On July 15, 2023, HiPhi launched its least expensive model to date, the HiPhi Y, in an attempt to enter the mainstream premium EV market. The model started at RMB 339,000 and deliveries began on July 29.

After the National Day holiday in early October last year, rumors began to circulate on social media that HiPhi would be laying off employees.

On one social media platform, a user certified as a HiPhi employee said the company would lay off up to 20 percent of its workforce and up to 50 percent in a few departments.

HiPhi later denied these rumors and said that the situation was a normal staff turnover.

On October 25, 2023, Jiemian reported that HiPhi management gave verbal notification of layoffs to some executives, involving every department.

The layoffs had not been widely noted within HiPhi, and some lower-level employees were not yet aware of them, the report stated at the time.

($1 = RMB 7.1936)

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