General Motors plans to focus more on electric vehicles and smart-driving tech in China to curb a slide in sales after more than 20 years of growth.
The world’s largest car market makes up nearly a fifth of GM’s profit, so it’s vital for the U.S. carmaker to put its operations in China on the right track again. General Motors will overhaul its Chinese lineup by renewing its focus on luxury Cadillac models, rolling out bigger and more efficient SUVs, and targeting entry-level buyers with affordable micro EVs.
GM’s new China boss Julian Blissett told Reuters that new technologies such as EVs and cars with near hands-free driving for highways would be priorities for the automaker in the Asian country. GM China is expected to announce some of the new technology and product rollout plans later on Wednesday during a GM Tech Day event in Shanghai attended by CEO Mary Barra and China head Julian Blissett.
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“This market is rapidly electrifying. Cadillac is on a path to very heavy electrification. Buick is also going to heavily electrify,” Blissett told the news agency, adding that GM’s Chinese brands Baojun and Wuling would also go down the electric route.
GM is present in China with the Chevrolet, Buick and Cadillac brands, as well as the Wuling and Baojun local brands. Sales of the U.S. automaker fell to 3.1 million vehicles in 2019 from a record 4 million in 2017. This is due to multiple factors, including a slowdown in China’s economy and increasing competition both from established global carmakers like Toyota, VW and Honda, and Chinese companies like Geely and Great Wall Motors.
Blissett said the key objective was to get back to sales of 4 million vehicles a year as soon as possible, but could not give a precise time frame for when GM would hit that goal.
One way to do that is to launch more SUVs, and GM China’s boss says bigger crossovers and SUVs are on the way for Chevrolet, Buick and Cadillac – many of them electric. Nevertheless, gasoline-powered SUVs will continue in China for the time being as they offer “huge opportunities” to boost sales there.
The General also plans to transform Wuling into a brand more focused on micro, electric “people-mover” vans. “In the next five years, more than 50% of our capital and engineering deployment will go towards electrification and autonomous-drive technology. That should give you an indication where GM is betting on its future,” Blissett commented.
