Fuel vehicles and new energy vehicles are natural enemies and they must not be together

After the Guangzhou Motor Show brand conference, the reporters and General Manager Gu Huinan of Guangzhou Automobile New Energy Co., Ltd., Deputy General Manager of Guangzhou Automobile New Energy Co., Ltd. and Xiao Yong, Head of Sales Department, took the next step in GAC New Energy's strategy and market. Judgment and post-independence development issues were exchanged.

At the Guangzhou Auto Show on November 17th, Guangzhou Automobile New Energy Corporation, which was established less than four months ago, held a press conference and media communication meeting at its booth. As a new energy vehicle company with a background of main engine plants, GAC New Energy has received wide attention from people both inside and outside the industry since its establishment. At the same time, the company has also received considerable attention from GAC Group. Chairman of the Guangzhou Automobile Group Party Committee and Chairman Zeng Qinghong, General Manager of the Group, Chairman of GAC New Energy Feng Xingya, and General Manager of Guangzhou Automobile Passenger Vehicle Yu Jun attended the conference.

In fact, GAC New Energy Company is an important carrier for the implementation of GAC's new energy strategy. In April this year, Guangzhou Automobile Group released the 1513 strategy, saying that it will spend 45 billion yuan to build GAC Zhilian New Energy Automobile Industrial Park. The industrial park will focus on the three major areas of “Intelligent Manufacturing, Innovative R&D, and Eco-town”, and will focus on the six major formats of automotive R&D, manufacturing, finance, culture, tourism, and commerce.

After the media group interviews, Eugene Automobile and other media exchanged ideas with Gu Huinan, general manager of Guangzhou Automobile New Energy Co., Ltd., and Xiao Yong, deputy general manager of GAC New Energy Co., Ltd. and head of sales department. With regard to the next steps of GAC New Energy, market judgments, and post-independence development, two senior corporate leaders answered questions from their respective business areas.

General Manager of GAC Group and Chairman of GAC New Energy Feng Xingya

Apply for qualification independently, but do not consider listing

As a new energy vehicle company established by the traditional OEM, the pace of GAC New Energy is not too fast. As early as last year, Beiqi, Chery and other companies have established independent subsidiaries focused on the new energy automotive business. In particular, Beiqi New Energy, which is in the limelight, not only has taken the lead in the country in terms of market share and sales volume, but also has completed a series of RMB 11.118 billion in Series B financing this year.

Gu Huinan said that the independence of GAC New Energy is not the same as that of other OEMs or new car manufacturers. Although the company will also carry out "standard actions" such as applying for new energy qualifications independently, accepting external financing, and carrying out employee stock ownership, it will not seek independent listing. "Guangzhou Automobile Group is a listed company of A+H shares, and the securities regulatory commissions in both places require that two listed companies in one group cannot compete in the same industry. Therefore, GAC New Energy will not be listed independently." Gu Huinan told reporters on the spot. Said, "In the future, the company's employee shareholding ratio will be about 10%, but we set up an independent company not for the sake of IPO, but to better build cars."

Although the new energy vehicles on the market today are basically the same in appearance as traditional fuel vehicles, this is only a "temporary phenomenon" in the early stages of the development of new models. Most of the existing mass-produced pure electric vehicles are based on the transformation of traditional fuel vehicle platforms, which often sacrifice passenger comfort in order to carry power batteries. For example, the rear floor of many pure electric vehicles is very high, causing passengers to sit up uncomfortably. At the same time, new energy vehicles have put forward higher requirements in terms of wind resistance and light weight. Gu Huinan told reporters that these reasons are the reasons why GAC Group chose to establish an independent new energy auto company. “The exclusive platform for new energy vehicles built in the future will not be able to share the production line with traditional fuel vehicles, not to mention that the sharing of production lines will lead to higher vehicle costs.”

In addition, in terms of sales channels, new energy vehicles for a long time can't even drink traditional fuel vehicles and sell them in the same 4S shop. "New energy vehicles and traditional fuel vehicles are inherently enemies and they are alternatives to each other." Gu Huinan said, "Like how we see the spy war drama, how can the Kuomintang and the Communist Party be together?" Of course, Gu Hui South emphasized that this example he gave is only to help people understand this issue.

Guangzhou Automobile Chuanqi Pure Electric Zhilian SUV GE3

Market and competition: Main push GE3, optimistic about GS4 PHEV

At this year's Guangzhou Auto Show, GAC New Energy has brought three heavy models: the GA3S PHEV, the GS4 PHEV, and the purely electric GE3. The company said that in the future they will launch at least 2 models of pure electric vehicles each year and continue to enrich their product lines.

Especially for GE3, Gu Huinan expressed in his speech the respect for this pure electric SUV based on the new platform. He told the media that the new owners of the car said that GE3 is the main reason for their car purchase and use of the space closest to the fuel car. Gu Huinan is very proud of this.

Although Guangzhou Automobile New Energy is full of confidence in the future product trends, at present, several of the company's "bumped products" have not received the expected market feedback. In the first half of this year, the total production and sales volume of GAC New Energy was only 296 vehicles. The sales volume of GE3 reached 488 units in October this year, which is a drop in comparison with the strong electric vehicle market in China.

In this regard, Xiao Yong, head of GAC New Energy Products sales, also explained his views. He said that although the Chuanqi GS4 has become the average monthly sales of 30,000 star models, but the GS4 PHEV sales have not yet reached their expectations. To this end, a very important plan for GAC New Energy in the future is to build a marketing ecosystem for new energy vehicles on the basis of Guangqi Chuanqi's existing marketing system. In October of this year, the company has already started the corresponding channel expansion work, and in the north of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shenzhen, and other domestic new energy vehicles are mainly selling urban construction service stores and customer experience centers. "I believe that under this kind of foreshadowing, the GS4 PHEV has become a star model not far behind."

Launched L4 unmanned driver in 2019 and recently traveled to the United States for a road test

In the past October, China's auto production and sales have experienced an unexpected decline. On the other hand, the production and sales volume of new energy vehicles is "good scenery". Under this background, more and more auto companies have announced their own plans for new energy vehicles, from multinational car companies to independent brands and new car builders. A few years ago still a quiet market was gradually becoming hot, and competition appeared to be vaguely present.

However, in the eyes of Gu Huinan, new energy vehicles will not be trapped in the "terrorist" competitive pattern of traditional fuel vehicles for a long period of time. He said that what new energy car companies are trying to do now is not to compete in the market, but to build the best products and models based on new platforms. "China's annual automobile sales volume is close to 30 million vehicles, and new energy vehicles are not even a million vehicles. This is a blue ocean market."

According to the planning of GAC New Energy, the new energy industrial park will be completed in 2018 with an annual output of 100,000 vehicles. By 2020, the annual production capacity of the industrial park will increase to 200,000.

During this period, in addition to fully developing new energy models based on new platforms, GAC New Energy will further reduce the cost of new energy vehicles. Gu Huinan said that for the newly launched new energy model in 2018, achieving a driving range of 400 kilometers is the bottom line. By 2019, new vehicles with a driving range of 500-600 km will be very common. This is good for consumers because mileage anxiety largely disappears. However, as a depot, it is necessary to control the cost pressure caused by rising battery costs. “This is the final decision on how far a new energy car company can go.” For this reason, GAC New Energy will also adopt a self-built or joint venture battery plant in the future.

Finally, in the area of ​​intelligence, Guangzhou Automobile New Energy also announced its next plan. By 2019, the company will launch cars that meet the L4 autopilot function. To this end, Guangzhou Automobile New Energy will launch a self-driving car road test in the United States in the near future.