The deadline is approaching, how should SAIC-GM get out of the predicament?

In fact, a closer look at the current predicament of SAIC-GM includes not only the environmental problems, but also the consideration of GM's own strategic decision. For today's car companies, it is no longer a simple slogan to launch new models when the profitability of car companies becomes more and more difficult, but it means that companies need to balance in many other places to find resources to support the production of new models. How to reverse the current situation not only requires the country to release policy red envelopes in the future, but also requires enterprises to make decisions at critical moments.

The dilemma of GM's own strategy

After the bankruptcy and reorganization of GM in the financial crisis, a global R&D center with clear division of labor was established in its heyday: Pan Asia was responsible for the research and development of small cars, GM Korea was responsible for compact models, Opel was responsible for medium and large cars, and North America was responsible for large cars such as pickup trucks and full-size SUVs.

In the past two years, GM's global R&D system has been fragmented: after the sale of Opel, GM lost its most competitive R&D team in the development of this class of Regal LaCrosse; GM's R&D center in South Korea, along with GM's continuous shrinking in the Korean market and the decline of its status, has gradually lost its former bravery. The task of developing medium-sized cars left by Opel was undertaken by the North American team, while Pan Asia took over the heavy responsibility of developing compact cars.

However, in the development of compact cars, Pan Asia is still a little behind the GM Korea R&D center that once developed Cruze. So that after Cruze, there is no leading model in this market segment. As for Yinglang, which was once a smash hit, it actually inherited the original market share of Excelle. In recent two years, a series of compact models with different body forms born on the K platform have not achieved great sales. As for the three-cylinder engine, it is only one of the influencing factors at most, and the lack of competitiveness of the product itself is a problem worthy of careful consideration by SAIC-GM.

The fundamental reason for this phenomenon is the global strategic contraction of GM. Behind the contraction, in order to keep the company's financial statements bright, GM also faces rigid expenditures such as new energy, driverless driving and * * * car enjoyment. This led to a large-scale retreat of GM from India, Europe and Africa, while selling factories in North America and abolishing the team of operators and vehicle R&D engineers in traditional fields, and instead focusing more human resources and capital expenditure on forward-looking technology. As a result, the update speed of its R&D team and traditional new car projects continues to slow down. This problem is not only common to GM, but also to Ford and other global car companies.

the law of new vehicle cycle can never be broken

domestic car companies have never been able to get rid of the problem of new vehicle cycle. Even Beijing Benz, which had a smooth ride a few years ago, fell into a situation of weak growth this year; BMW, which was suppressed by Mercedes-Benz, ushered in the peak of product launch in the second half of last year, and successfully overtook Mercedes-Benz in May to be crowned as the champion of luxury brands in China. For Japanese, these two years just happened to meet the climax of product launch, and corresponding to this, the old car companies such as Volkswagen and GM have invested heavily in new energy and driverless respectively, which has affected the launch speed of new models and modified models. It's not surprising that the sales volume drops due to the superposition of products in small years and the early switching of five countries and six countries.

After this wave of product launch cycle, I believe that Toyota and Honda will also face the situation of weak growth. Japanese conservatism is recognized by the industry, not because Japanese R&D investment is not enough, but because of its high requirements for product reliability. This strategy is reflected in the fact that Japanese brands' investment in new energy and driverless fields is still insufficient compared with European and American car companies. In particular, the hybrid power and fuel cells that Toyota believes in are by no means the mainstream routes of new energy passenger cars in China. However, insufficient investment in these two fields or insufficient localization in China will eventually lead to an increasing probability that Japanese cars will step on the next tuyere.

what should joint venture car companies do in the future?

for SAIC-GM, it is the luckiest thing to have the Pan-Asian Automobile Technology Center which has been painstakingly operated for 2 years. This ensures that when the general products of SAIC-GM in North America are not good, it will not be like Changan Ford, and new models can still be put on the market continuously. Although it will not be an explosion, it can still maintain the overall sales at a higher level.

For foreign car companies rooted in China auto market, a strong local product R&D center is essential for other joint venture car companies, not only for SAIC-GM, but also for other joint venture car companies. From the interior and exterior decoration, the local R&D capability is gradually established, and then the development of the whole vehicle and even the platform is gradually transformed. Although this road is difficult and dangerous, it is a Huashan road for foreign car companies to survive. Otherwise, although the global models can explode for a while, the new models are subject to people. Once the foreign shareholders have such problems, the joint venture will become the first victim.

Cruise is the only trump card for SAIC-GM in the future

As for the protagonist of this paper-GM or SAIC-GM, the only chance of winning in China is its Cruise driverless solution that can compete with Waymo and Tesla in North America. As one of the driverless solutions closest to mass production, if SAIC-GM can support this solution to be mature enough to take the lead in the domestic road market, then it can build a huge advantage over its competitors. This is when SAIC-GM's daughter-in-law becomes a woman. Before this, the life of SAIC-GM will inevitably be difficult.