GM or Abandon GMC Domestic Borrowing Baojun to Complete the Brand Layout

Gwen Wenwei, president and general manager of General Motors China, appeared at the Shanghai Auto Show. He was very busy. He appeared on the first day of the auto show at the launch ceremony of Baojun 630, the first self-owned brand of SAIC-GM-Wuling, and appeared in the five-year strategy of the General Motors of China in the evening. At the meeting, media groups were interviewed. On the first day after receiving media rounds of interviews and bombings, the media also made a keynote speech at the China Automotive News China Summit on the second day of the media day.

In his numerous exchanges with the China Economic Times, Gan Wenwei repeatedly emphasized the importance of the Chinese market for GM and the future development prospects of GM. The importance attached to the Chinese automobile market is also an important aspect of Gan Wenwei's love of being personal and willing to communicate with the Chinese media. the reason.

He also disclosed that the Baojun brand will launch series of products after 630, which will effectively fill the vacancy of GM's entry-level market, and has formed a high-end Cadillac, mid-range Buick, and low-end Chevrolet to the entry level. Grade brand Baojun's complete brand layout, so Shanghai GM will no longer launch its own brand.

In addition, Gan Wenwei categorically denied news that the GMC GM was domestically produced. He said that the FAW-GM Changchun plant will be put into production in the second half of the year, but the GMC has no domestically produced plans in China.

GM Announces Five-year Plan "GM China plans to double annual sales in 2015, reaching about 5 million vehicles, and launch more than 60 new and upgraded models, while also leading the electrification of the automotive industry and accelerating the city's future sustainable development. The traffic vision,” Gan Wenwei revealed in an interview with a reporter from the China Economic Times about the development strategy of GM China in the next five years.

It is understood that in the next five years, General Motors will launch more than 60 new and upgraded models in China, of which nearly half of the new products will come from two major brands under the General Motors - Buick and Chevrolet.

Under the Buick brand, General Motors will launch about 12 new and upgraded products in China. Under the Chevrolet brand, General Motors plans to launch 15 new and upgraded models that are expected to be full of fashion in China, covering economic applications. Small cars and mid-size cars, as well as several new SUVs and sport models, have fully expanded the Chevrolet brand product line.

Gan Wenwei stressed that in the future, General Motors will continue to make full use of its excellent vehicle development capabilities in China, including further development of the Shanghai-based joint venture Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center (PATAC).

“Successful new models such as Chevrolet Sail, Buick's new GL8 and the upcoming Baojun 630 are all developed in China,” said Gan Wenwei, “increased product development capabilities will ensure that we can continue to respond quickly to meet China. The unique needs of the market and consumers."

Gan Wenwei said that General Motors will accelerate the process of electrification in China through the research and development of new energy vehicles. To achieve this goal, GM also plans to jointly develop a new generation of electric vehicle platforms for the Chinese market with SAIC.

In addition, General Motors will work with the “Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City” and the Beijing Traffic Development Research Center to jointly solve the big city congestion and achieve a better vision of future urban transportation with zero fuel consumption, zero emissions, zero accidents, and zero congestion.

Abandon GMC made in China

It is somewhat surprising that, despite the rumors of GMC’s domestically-made rumors, the vision that all of GM's four sub-brands have achieved in China is currently unlikely to be realized.



In an interview with a reporter from the China Economic Times, Gan Wenwei made it clear that GM is very much looking forward to Changchun's new FAW-GM plant in production in the second half of the year, but GMC currently does not have plans to produce in China.

Previously, Luo Ruili, Executive Vice President of General Motors and President of International Operations, once expressed in the early days of the establishment of FAW GM, "We will use GM's leading technology and new products to enrich the business content of China FAW and General Motors in the Chinese market." This is also interpreted by the media as GM is not satisfied with the technical output, but to continue to enhance their own commercial vehicle brands in the Chinese market right to speak, and the path is to GMC localization.

When interviewed by reporters, FAW-GM President Dedwin had said that in the short term, it has not considered the introduction of general-purpose products including GMC. At present, FAW-GM products are still based on FAW-liberated light commercial vehicles, and whether some models of GM are introduced And technology will be based on market conditions. Gan Wenwei's position further reduced the possibility of GMC making in China.

Some analysts believe that the GMC brand's product sequence is actually not suitable for the Chinese market, and the Opel Vivaro or Movano light car may be the best choice for GM to introduce China, but GM China did not respond to this statement.

However, GM's renunciation of GMC domestically did not affect the pace of development of FAW-GM. The China Economic Times reporter learned that FAW-GM's factories in Qujing, Changchun, and Harbin in Yunnan have all started smoothly, and FAW-GM Changchun and FAW-Haobei are both new factories. FAW-GM's Jiefang light truck will also formally go offline in May in Harbin.

Before Baojun filled up the segment Shanghai Auto Show, Baojun 630 officially debuted in the media and the public. This SAIC-GM-Wuling’s own-brand vehicle is not only a participant in the hot topic of “joint venture autonomy”, but more importantly, it is perfected. GM's product offerings that compete in the Chinese market.

The person in charge of SAIC-GM-Wuling denied that the Baojun 630 was based on Excelle platform development. She said that Baojun is the result of the joint efforts of the Chinese and foreign design teams. The chassis, appearance, and interior are all new designs. Baojun is the “Little Excelle”. The statement is not accurate.

It is understood that SAIC-GM-Wuling positioned Baojun, the first self-owned brand sedan, as "a new dynamic quality mid-size car based on GM's mature technology," and positioned the target market as a vast crowd in the second and third line markets.

“I think China is a very special market that needs the Baojun brand. The secondary and tertiary markets are the major target markets for Baojun. The demand is very large. Baojun’s brand positioning is slightly lower than that of Chevrolet. We can control costs and guarantee international brands. With the growth of consumers' own quality, the demand for automotive products has become increasingly diversified, which has given Po Chun brand opportunities,” said Gan Wenwei in an interview with the China Economic Times.

Gan Wenwei stressed that the birth of the Baojun brand is not much related to the requirement of the relevant government departments to require joint ventures to build their own brands. He said that Shanghai GM was planning to build the Baojun brand four years ago because General Motors and Shanghai Automotive They all found that brands such as Baojun needed to fill the entry-level automotive product market.

Gan Wenwei said that the Baojun brand based on SAIC-GM-Wuling has already enabled GM to complete high, medium, low and entry-level brands and product layouts in China, which means that Shanghai GM did not create its own brands, Chevrolet, Buick and Cadillac. Will continue to help Shanghai GM participate in the fierce domestic market competition by introducing a number of models made in China.