On January 7, 2022, in the past 2021, SAIC-GM adhered to the strategic determination of high-quality development, vigorously promoted the innovation and transformation of the whole business chain, and achieved all-round system capability improvement in technology upgrading, product force improvement, brand building, marketing innovation, intelligent manufacturing, system layout and other aspects, the company's sales structure and sales quality were continuously optimized, and the operation quality continued to improve. At the same time, SAIC-GM focused on the development of cutting-edge science and technology and the future travel ecological needs of the market, made efforts to "electrify, intelligentize and network" forward-looking strategic planning and achievements, actively explored new business models, and made major breakthroughs, laying a solid foundation for the sustainable and high-quality development of enterprises, and opening a new chapter for the company to accelerate its future-oriented strategic transformation.
SAIC-GM embraces change and resonates with the times with a comprehensively renewed image
In 2021, in the face of the severe challenges brought by the "lack of cores" to the industry's production, SAIC-GM actively integrates resources and strives to reduce the supply gap, while optimizing allocation and ensuring key production capacity. The company's three major Brands, Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac, sold a total of 1,331,567 vehicles for the year. Among them, the sales of high-end models accounted for more than 5 percentage points higher than in 2020, and the average transaction price of each brand increased by 6% to 16%. The Buick brand sold 828,627 vehicles in the whole year, accounting for 60% of the sales of its mid-to-high-end models; the Buick GL8 series increased by 8.4% year-on-year, setting a new annual sales record, and the cumulative sales exceeded 1.5 million units; the Buick SUV family sales structure was further optimized, the annual sales of the flagship Model Encore Banner increased by 47.2% year-on-year, the sales volume of the Oncove Plus has steadily increased since its listing in June, and the Sales of the Buick Veyron Pro and Veyron Pro have doubled compared with last year GS sales have grown tremendously, with more than 26,000 units sold since its launch in September. The sales share of large vehicles under the Chevrolet brand consisting of Maribble XL, Chevrolet Trailblazers and Explorers increased to 48.3%, an increase of 15 percentage points year-on-year; among them, the annual sales of Maribal XL increased by 12% year-on-year, and the sales volume of Chevrolet Trail increased by 37%; Chevrolet Patrol further consolidated good reputation, with a significant increase of 91% year-on-year. Cadillac brand sales of 233,117 vehicles in the whole year, an increase of 1.4% year-on-year, a new record in China sales; "new American luxury rear-drive sedan family" annual sales increased by 13.6% year-on-year, of which the star model CT5 increased by 37.9%; the new American luxury SUV product matrix fully entered the "light hybrid era", of which the Cadillac XT6, the preferred 400,000-level large luxury SUV, increased by 43.1% year-on-year, and the market share ranked the forefront of the market segment. With the support of the three major brands, SAIC-GM has further consolidated its advantages and increased its market share in mainstream market segments such as large-scale MPVs and mid-to-high-end SUVs, while in the rapidly developing mainstream new energy market, the company has also achieved high growth that exceeded the industry average and ranked among the top three joint venture brand new energy vehicle sales.
Buick GL8 series set a new annual sales record
The proportion of chevrolet brand car sales continues to increase
The Cadillac brand set a new record for sales in China
Focus on the future of travel 2021 to start a new journey of high-quality development
In 2021, various environmental factors such as chip shortages, rising raw material prices, and repeated epidemics, together with the adjustment of market depth and the increasingly fierce industry "involution", have brought great pressure to auto companies. Under the complicated situation, SAIC-GM has solidly promoted the implementation of various strategic plans, in addition to making every effort to ensure the quality of operations, it has also focused on the new ecology and new scenarios of future travel, actively launched a comprehensive transformation, ushered in a number of milestone moments, and created a new situation for the future-oriented high-quality development road.
In the face of industrial transformation and continuous upgrading of consumer demand, and relying on the superior resources of both parent companies, in April 2021, SAIC-GM announced its leading technology and strategic layout in the field of "electrification, intelligence and networking", and promised to invest more than 50 billion yuan in the field of electrification and intelligent networking new technologies by 2025. Under this blueprint, SAIC-GM will bring the Ultium Aoteneng electric vehicle platform, which brings together the industry's cutting-edge technology, to China. As the cornerstone of GM's full electrification, the Aoteneng Electric Vehicle Platform integrates GM's 26 years of electrification experience and forward-looking technology, bringing consumers a new electrified driving experience with the advantages of smarter, safer and more performance. The first model of the Aoteneng electric vehicle platform after entering The Cadillac luxury pure electric medium and large SUV LYRIQ was unveiled, which received great attention from the market and consumers, and the number of orders exceeded 2,000 in one hour after the pre-sale was opened. With the completion and commissioning of the Aoteneng Gigafactory at the Jinqiao Base in Shanghai in October, as well as the opening of the Pan-Asia New Energy Test Building and the Guangde Battery Safety Laboratory, it marks that SAIC-GM has a complete new energy system capability from technology research and development, test verification, local procurement to production and manufacturing, and has laid a solid foundation for leading the future development of electrification. While vigorously developing new energy, SAIC-GM adopts "two legs" to walk, continues to improve the efficiency of the internal combustion engine, introduces the eighth-generation Ecotec's new 1.5T four-cylinder direct-injection turbocharged engine, and popularizes the 48V light mixing technology on a large scale on its models, realizing the comprehensive upgrade of the intelligent and electrification of the internal combustion engine system.
SAIC-GM Ultium Aoteneng Gigafactory
In terms of "second engine" intelligent networking, SAIC-GM has carried out multi-round in-vehicle interconnection system function upgrades in 2021 to bring consumers a convenient and pleasant vehicle connection experience. Among them, the in-vehicle interconnection system upgrade, which will be launched in mid-to-late November, is expected to cover a total of 1.37 million products under Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac, including a number of new applications and upgrades to the car machine function, further enhancing the "happiness index" of the user's connected car experience. In addition, SAIC-GM has also accelerated the popularization of a new generation of VIP intelligent electronic architecture and intelligent driver assistance technology in its models. The landing and upgrading of a series of blockbuster products and technologies, as well as the company's continuous promotion of marketing and service innovation around the whole life cycle user experience, have laid a good start for the development of SAIC-GM's "14th Five-Year Plan", and highlighted the company's scientific and technological confidence and strength in embracing the future and accelerating towards "electrification, intelligence and networking".
In September 2021, SAIC-GM launched a new division standard, demonstrating the determination of the company to actively transform and the vitality of innovative development. At the same time, the continuous improvement of brand influence and the comprehensive and healthy development of SAIC-GM have also been highly recognized and praised by all sectors of society. Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac's three major brands and products are not only in J.D. Power won 9 first places in the 2021 China Auto Market Survey Report, and also won many laurels in the 2021 China Automotive User Satisfaction Evaluation (CACSI) released by the China Association for Quality; the company's newly launched 8th-generation Ecotec 1.5T engine won the 2021 "China Heart" Top Ten Engines, and this engine with industry-leading intelligence level has been applied to many models of SAIC-GM; in addition, SAIC-GM has also been awarded the title of "China's Most Respected Enterprise" for the 17th consecutive time and the "China Corporate Social Responsibility List" for the 13th consecutive time, reflecting the full affirmation of consumers and industry authorities for the company's leading product strength, excellent service and corporate citizenship responsibility.
Accelerate the comprehensive transformation of 2022 ushered in a number of blockbuster scientific and technological upgrades
2022 is not only a tough year for the development of the country's "14th Five-Year Plan", but also a key period for the strategic transformation of SAIC-GM. Focusing on consumers' demand for new technologies and travel ecology of "electrification, intelligence and networking", SAIC-GM will accelerate the application of the world's leading technology and create greater value and better experience for consumers with technology empowerment.
In terms of new energy products, the listing of Cadillac LYRIQ has sounded the "rallying call" of the Outone electric vehicle platform, and the new energy products of Buick and Chevrolet based on the Outone platform will be unveiled in 2022, and with the leading edge of smarter, safer and more performance, it will bring consumers a wealth of choices and establish a technical benchmark for joint venture brand electric vehicles.
The Ultium Electric Vehicle Platform offers the advantages of "smarter, safer and more performant"
In terms of intelligent assisted driving, adhering to the concept of "extreme safety and reliability", SAIC-GM will accelerate the introduction of more powerful intelligent driving assistance systems, continuously expand its application scenarios, and make the safe and reliable assisted driving journey within reach through iterative updates. At the beginning of 2022, some models of buick GL8 will add ILC driver command lane change function, the first company to upgrade the auxiliary driving system through OTA remotely; at the same time, SAIC-GM will introduce a new generation of Super Cruise super assisted driving system in 2022, adding new features such as command lane change and automatic lane change. It is worth mentioning that the Super Cruise Super Assisted Driving System has won the assisted driving evaluation championship of the well-known non-profit third-party evaluation agency "Consumer Report" in North America for two consecutive times in 2019 and 2020, and it has achieved more than 11 million kilometers of road accidents in North America, bringing users a truly safe, intelligent and relaxed assisted driving experience. In the next 5 years, the Super Cruise Super Assisted Driving System will gradually cover cadillac, Buick and Chevrolet three major brand models; more models will be equipped with traffic congestion assistance systems to further improve the driving convenience in urban road conditions; parking assistance systems will also be upgraded in 2022, and smart keys or mobile phone APP remote parking functions will be added.
In the field of intelligent cockpit, the new generation of VIP intelligent electronic architecture opens up the "cloud, tube, terminal", providing strong support for software-defined vehicles, and by 2025, most of the new models of SAIC-GM's three major brands will apply this new electronic architecture. The new generation of VCS intelligent cockpit system will enter the market in 2022, it integrates the world's top hardware configuration and industry-leading interaction technology, combined with 5G and V2X vehicle-to-road collaboration technology, from function, interaction to service to bring intelligent, efficient, seamless multi-dimensional experience and rich functions. SAIC-GM will also bring OTA upgrades to the in-vehicle interconnection system several times a year to create the industry's largest intelligent interconnection upgrade experience.
Cadillac Luxury Pure Electric Medium to Large SUV LYRIQ
In addition, SAIC-GM will also accelerate the promotion of marketing innovation, service innovation, and channel innovation, continuously optimize the marketing system with new ideas and new thinking, develop new business growth points, continue to enhance the influence of the three major brands, bring users a high-quality experience throughout the life cycle of the car, and continuously meet consumers' expectations for smart travel.
At present, new technologies, new ideas, and new boundaries are constantly being broken through, industrial forms, consumption concepts, and business models are changing with each passing day, and the major changes in the automotive industry that have not occurred in a hundred years have arrived. In the face of unprecedented challenges, SAIC-GM will continue to innovate and integrate global superior resources, combine its own insights and grasp of Chinese consumer needs and the local market environment, introduce cutting-edge intelligent travel technology into China synchronously, innovate and break the situation while ensuring high-quality development, unremittingly forge the core capabilities of creating the future, and move towards the vision of "leading smart travel and achieving a better life".