Build 500,000 Faw GM or import Opel light passengers

Only one and a half years after the joint venture was listed, FAW GM ushered in the "golden season" of development. With the launch of the factories in Yunnan Qujing, Changchun Jilin and Harbin in Heilongjiang, FAW-GM has built a capacity reserve of 500,000 vehicles and outlined its future in the Chinese market.

Although last year General Motors Exxon visited China during the trip, FAW GM did not attract its stop, but this does not mean FAW GM has faded out of GM's "vision."

Taking advantage of global resources to enter the light commercial vehicle market with unlimited potential in China is the fundamental reason that GM chose to join FAW in three years ago. According to industry observers analysis, with the completion of FAW GM's deployment in China, the accelerated introduction of GM’s new products will be put on the agenda of FAW-GM.

Complete three layouts

In the middle of this month, Yue Yuesheng, the mayor of Qujing, Yunnan, and Du Jiamo, executive vice governor of Heilongjiang Province, visited FAW successively, and met with senior leaders such as Xu Jianyi, chairman of FAW Group. According to insiders of FAW Group, accelerating the development of the FAW-GM light-duty-commercial vehicle project in the local area is the purpose of the two government officials visiting FAW in succession.

Prior to this, FAW-GM had successfully started factories in Qujing, Changchun, and Harbin. Among them, except that the FAW Hongta base in Qujing is an existing factory reconstruction, the two production bases of FAW-GM Changchun and FAW Harbin Light Factory all belong to the new factory. Among them, in order to take care of FAW-GM's future plans, Harbin assisted FAW Harbin to start an overall relocation project two years ago.

At the beginning of this month, the first trial production car of FAW-GM's Harbin Light Company was formally rolled out at the new factory, marking a new base for planning 100,000 units of production capacity and an investment of nearly 1.5 billion yuan in the first phase. The FAW will be mass-produced in May. Liberation brand light truck. At the end of last year, a total investment of 2 billion yuan in Changchun was planned and a new plant with an annual output of 200,000 vehicles was put into production.

If we count the "GM and FAW Red Towers co-produce 200,000 light trucks and 50,000 heavy-duty trucks" in Qujing's local government plan, FAW GM has built a total capacity of over 50 in the Chinese market in just two or three years. The layout of 10,000 light commercial vehicles, which to a certain extent demonstrates the "ambition" of FAW GM, which is currently ranked fifth in China's light truck market.

According to the previous statement made by FAW-GM President Dedward, FAW-GM’s goal is to become China’s top-selling company in the light-duty field. As the world’s largest market, FAW GM’s “first” in China will be “the first in the world.” ". For this reason, FAW-GM needs to launch competitive products for Chinese consumers in various segments of light commercial vehicles.

Currently, FAW-GM has put into production the 501 light trucks in Qujing and Harbin, while the main producing areas for the four models of pickup trucks, SUVs, MPVs, and light buses are located in Changchun. It is reported that the Changchun plant currently has an annual production capacity of 80,000 vehicles. According to the production plan of the new factory, the pickup series will be produced first, and then SUVs and light buses will be introduced from General Motors.

Accelerate new product introduction

With the completion of the layout of the national production base, the introduction of new products has become a pressing task for FAW-GM. However, so far, GM has never publicly stated which type of GM products it will take to lead the Chinese market. Relevant persons in charge of the FAW's General Market Department and the General Public Relations Department of China revealed in an interview with reporters last week that FAW-GM has not yet had a new product plan that can be made public.

On the occasion of the first anniversary of the establishment of FAW GM in September last year, FAW-GM President Dedward said in an interview that he has not considered introducing generic products including GMC in the short term. "The existing products are still based on FAW's liberation of light commercial vehicles. In the future, we will also consider introducing some models or technologies from GM. The specific plans will be based on market conditions."

Li Ziliang, a senior consulting consultant with a long-term focus on the domestic light commercial vehicle market, believes that the previously rumors of GM's GMC products, whether they are SUVs or commercial vehicles, are actually not suitable for the Chinese market. In the context of the gradual growth of the European-wide wide-area light passengers, "FAW GM's introduction of the Opel Vivaro and Movano light vehicles may be their best choice, and this is also GM's usual practice."

In fact, from the pioneers to Kopac, GM SUV products have not been successful in China, and pickup trucks have not really emerged in the Chinese market. In contrast, the high-end light vehicle market represented by the Iveco and Jiangling Ford Transit vehicles is more dynamic. Since the beginning of the water, the gross profit margin of the products has been above 20%, and the scale of the entire light vehicle industry has already exceeded 1 million vehicles/year.

According to analysts, at the end of last year, JAC launched the "Xingrui" at the Guangzhou Auto Show, and SAIC's own commercial vehicle brand MAXUS "Chase" will soon launch its first product, targeting the wide-body light passenger market without exception. If GM gets in at this time, it is the best time.

"The introduction of Opel Lightbus will allow FAW-GM to have a rich product structure that will not compete with GM's products currently being put on the Chinese market." Li Ziliang believes FAW-GM does not care for the interests of joint venture partners SAIC. It is very likely that new products close to Shanghai GM's existing products will be put into joint ventures with FAW, with the exception of Opel Lightbus.

It is reported that Opel Vivaro and Renault Trafic (Tafiq) are models born on the same platform, which was first introduced into domestic sales in the 1990s by the Aerospace Sanjiang Automobile Company with SKD assembly and import. However, due to the low localization rate leading to high prices, and the Sanjiang Reynolds project will be stranded shortly after the start, Tafiq did not sell well in China.