Companies in the GBA｜GAC Group: How did the “King of E-Hailing” get out of the woods?

（原标题：Companies in the GBA｜GAC Group: How did the “King of E-Hailing” get out of the woods?）

南方财经全媒体记者 杨雨莱 广州报道

When you look around at your friends, how many have already bought new energy vehicles (NEVs), and become absolute fans? 

In the first three quarters of 2023, the penetration rate of NEVs has reached 29.8%, while in 2020, the number  was only 5.4%. That is to say, in just three years, it achieved a near fivefold increase.

The era of electrification has arrived! For joint-venture automobile enterprises making a late entrance onto the electrification track, making headway can be a real challenge, since their market share continues to decline. 

As a standard JV auto firm in China, GAC Group was not unaffected. The Group had a 22.1% year-over-year jump in revenue for the first three quarters  of 2023, while net profit attributable to the parent company dropped by 44%. To what is the increase in revenue, but a loss in net profit? GAC Group blames the year-over-year drop in vehicle sales with JV enterprises and fewer gains.

While most auto JVs are facing transformation challenges, the self-owned brands which GAC Group has worked on for years are now rapidly gaining popularity. Data show that in 2022, Guangzhou made 313,700 NEVs, Among which over 270,000 vehicles are  GAC AION, the Group’s  Pure Electric Vehicle (PEV) brand, accounting for 86% of the total vehicles produced, and making it the main engine for Guangzhou’s NEVs development .

From January to November of 2023, the total sales of GAC AION reached 434,056 units, surging 80% on a yearly basis. While sales are soaring, AION has also broken the curse of “all pain, no gain” among PEV enterprises. Beginning in June of 2023, GAC AION has achieved continuous monthly profits, becoming the first of its kind to achieve profitability in China. Due to the relatively lower prices and maintenance, AION enjoyed exceptional sales in the online hailing market, yet it was also awkwardly labeled as the “King of E-Hailing”.

Eager to shed itself of this label, AION is working to catch the eye of the average consumer. The release of the high-end brand Hyper has marked AION’s official march into the middle and high-end market. GAC Motor, the other stellar self-owned brand of the Group, has also enjoyed good performance. In the first 11 months of 2023, the total sales of GAC Motor rose by 14.4%. Behind the “swift success” of its self-owned brands is GAC Group’s long-term investment in technology innovation. As it stands, GAC Group has invested over 42 billion yuan into independent R&D.

GAC Group has been listed in the Fortune Global 500 for 11 years in a row, sitting on 165 in the latest ranking. Based on its stellar achievements in the domestic auto market, GAC Group has also accelerated its expansion into overseas markets. As of August 2023, GAC Group has completed full deployment in 30 countries, including those in the Middle East, Asia, Europe, Africa, and America.

However, confronted with fierce competition, overseas expansion won’t be entirely smooth sailing. In 2022, China’s auto exports reached 3.11 million units, with only 33,000 of those being from GAC Group, which accounts for less than 1.1%. signaling a long way ahead on its journey to sail abroad.

For an enterprise like GAC Group, supported by the two main pillars of joint ventures and self-owned brands, being at the forefront of the domestic electrification competition is no small feat. How will it make headway in the tide of Chinese auto enterprises expanding overseas? The answer will be worth to wait.

出品：南财国际传播中心 21新媒体中心 创意互动中心

策划统筹：于晓娜 丁青云

内容统筹：谭婷 梁宇芳 谢珍

责任编辑：金珊

执行统筹：黄欣然 

设计统筹：林军明

视频统筹：白宇航

监制：施诗

英文翻译&配音：李莹亮

海外运营监制: 黄燕淑

海外运营内容统筹: 黄子豪

运营支持：曾静娇

审校：强燕 魏雯静 黄志明