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QINGDAO TODAY
在线翻译:
szdaily -> Business -> 
GM can’t keep up in China
    2019-11-26  08:53    Shenzhen Daily

GENERAL Motors Co.’s (GM) future in China is in the hands of customers like Yang Yanjun, a 46-year-old logistics executive in Shanghai.

Yang and his family own two gasoline-powered cars — a Volkswagen and an Audi — and now he’s considering whether to go electric. Strolling through a Buick showroom in eastern Shanghai, he stops to admire one of GM’s newest electric vehicles, a powder-blue Velite 6 that’s wrapped with a giant red bow and costs less than US$27,000.

“It’s time for a change,” he said. “We’re ready to try something new.”

Mary Barra, GM’s chief executive officer needs more such converts to reverse the automaker’s slide in China. The world’s biggest auto market is suffering through a year-and-a-half slump.

GM’s position is especially weak. While Cadillac has been a bright spot, sales of its Buick and Chevrolet brands have taken a beating, and GM’s overall passenger-vehicle retail sales plunged 18 percent through October, according to data from China Automotive Information Net, compared with a 4 percent decline in the overall market.

“In China, the business environment remains challenging and volatile,” Barra said in an earnings call in October. “We’re also seeing a lot of pricing pressures.” She promised to cut costs and improve the company’s product mix.

GM is trying to keep pace as competitors move ahead with aggressive expansion plans despite the ongoing sales downturn. Volkswagen has introduced 14 new versions of traditional models since 2018, and the German automaker expects to launch 10 electrified versions of existing models in China by the end of next year.

Toyota Motor Corp. is forming a joint venture with Shenzhen-based BYD to make EVs, while Honda Motor Co. is working with Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd., a leading Chinese maker of lithium-ion batteries. (SD-Agencies)

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