In the past quarter, the report card of new energy vehicles was very dazzling. Among them, General Motors has achieved sales of more than 128,000 units in the field of new energy vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 42.6%, a record high in quarterly sales, coupled with the outstanding performance of the fuel vehicle sector, GM's retail sales in the Chinese market in the first quarter also exceeded 440,000 units, and its Buick, Chevrolet, Cadillac and other brands have achieved good results.
In 2024, General Motors will enter the plug-in hybrid 2.0 era, and will bring a variety of blockbuster hybrid vehicles, including the Explorer PLUS, Buick GL8 plug-in hybrid version, etc., these new models have the advantages of long battery life, strong power, etc., and strong product strength. However, there are many strong players in the field of hybrid vehicles, and independent car companies have deployed a lot of heavy troops, so does General Motors have any hope of breaking through the plug-in hybrid?
The sub-brand's answer sheet is eye-catching
As we all know, the competition in the auto market this year is very fierce, new models in the domestic auto market are emerging in an endless stream, mainstream manufacturers are also frequently reducing prices, coupled with the rise of independent brand new energy vehicles, the market share of joint venture car companies in China is shrinking, and the decline in performance is also the norm. However, in this context, GM still has a good performance in China against the trend, thanks to the concerted efforts of its sub-brands.
Specifically, in the first quarter, the Buick brand sold more than 103,000 units in the Chinese market. Among them, the total sales of the Buick GL8 exceeded 20,000 units. The Chevrolet brand also sold 18,000 units in the Chinese market. And the Chevrolet Tahoe Tahoe. It will be introduced to the Chinese market by General Motors this year. The Cadillac brand, which is positioned as a high-end brand, has sold more than 33,000 units, of which the Cadillac CT5 has sold more than 18,000 units.
In addition, the total sales of SAIC-GM-Wuling's Wuling and Baojun brands exceeded 286,000 units, of which Wuling Binguo sold more than 32,000 units. The launch of Wuling Binguo PLUS also contributed to the growth of sales. The sales of the Wuling Starlight plug-in hybrid sedan also exceeded 21,000 units.
Behind these sales figures, it reflects the competitiveness of GM in the Chinese market, and the positive sales growth shows that in the new energy era, GM's models are still quite popular. It is understood that in the future, GM will further strengthen its market competitive advantage, not only will launch more new models, but also plans to enter the niche market segment that has not yet been explored in China through the Doulange brand.
Started a counterattack war
It is an indisputable fact that the rise of independent brands, the internal friction of price wars, and the continuous narrowing of the living space of joint ventures in China. However, it can also be seen from the positive growth of General Motors that the market advantage of joint venture car companies is still obvious. On the one hand, the brand influence of the joint venture car company is large enough, and the technology is in place, the quality and safety can be more reliable. On the other hand, the tentacles of the joint venture brand are connected to China on the one hand, and foreign countries on the other, so they can introduce foreign advanced technology at a faster speed and carry out localized transformation to meet the habits and needs of Chinese consumers, so as to create high-quality joint venture cars.
The fundamental reason for GM's market performance to grow in a market surrounded by wolves is that the product design meets the needs of consumers, whether it is a fuel vehicle or a new energy product, it has excellent performance.
In the face of the menacing new energy vehicles of its own brand, General Motors plans to make efforts in the field of plug-in hybrids, and this year it has officially entered the plug-in hybrid 2.0 era. According to the plan, GM will launch its first plug-in hybrid GL8 and Chevrolet's first PHEV model, the Explorer Plus, this year.
Not only that, GM also expects to invest a total of 70 billion yuan in electrification and intelligent networking by 2025, and launch 12 new energy vehicles, including many plug-in hybrid products, to further solve the pain points of new energy users.
From the perspective of market development trends, it is the right time for General Motors to enter the plug-in hybrid field. Due to the anxiety of pure electric vehicles in terms of battery life and energy supplement, the hybrid car has become the preferred model for many car buyers, so the market sales growth rate of hybrid vehicles is far higher than that of pure electric vehicles, taking February this year as an example, the sales of plug-in hybrid vehicles increased by more than 22%, but the sales of pure electric vehicles fell by more than 21% year-on-year, and the market popularity of plug-in hybrid vehicles continues to climb to new highs.
In the future, hybrid vehicles will become a new market growth engine. It is predicted that the hybrid market will reach 6.07 million units in 2025, and the market development space is very broad. This is conducive to GM's good performance in the hybrid vehicle market.
Of course, in the face of the cake in the segment of hybrid vehicles, it is not only General Motors that has entered the market to grab food. According to incomplete statistics, at present, BYD, Geely, Changan, Great Wall, Chery, GAC, Dongfeng and other car companies are accelerating their layout in this field. New car-making forces, such as Ideal, Wenjie, VOYAH and other brands also have heavyweight products of hybrid technology routes, and these brands will become the roadblocks for GM to move forward in the field of hybrid vehicles.
It is an undeniable fact that joint venture brands have been impacted in the new energy vehicle market. However, it is also recognized that the joint venture car company has a strong system. General Motors is a good example, not only has strong financial strength, but also has reliable car manufacturing technology, so it is more relaxed in terms of product layout, and the models it creates can also make users feel more at ease, so it is well recognized by consumers.
Although in the new energy era, the track of competition in the automotive industry has changed, but consumers' demand for high-quality models has not changed. With its strong system strength, GM can empower its new products, and over time, GM will also reproduce the highlight moment of the era of fuel vehicles on the new energy track.