[? A billion euro guide? ]? Detroit's century-old car company has been reluctant to transform.

Author He Qi

Editor Hao

The general bus station is at the crossroads, and Mary Bola, the housekeeper who has been at the helm for six years, resolutely pushed it to electrification.

This day has been prepared for a long time. The early morning of March 5th, Beijing time, is the morning in the United States in the western hemisphere. GM revealed two days in advance that it will announce the core of electrification strategy for the first time. This is related to the future of GM.

In 20 19, GM suffered heavy losses in revenue, sales volume and net profit, falling by 6.7%, 10.7% and 17.4% respectively. Mary Bora, the housekeeper, tried her best to control costs while coping with the strike, but the effect was not satisfactory.

It took only two years for GM to sell 8.9 million vehicles to 7.74 million vehicles. During this period, its share price has been hovering around $30. In 20 19, GM's sales volume was the fourth in the world, 22 times that of Tesla, but its market value was less than one third of Tesla's. This century-old car company in Detroit has been ruthlessly surpassed by emerging car companies from Silicon Valley, and the auto industry may no longer be a sales dispute. Mary Bora is also clearly aware that the austerity strategy is not a long-term solution, and GM in an embarrassing situation must take the initiative to attack.

At the press conference of Warren Technology Center, Mary Bola pointed out GM's next step: In order to realize the pure electric future, "we will go all out."

Today, China is the market where GM is betting heavily.

You can't just rely on Tesla.

Compared with Tesla, GM is a latecomer in the field of new energy.

On March 3rd, the day after GM's China headquarters resumed work, Qian Huikang, president of GM China, held a media communication meeting. Referring to Tesla, the roadblock of electrification, Qian Huikang euphemistically talked about the new energy market. He believes that the global new energy vehicle market is still in the initial stage of development, and the most important task is to provide a good experience and enhance consumer acceptance.

"This depends on the cooperation of Qi Xin in the whole industry, not the products of a certain company." He added.

In the American market, GM has to face the fierce competition brought by the strong rise of Tesla. In 20 19, Tesla accounted for 23% of global electric vehicle sales, of which the United States accounted for 52% of its total sales, followed by Europe and China. This is a narrow road for GM's important market.

For the future market competition, Qian Huikang explained the dislocation competition between the two with product differentiation. At present, Tesla's main layout in China is mainly based on models? As a representative of the electric vehicle market. In the future, the new energy vehicles of GM in China market will be mainly SUVs, especially the first product of its third-generation pure electric vehicle platform will be mainly SUVs.

Qian Huikang explained: "The third-generation pure electric vehicle platform is extremely flexible and can be applied to the pure electric vehicles of GM in various markets around the world to the greatest extent. In addition to SUV models, a diversified product portfolio including cars will be launched one after another. "

It is understood that GM only sold 654.38+0.6 million Chevrolet Bolt in the United States. EV and 60,000 electric vehicles of Baojun E-series. Although the results are not bright, GM executives are also trying to convince investors that GM's electric vehicle manufacturing plant in Detroit can catch up with Tesla.

In June 5438+10, GM launched its Cruise in San Francisco. Origin, a pure electric self-driving car, is the first product equipped with the third-generation electric vehicle platform and Ultium battery. Cadillac Lyriq pure electric luxury SUV will also be unveiled in April. Compared with traditional fuel vehicles, the structure of electric vehicles is relatively simple. In order to further reduce the complexity of electric vehicles and the number of parts, GM adopts the strategy of cooperative development of vehicle and drive system, and initially plans to launch 65,438+09 combinations of batteries and drive units.

Qian Huikang said that GM has overfulfilled the plan of "putting 10 new energy vehicles in the China market from 20 16 to 2020". In 20 19, the sales volume of new energy products increased by 85% compared with 20 18.

Under the wave of global electrification, GM has been "slimming" to reduce costs and increase efficiency, and comprehensively promoted the development of pure electric vehicles, especially in the China market.

Bet on the China market

"China is GM's largest market and one of the most important markets," Qian Huikang told the media.

Affected by the epidemic, GM's China headquarters officially resumed work on February 10, and did not begin to return to the office until March 2. Although the epidemic has brought many challenges, Qian Huikang is full of confidence in the long-term development of the China market. "We can feel China's strong internal kinetic energy and the vitality of long-term economic development."

Behind this is GM's determination to bet on the China market.

On February 17, GM announced its withdrawal from overseas markets such as Australia, New Zealand and Thailand. The sales and design of Horton brand cars in Australia and New Zealand will be phased out before 202 1. The factory in Luo Yong, Thailand has also been sold to Great Wall Motor, and the Chevrolet brand will be withdrawn from Thailand before the end of this year.

To cut costs, improve profit margins, adjust the restructuring structure and build a new stage of core competitiveness, GM has to start a "slimming model".

Qian Huikang said that in the past few years, GM has taken a series of measures to promote the comprehensive strategy formulated by 20 15, and increased its investment in future travel while strengthening its main business. "We will invest our resources in more promising markets and businesses." Qian Huikang stressed that the United States and China are the most important markets for GM, and in the long run, the company will invest more attention and resources in these two markets to promote the future development of GM.

Through years of planning and layout, China has become the largest single market for GM in the world. In 20 19, GM sold 7.74 million vehicles worldwide and 3.09 million vehicles in China, which continued to be higher than its sales in the US market.

In order to highlight the strategic position of China market, Qian Huikang emphasized that at the market level, GM has accelerated the adjustment of its global business, withdrawn from the poorly managed market, and concentrated its superior resources in key markets such as the United States and China. "They are not only the main sales market of GM, but also the forefront of new technology development and application."

In order to cope with the changes in China market, GM will continue to optimize its product portfolio in China market, focusing on the fast-growing SUV and luxury car market. On March 5th, at Warren Technology Center in Michigan, GM first demonstrated the core of its electrification strategy-modular drive system and the third generation global electric vehicle platform equipped with Ultium exclusive battery.

Regarding the demand for new energy vehicles in China market, he thinks that new energy products in China market will be more popular in the future. At present, new energy vehicles are concentrated in the price range of below 80,000 and 250,000-400,000. With the increase of consumer acceptance, new energy products will cover all price ranges. In terms of infrastructure, cruising range and product quality, the general demand in major markets around the world is basically the same.

Qian Huikang said that the third-generation electric vehicle platform to be released by GM and a series of models built by GM will also be introduced into the China market.

Changed to "insist"?

In order to transform, GM put down some insistence, including the "three-cylinder machine".

In 20 19, GM's sales in China suffered a waterloo, with a decrease of 15. 1%. In addition to the lack of competitiveness of its own products, the "green and yellow" of the models is also related to the whole big market environment. Gm is facing the double blow of its own brand and the rise of Japanese cars, which also prompted it to consider giving up the three-cylinder machine.

In early February, Qian Huikang also admitted that it was difficult for China consumers to accept the three-cylinder machine in the short term. However, GM has always been full of confidence in the technology of the three-cylinder engine, and believes that the three-cylinder engine has great advantages in terms of fuel consumption and power output. "But we also realize that many consumers still have some concerns about the three-cylinder engine." He said that GM will continue to launch a rich product portfolio including three-cylinder and four-cylinder engines.

Recently, according to the application information of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Buick Hideo and Chevrolet Luze under SAIC-GM have added L2B 1.5-liter four-cylinder engines, and the "all-in-one three-cylinder strategy" has been terminated. Facing the market choice, GM made a compromise.

Electrification and automation strategy have become the new "persistence" of GM and the last two straws of its reform.

In the field of electrification, GM announced that it will invest $2.2 billion in a hammock factory in Detroit to produce various brands of pure electric trucks and SUV models, including the new GMC Hummer. Among them, the pure electric pickup truck will be officially put into production in the autumn of 20021.

In order to further reduce the cost, GM tried to reduce the battery cost through the breakthrough of technology and production process. GM and LG Chem have set up a joint venture to develop and produce batteries, with the goal of reducing the cost of batteries to below $65,438+000 per kWh. More importantly, GM will make use of existing production bases and resources to improve the capital efficiency of electric vehicle business.

In the field of autonomous driving, GM will adhere to the strategy of "leaping" and "gradual" two-line parallel. Among them, Cruise? Automation will explore unmanned commercial operations under the premise of safety; And super? Cruise? Super intelligent driving assistance, with its upgraded automatic lane change function, will be applied to more products, bringing practical convenience to users.

Cruise, an autonomous driving company, is a trump card for GM's transformation. According to its plan, by 2023, GM will use its super? Cruise driver assistance system. It is reported that this technology is currently only used on Cadillac CT6 models. Qian Huikang bluntly said that the company has invested huge resources in the field of autonomous driving. Its autonomous driving company Cruise? Automation has successively obtained investment from Softbank and Honda, and is currently actively carrying out relevant cooperation.

In the increasingly complex global auto market, General Motors made a big bet in China. Qian Huikang said that in 2020, GM's main business in China and its future travel will develop steadily. "Our goal is to be flat with the market and strive to outperform the broader market."

Editor: Hao

This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.