Hopium, the young French manufacturer specializing in hydrogen, already seems to be in difficulty. Cuts in the workforce are planned and a postponement of the marketing could be profiled.
False start for the “French Tesla of hydrogen”? After having successfully entered the stock market at the end of 2020 with a share value multiplied by four in the months that followed, then the presence of the manufacturer at the Mondial de l’Automobile last October with a prototype of the Machina sedan, it would seem that the soufflé falls. Hopium has just published a press release specifying a fragile financial situation and adjustments to be expected: postponement of marketing, cut in payroll, search for new financing…
This press release comes in response to an article by our colleagues from Les Echos published on January 11. The media claimed that the manufacturer would be in the process of reducing its workforce, with 60 departures out of a workforce of 130 people. Hopium confirms that a “new phase of development” is underway and that it could lead to “a reduction in the wage bill after a significant period of recruitment which allowed intensified R&D efforts”. The downsizing will depend on the new strategic plan, currently being developed according to the young brand.
Search for new funding in progress
Hopium also evokes several ideas to find new financing and find colors, such as “sequencing” (industrial optimization) or the modification of the marketing schedule of the Hopium Machina, or even “the possibility of marketing or licensing its battery at fuel” to other manufacturers. For the moment, Hopium “estimates that it can meet its estimated financing needs until June 30, 2023”, and “continues to explore other sources of financing (…) including by way of a call on the market, and /or through industrial partnerships”. The management will give new details on its roadmap between now and then, in particular on the occasion of the presentation of its annual accounts.
In December, the team had also evolved with two appointments (Sylvain Laurent, Managing Director and Philippe Baudillon, Deputy Managing Director) and the arrival of Jean-Baptise Djebbari (ex-Minister of Transport) on the Board of administration. Olivier Lombard, the founder, has become deputy general manager in charge of the product.
Orders already placed
Finding investors for a technology that is still not very widespread is obviously a difficult task. However, some customers have already expressed their interest, such as Crédit Agricole which announced at the Paris Motor Show the order of 10,000 copies by its automotive financing subsidiary Agilauto.
The company created in 2019 by the former French driver Olivier Lombard had raised significant funds (95 million euros in all) for the research and development of its future hydrogen sedan, scheduled for 2025. This must offer a range of 1000 km, with approximately 500 hp and a weight of less than 2 tons, all for a price of 120,000 €. It must be produced in France in a new Normandy factory near Vernon.
Photos : DR.
Also read on Auto-Moto.com:
Crédit Agricole orders 10,000 Hopium Machina sedans
Hopium Machina SUV: the logical continuation after the hydrogen sedan?
Hopium Machina Vision: the hydrogen sedan present at the Mondial (VIDEO)
