In the first quarter of this year, the domestic auto market was affected by unfavorable factors such as the frequent occurrence of the epidemic at multiple points and the rise in raw material prices, and the profitability of car companies was greatly inhibited. However, GAC Group still handed over a bright answer sheet, achieving operating income of 23.145 billion yuan in the first quarter of 2022, an increase of 45.67% year-on-year, while the net profit attributable to the mother was 3.009 billion yuan, an increase of 27.17% year-on-year, showing strong market competitiveness.
Independent joint ventures work together
According to the data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, the domestic automobile production and sales in the first quarter of this year were 6.484 million and 6.509 million vehicles, respectively, with a slight increase in production and sales year-on-year, but the growth rate of the same period last year has dropped significantly, and the overall industry environment is relatively sluggish. However, GAC Group's market performance was able to buck the trend, with a total of 598,000 vehicles and 608,000 units completed in the first quarter, up 24.96% and 22.48% year-on-year, respectively.
GAC Group achieved high growth in the first quarter, mainly due to the simultaneous efforts of the two camps of independent and joint ventures. In terms of the autonomous camp, GAC Aeon produced 43,874 units and sold 44,874 vehicles in January and March, an increase of more than 150% year-on-year. In addition, GAC Aeon's production and sales exceeded 20,000 units for the first time in March, and it is also the only new energy vehicle company with monthly sales exceeding 20,000 units in March 2022. From January to March, GAC Trumpchi produced 85,206 units, an increase of 15.92% year-on-year, and sold 90,448 units, an increase of 21.8% year-on-year.
The performance of the joint venture brand is also impressive, with guangqi Honda's cumulative sales of 212,424 units in the first quarter, an increase of 16.75% year-on-year, and in terms of specific models, the Accord series achieved sales of 54,856 units, an increase of 20.0% year-on-year. In addition, the model that has just entered the market also achieved sales of 21,097 units in the first quarter. Gagac Toyota also sold more than 240,000 units in the first quarter, of which the Camry contributed 68,904 units, an increase of 73.3% year-on-year, the fourth-generation Highlander was 25,418 units, and the Xena had 15,738 units.
New energy technology achievements are remarkable
As we all know, the new energy vehicle market is a blue ocean, and the production and sales of new energy vehicles in the mainland in the first quarter of this year also exceeded one million, and the market share reached 19.3%. Gac Motor Group's performance in the new energy vehicle market is also outstanding enough, with production of 51,148 units in January and March, an increase of 139.67% year-on-year, and sales of 52,819 units, an increase of 144.8% year-on-year, and production and sales have doubled.
Behind this achievement is inseparable from the deep accumulation of GAC Group in the field of new energy vehicles. At present, GAC Pure Electric Vehicle's exclusive platform GEP has been upgraded to version 3.0, and independently developed sponge silicon anode chip battery technology, super double speed battery technology, magazine battery system safety technology and other power battery technologies, which have been applied to AION models.
It is worth mentioning that in recent years, GAC Group has also joined hands with Huawei, Tencent, iFLYTEK, Catalland Times and other technology giants to build smart cars, and even actively promote the development of hydrogen energy vehicles, among which in hydrogen energy vehicles, in 2020, GAC Group released the first hydrogen fuel cell vehicle AION LX Fuel Cell, and opened demonstration operations on the Ruqi travel platform. In 2021, the ignition of the first hydrogen engine independently developed by GAC Motor was successful, which marked that GAC engines officially entered the era of zero carbon emissions.
Obviously, the blessing of a number of advanced new energy technologies will greatly enhance the competitiveness of GAC Group in the field of new energy vehicles, and it is a matter of course to obtain good results.
Profitability continues to improve
In addition to new technologies, GAC Group's new electrification products are also speeding up, especially the electrified models of joint venture brands, such as Guangqi Honda, which released a new electric vehicle brand e:NP Pole in March, and announced that from 2022 onwards, it will continue to launch the e:NP brand series of electric models at the pace of one new car per year. The new brand's first model, e:NP1, was also unveiled, and in early April, it was announced that it would fully integrate the resources of the GAC Acura brand and join the electrification business.
In terms of GAC Toyota, the first model of the bZ pure electric exclusive series, the bZ4X, will be officially unveiled on April 28, and it is scheduled to be launched in 2022. In addition, this year, GAC Toyota will impact annual production and sales of 1 million units, and it is planned that by 2025, GAC Toyota's electrified model sales will account for nearly 60%, and 100% in 2035. Gac Mitsubishi is also in the field of pure electric SUVs, and the first pure electric SUV model, Atuka, has been listed.
In addition to joint venture brands, independent brands are also accelerating the pace of upgrading new energy vehicles, at present, EMKOO Shadow Cool has been officially released on April 26, followed by the arrival of Shadow Leopard Hybrid Edition, M8 Hybrid Edition and other models. Undoubtedly, with the arrival of more new energy vehicles in the two camps of joint venture and autonomy, it will not only be able to further improve the layout of GAC Group's new energy vehicle products, but also hope to further enhance its production and sales, dilute costs, and thus enhance profitability.
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This year is a key year for the 14th Five-Year Plan, and GAC Group's target production and sales volume increased by 15% year-on-year. To this end, the Group and its various brands are making efforts, the results of electrification transformation have accelerated, and a large number of new models have been launched one after another, which has effectively ensured the rapid development speed of GAC Group, and I believe that the achievements of GAC Group in the future can bring more surprises. (Wen | Yu Jiajin)