On August 15th, China Economic Net reported (Reporter Jiang Zhiwen) that in response to rumors of "restructuring China's business, layoffs, and capacity cuts", the relevant person in charge of General Motors China stated in an interview with China Economic Net that "our partnership with SAIC Group and our commitment to promoting the long-term development of the joint venture have not changed. We will continue to provide our best products and technologies to Chinese consumers and make product plans for the future
In order to achieve long-term development goals, our cooperation and communication with our joint venture partner SAIC Group are closer than ever before, in order to achieve profitability and sustainable development, "the person in charge added. As General Motors CFO Paul Jacobson said at an investor conference last week, "China business is a high-quality asset for our present and future
Previously, there were media reports that General Motors would lay off employees related to the Chinese market, including its research and development department, and plan to negotiate with SAIC Group in the coming weeks to reduce production capacity. In addition, the 30-year contract signed between General Motors and SAIC Group will expire in 2027, and General Motors hopes that its China business can resume profitability before the contract expires.
Faced with increasingly fierce competition in the Chinese automotive market, SAIC GM's market performance has indeed become increasingly sluggish. Data shows that in July of this year, SAIC GM's wholesale volume was 15000 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 82.42%; The cumulative wholesale volume in the first 7 months was 240579 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 55.14%, and the sales scale fell to the fourth place within SAIC Group.
However, SAIC General Motors is actively seeking change, and the management's "major overhaul" is the best example. On August 9th, SAIC General Motors announced that Lu Xiao would take over as the General Manager of SAIC General Motors; Wang Conghe has taken over as the Executive Vice General Manager of Pan Asia Automotive Technology Center; Cai Bin is appointed as the Party Secretary of SAIC General Motors; Xue Haitao has taken over as the Vice General Manager of SAIC General Motors, responsible for marketing related work.
Analysis has pointed out that it is imperative for SAIC General Motors to carry out high-level structural adjustments at this time. Lu Xiao, who has a profound technical background, and Xue Haitao, a young car marketer, will form an effective interaction and professional complementarity. This is undoubtedly a major benefit for SAIC General Motors, which is in a "quagmire".
At the same time, SAIC General Motors is constantly expanding its new energy product matrix. According to the plan, multiple pure electric vehicles based on General Motors' Ultium platform will be launched in the second quarter, including Cadillac's IQ Outback in China. In the Chinese market, sales of new energy vehicles, including pure electric and plug-in hybrid models, increased by 24.1% year-on-year in the second quarter, accounting for 38% of the overall quarterly sales, setting a new high for the same period.