SAIC-GM 2025 Counteroffensive: 6 NEVs in 12 Months

At the 2025 Shanghai Auto Show, amid the surging penetration of new energy in China, joint ventures, once lagging in public opinion, are clearly making a strong push.

In the past two days, SAIC-GM, China's top joint venture, has kicked off its promotion. Both its Buick and Cadillac brands have shifted to a one-price strategy since 2024, turning revenue and profits positive. It has also had in - depth talks with Chinese media on technology and product supply.

From 9:30 to 11:30 this morning, SAIC-GM held a media communication session. Lu Xiao (General Manager), Xue Haitao, Wang Chendong (both Deputy General Managers) and Zeng Yu (Executive Deputy General Manager of Pan Asia Automotive Technology Center) attended and spent an hour and a half responding to Chinese media's core questions about SAIC-GM's survival, development, and competitive differentiation.

Scale or Profit?

In 2024, SAIC-GM faced two critical questions.

The first was how to survive after a significant sales decline in the first half of the year.

Although emergency measures in the second half of the previous year, such as changing leaders, reducing inventory, adjusting marketing strategies (like introducing fixed pricing), and launching new products, managed to turn profits positive in the fourth quarter and achieve six consecutive months of sales growth, media doubts persisted even after the company announced its 2025 new energy offensive.

At today's communication meeting, the first question raised was whether SAIC-GM's "counteroffensive" or "strong attack," aimed at increasing sales or profits, could sustain current sales growth.

Lu Xiao responded that the company's performance in the first quarter of 2024 had completely surpassed the targets set by the board. The terminal sales volume reached approximately 129,000 units, close to 130,000. In March alone, retail terminal sales and exports reached 47,000 units.

From a profit perspective, the first quarter also positive showed growth, marking two consecutive quarters of SAIC-GM returning to a normal operational level.

Regarding the balance between "sales volume" and "profitability," Lu Xiao stated that SAIC-GM is currently prioritizing profitability, marking a significant shift from the past two years.

In terms of new energy development, including the recently launched high-end new energy brand "ELECTRA" under Buick, SAIC-GM plans to introduce six new new energy models over the next 12 months. These models will focus on profitability and sustainable development in the Chinese market, rather than selling at a loss like some other joint ventures or domestic brands.

As for how to achieve profitability, Lu Xiao attributed the confidence to their new-generation platform technology, including the newly introduced Xiaoyao architecture. This architecture can accommodate three power forms (pure electric plug,-in hybrid, extended-range), three vehicle types (sedan, SUV, MPV), and three drive layouts (front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, all-wheel drive) through multiple integrations, maximizing efficiency.

To supplement, according to public data, SAIC-GM has invested 70 billion yuan in electrification and intelligence in recent years. When will these investments translate into large - scale revenue? Will 2025 mark a new beginning for them?

Will SAIC and General Motors Renew the Contract?

In 2024, a key issue for SAIC-GM's continuity was whether its two major shareholders, SAIC Motor and General Motors (GM) of the US, would agree to continue the partnership.

First raised at SAIC-GM's New Year media communication meeting and now with the recent US-China tariff conflict, the media is asking again: Would this conflict affect SAIC-GM's product pricing in China?

Lu Xiao responded with a smile, saying they closely watched the tariff issue, joking, "Some days, we wake up and check Trump's latest statements first."

He first addressed product pricing, stating that SAIC-GM's products sold in China have a 95% domestic production rate, with only a small part imported. The impact of tariffs is minimal, so currently, they have no plans to adjust prices and will absorb the costs internally.

Regarding exports, SAIC-GM mainly sells overseas through its Hangzhou plant and is in close communication with the US side.

Lu Xiao disclosed that this week, leaders from GM's global markets are meeting in Shanghai, and active discussions are ongoing.

On the shareholder partnership issue, Lu Xiao said that in the past six months, the two shareholders have had frequent and close communication. At the April 7 board meeting, they reached a high consensus on SAIC-GM's future development and highly praised Xue Haitao's market report as "the best and most wonderful."

For now, negotiations are still underway. "We'll share any updates with the media in a timely manner," he added.

Eight Months In, Where Are The Changes From The Reform?

After sales plummeted by 49.98% in the first half of last year and joint - venture brands' advantages faded, SAIC-GM kicked off reforms in the second half, including changing leaders and de-stocking via fixed pricing. Thus, it experienced an eventful 2024.

Eight months into the reforms, have SAIC-GM's three long - standing pain points - conservative electric and intelligent tech, high costs, unclear product positioning and deviated decision - making - shown significant improvement?

Lu Xiao said that in the past eight months, they had done a lot, which felt almost surreal in their internal summary. And last night, as mentioned above, SAIC-GM presented its answer through the Xiaoyao architecture and 3x3x3 integration structure.

He cited a frequently used term in China's auto market - "advisable" - to illustrate SAIC-GM's future product logic. For example, "We listened to users. We no longer think range extension is a backward tech (many global auto executives had criticized it as such before). We'll use the most suitable tech to meet users' needs."

Regarding high costs, many worried that "General Manager Haitao's fixed pricing might lead to losses." Lu Xiao responded that this was impossible. "Our reports show we've done significant cost - cutting work in the past one or two years, especially in technical architecture. So, this aspect has also improved greatly."

As for decision-making, Lu Xiao didn't dodge the issue. He said internal decision - making processes have been enhanced, including the interlocking of marketing and product development. "New forces emphasize speed, and we can definitely keep up," he said. With 27 years of presence in China, SAIC-GM's core lies in its "Chinese essence". Relying on China's strong supply chains and standardized processes, it has changed a lot in the past three months, such as focusing product development and project decisions on key personnel.

Speed Up

Xue Haitao revealed the upcoming product plans for SAIC-GM, including Cadillac.

Tonight, Buick's new GL9 Lushang will skip the pre - sale and launch directly.

From May to September, vehicles based on the Xiaoyao architecture will be released one after another.

The Buick SUV with a plug-in hybrid system will debut by the end of this year.

Xue Haitao stated that this year, Buick aims to capture a share of the traditional fuel vehicle market and make breakthroughs in new energy vehicles. "I believe we will definitely achieve this."

Lu Xiao added that at tomorrow's Shanghai Auto Show, Cadillac will showcase four new BEVs, including the Escalade IQ. As for other Cadillac new energy models, discussions between shareholders are proceeding smoothly.

"Next year, you'll definitely see Cadillac's plug-in hybrid and other new energy models," Lu Xiao said. This includes new assisted driving technologies and the next - generation cockpit, which will be developed by the Chinese team from the ground up.