After the baptism of the first quarter, many car companies have gradually come out of the haze of sales after the year, and the Beijing Auto Show has provided a good sales increment, so that the former has mostly achieved gratifying results in April.
However, as an independent leader, SAIC did not usher in the highlight in the most beautiful April day in the world. According to the official sales data, SAIC Motor sold 360,000 vehicles in April 2024, a year-on-year decrease of 3.7%. Among them, the sales volume of new energy vehicles was 75,000, a year-on-year increase of 9.3%; Exports and overseas sales totaled 92,000 units, reflecting a 2.7% y/y increase.
From January to April, SAIC Motor sold 1.194 million units, down 5.6% y/y. Among them, the cumulative sales of new energy vehicles were 285,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 35.4%; Exports and overseas sales totaled 319,000 units, down 8.1% y/y.
It can be seen that whether it is a single month performance or a cumulative sales performance after the year, although SAIC Motor is constantly narrowing the momentum of sales decline, it is still struggling due to the huge decline in joint ventures. Therefore, it is inevitable that people will be worried.
One of the worries: the decline of joint ventures cannot be stopped
SAIC, whose sales are mainly supported by three joint ventures, has eaten up the dividends of the market in the past, not only achieving an annual sales volume of more than 7 million units, but also making a lot of money with the good profit per vehicle and low investment in research and development of the joint venture car.
However, between the changes in the market, new energy has gradually dominated the direction of the auto market, and those companies that shine with new energy vehicles have successively achieved corner overtaking and become the leader of the auto market in the new era. In contrast, the joint venture car companies that enjoyed unlimited prosperity in the fuel era have fallen into the quagmire of sales and are gradually drifting away under the downward performance.
Considering the proportion of joint venture sales, SAIC Motor is particularly so, and SAIC is becoming more and more unstable on the big ship in the new era, and its annual sales have barely exceeded 5 million units from more than 7 million units in 2018. The main reason for this is the unstoppable decline in sales of the joint venture, especially SAIC-GM this year.
According to the data, SAIC-GM's sales in April were only 50,000 units, a year-on-year decrease of 37.9%; From January to April this year, SAIC-GM sold a total of 161,000 vehicles, a year-on-year decline of 34.9%. Whether it is a monthly performance or a year-end cumulative sales, it is the subsidiary with the largest decline within SAIC.
In fact, SAIC-GM has experienced a decline for 6 consecutive years from 2018 to 2023, with sales falling from 1.97 million to 1 million, losing half of its sales. The fuel camp can't hold on, and the new energy can't keep up, and SAIC-GM has become the epitome of the joint venture camp.
Fortunately, SAIC-GM made a breakthrough in new energy vehicles, with a total of 8,762 units delivered in April, a year-on-year increase of 93.1%. Among them, Buick Weilan 6 also delivered the first place in the terminal sales of jointly funded new energy vehicles for 8 consecutive weeks.
This year, SAIC-GM has also increased the launch of new energy vehicles, at the Beijing Auto Show in April, SAIC-GM also brought three heavyweight models, including Cadillac IQ Aoge, Buick GL8 Luzun PHEV, Chevrolet Explorer Plus, they all have good product strength, is expected to provide incremental growth for SAIC-GM's new energy field.
Also a joint venture subsidiary, SAIC Volkswagen has a much better life.
In April, SAIC Volkswagen continued its performance momentum, achieving monthly sales of 92,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 4.2%; From January to April, a total of 340,000 units were sold, with a growth rate of 8.1%. In April, SAIC Volkswagen's sales of new energy vehicles exceeded 10,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 56%.
In terms of new energy performance, SAIC Volkswagen has always been the "hope of the whole village" in the joint venture camp. In April, SAIC Volkswagen's new energy sales exceeded 10,000 again, although the sales of specific models were not announced, but it is foreseeable that the models represented by the ID.3 are still an important thrust to support SAIC Volkswagen's new energy forward.
In addition, SAIC-GM-Wuling continued the growth momentum in March, selling a total of 123,000 new cars in April, a year-on-year increase of 16.8%, and it is also the only company in the group whose monthly sales exceeded 100,000 units. From January to April, Wuling sold a total of 347,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 16.5%.
Worry No. 2: The autonomous sector has no sense of existence
If the decline of the joint venture sector is enough to make people worry, then SAIC Passenger Vehicle's failure to advance in the domestic market for many years has become a "pain" for SAIC to develop its independent strength. Although SAIC can be called an independent leader, SAIC's autonomy is often defined as a "waist enterprise" that struggles to survive.
In April, SAIC Motor sold 63,000 passenger vehicles, down 7.2% year-on-year; From January to April, cumulative sales were 226,000 units, down 14.7% year-on-year.
Not only is the sales figure unsatisfactory, but also the main sales model, the mainstream track and the brand influence are worried. SAIC's autonomy, which includes Roewe, MG and Feifan, has not been what SAIC wants them to be.
Take Roewe as an example, the Roewe RX5, which has created the myth of a dark horse, once led the trend of Internet SUVs, but after three generations of models, it has disappeared from the top of the compact SUV sales list.
The terrible thing is that from 2016 to the present, the Roewe RX5 is still the most capable and the most eloquent model of Roewe, and the subsequent models launched on various tracks are difficult to compare with the former in terms of sales and influence, and no successor makes every step of Roewe very difficult. Even if it is actively transforming now, its latest model Roewe D7 and the upcoming D5X are not easy.
The same goes for MG. The sluggish and weak domestic situation is in stark contrast to the rising tide abroad. Although the wind reviews are not as bad as the mysterious marketing of chasing high-speed rail and the embarrassing gimmick of MG HS hormones, the decline in attention is an indisputable fact. At present, its main models, the MG4 EV and the MG cyberster, are difficult to become mainstream.
Not to mention Feifan Motors. Since the establishment of the brand, the sales volume has been below the level of 2,000 units for a long time, and the embarrassing brand positioning and the free-range model of SAIC Group have made Feifan Automobile confused, and even rumors that it once came out and returned to Roewe.
In addition, Zhiji Auto sold 3,000 units in April, a year-on-year increase of 49.3%, and from January to April, it sold 13,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 125.2%.
However, as SAIC's brand that hits high-end new energy, Zhiji Automobile currently has 4 models, and the monthly sales of 3,000 units are not enough to support it to enter the mainstream new energy track, not to mention the market performance achieved under such a high growth rate.
However, the Zhiji L6, which was launched on May 13 and started to be delivered, is not bad in terms of product power and attention, and the current order volume has reached 21,000 pieces, and the Zhiji L6 is expected to achieve a good sales start, but on the whole, it can no longer support the height that the brand should have.
Worry three: it is difficult for new energy to enter the mainstream track
Whether it is a mainstream new energy SUV, a sedan or a mainstream range of 150,000-350,000, SAIC has corresponding brands and products, such as Feifan and Zhiji. However, as mentioned above, the sales performance of Zhiji and Feifan is worrying, resulting in the fact that although SAIC has many mainstream track models, it is difficult to raise its head on the mainstream sales table of major new energy vehicles.
Before refutating, let's first understand SAIC's more mainstream new energy vehicles.
First of all, Wuling Hongguang MINIEV is the most important representative, which is one of the most popular new energy vehicles in Wuling and even SAIC. As a micro electric vehicle with a minimum price of 30,000 yuan, Hongguang MINIEV has created many sales myths, and even ranked ahead of Tesla for a time. However, weak bicycle profits have become criticized, which is a common problem in the entire micro electric vehicle market.
If we put the perspective in the range of 150,000-350,000 yuan, which is more mainstream in terms of bicycle profits and sales, SAIC will have no model that can get its hands on it. At present, in this range, including the joint venture segment and the independent segment, SAIC Motor mainly has SAIC Volkswagen's ID. family, SAIC-GM's Buick E5 and Feifan Zhiji related models.
The ID.4X and ID.6X have slightly better profits per bike, but their sales are not enough to make them into the main discussion; the problem with the Buick E5 is that its performance is unstable, and when it performs well, it can lead SAIC-GM to sell more than 10,000 new energy vehicles per month, and when it performs badly, it often can't see sales.
However, SAIC has been making achievements in the overall sales of new energy. In April this year, SAIC's new energy vehicle sales reached 75,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 9.3%; The cumulative sales from January to April were 285,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 35.4%, ranking second among Chinese automakers.
Worry No. 4: There are also problems overseas
In terms of sales volume, as one of SAIC's key segments, SAIC's overseas market performance remained stable in April, achieving monthly sales of 92,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 2.7%. However, due to the sluggish performance during the Spring Festival period in January and February, the cumulative growth rate of SAIC Group's exports from January to April fell by 8.1% y/y, and a total of 319,000 units were exported.
Overall, SAIC's exports are trustworthy, and in recent years, the scale has exceeded 30 million units to more than 1 million units, reaching 1.208 million units, and it is also the only Chinese auto company with overseas sales exceeding one million units. This year, SAIC Motor has set an overseas sales target of 1.35 million units, and a target of 1.5 million units in 2025.
However, Chinese cars going overseas are not hand-held, and there are many difficulties.
Some time ago, India forcibly acquired SAIC's subsidiary in India, and the Indian company JSW Group acquired a considerable proportion of SAIC MG's shares, making it a Sino-Indian joint venture. And considering that SAIC MG is soaring in the Indian market, because the deal lost absolute control, it has caused widespread controversy. In the short term, SAIC has obtained cash returns and more "immunity" from uncontrollable factors, but from the early stage, it has lost control and more opportunities for profits and benefits.
This is just the tip of the iceberg of the many problems that SAIC Motor and even China's auto exports will face. Including products, channels, policies, services and the international situation will likely affect the great cause of Chinese automobiles going overseas, and SAIC should also be vigilant and prepare for corresponding measures.