They are not just pursuing "selling a few more cars" and "living a few more years", what they want is the future of the automotive industry.

　　Any car company can say they want to "sell a few more", but the joint venture of new energy is particularly tragic.

　　We all know that since the switch of the new energy track, independent new forces have always been a part of the forward and upward development, both with great momentum and able to successfully break through, from "Weixiaoli" to traditional car companies' new energy, and then to cross circle car manufacturing, which is no exception.

　　In contrast, joint venture brands may hesitate due to the "revenue generation" of traditional sectors, or be overshadowed by the siege of domestic brands and Tesla, or immerse themselves in their own world. In short, the path of new energy transformation in the Chinese market has not been smooth for most of them.

　　Among the dwarves, Volkswagen's ID. series, which is not particularly popular in sales, has become the leader in joint venture new energy. In this situation, the joint venture brand's desire to sell several more new energy vehicles has become a luxury. And this situation is difficult to change in the short term.

　　According to relevant data, the retail penetration rate of new energy vehicles in China in April was 32.3%, an increase of 6.6 percentage points compared to 25.7% in the same period last year. Among them, the penetration rate of mainstream joint venture brands for new energy vehicles in April was only 4.4%. In contrast, the penetration rate of new energy vehicles from domestic brands has reached 56.5%, with a difference of as much as cloud mud.

　　I can't do it, I can't do it at all

　　Among the independent camp, 11 companies, including BYD, GAC Aian, and Geely, had wholesale sales of new energy vehicle models exceeding 10000 units in April. Among them, BYD wholesale 209000 units in April, and is also the only car company with monthly sales exceeding 200000 units; In the joint venture camp, North and South Volkswagen are the main contributors to the sales of new energy vehicles, accounting for 50% of the mainstream joint venture pure electric market share.

　　But the problem is that the wholesale sales of new energy vehicles by North and South Volkswagen are only 12000 units, barely ranking tenth in wholesale sales.

　　The performance of new energy is relatively "up to par", which also kept North and South Volkswagen's April sales closely behind BYD. Among them, FAW Volkswagen's total sales in April were 122000 vehicles, second only to BYD and ranking second in domestic market sales. SAIC Volkswagen sold 88000 new cars in April, ranking second among joint venture car companies.

　　Looking at the dismal performance, even Cui Dongshu, the Secretary General of the Passenger Transport Association, said, "Among the mainstream joint venture brands, North and South Volkswagen are strong leaders, occupying over 50% of the mainstream joint venture pure electric market share. Other joint venture and luxury brands still need to make efforts

　　Although the public has decisively transformed under the name of "ID; General Motors has opened a new chapter in electric technology with the Ultium Ultrapower platform as the entry point; Toyota aims to use "bZ" to brew a new electric storm; Honda also brings the e: NS brand... but in terms of actual market performance, no matter how ambitious or loud the slogan is, it cannot stop the shameful data on the sales table.

　　The distance between them is the distance between ideal and reality.

　　If we say that the aforementioned joint venture car companies have experienced a decline in their market position due to the unsuccessful transformation of electrification. So, the more unsuccessful second tier joint ventures are even more desolate, as they either have already withdrawn from China or continue to spread rumors of 'withdrawing from China'.

　　A few days ago, GAC Mitsubishi was rejected by GAC Group in its production and marketing bulletin in April, which caused heated discussion. Takao Kato, president of Mitsubishi Motors, had to respond, saying that Mitsubishi had no plan to withdraw from the Chinese market at present.

　　In the previous month before being removed from GAC Group, which was March, GAC Mitsubishi sold 2471 vehicles per month, with a cumulative sales of 3969 vehicles in the first quarter, a year-on-year decrease of nearly 60%.

　　The helpless and lonely Mitsubishi is a true portrayal of the entire second tier joint venture brands.

　　They have not maintained their previous advantages and have not been able to open up new profit sectors in the electrification transformation. Therefore, they have encountered a "stalemate" in the downward exploration of mainstream joint ventures and the upward attack and transformation of independent brands.

　　Unable to bear the burden of simply withdrawing from China - Since 2018, joint venture car brands such as Suzuki, Fiat, and Renault have successively withdrawn from the Chinese market, and the brand beliefs of joint venture car companies have gradually been shattered in the sadness of the electric track; Reluctantly choosing to find a new way out - such as Mitsubishi, they chose the latter and plan to restart the production process of the Changsha factory in June.

　　Coincidentally, while Mitsubishi is facing difficulties, Yueda Kia has also begun to rebuild a new system of business in China.

　　Yang Honghai, Chief Operating Officer of Kia China, stated on his personal social media platform that Kia Motors China has launched comprehensive reforms and will introduce large-scale electrified products, including the upcoming EV6 and EV5. Dozens of large dealer groups (such as Sime Darby, Jinlong, Zhengtong, Xinhama, etc.) have joined Kia Motors China, leading to a change in management and the introduction of a large number of localized Chinese talents

　　One of the backgrounds of the reform is that Yueda Kia sold less than 10000 units (9835 units) domestically and internationally in April.

　　No, we need to find a way to try again

　　On one hand, the stagnation of joint venture new energy, and on the other hand, the flourishing of independent new energy. Between ups and downs, the market share of the independent camp has successfully exceeded the "red line" of 50%; However, multiple traditional mainstream joint ventures, including those from Germany and Japan, find it increasingly difficult to maintain their existing market share, let alone second tier joint ventures.

　　At the same time, the American series, which has always performed poorly, has stabilized its overall share under Tesla's sales guarantee.

　　It can be seen that the influence of new energy sales on enterprise rankings is increasing. From "market transfer" to "technological equality", driven by BYD, GAC Aian, and "NIO Xiaoli", domestic brands are accelerating to regain market share in joint ventures. The traditional pattern of joint ventures surpassing domestic brands has quietly broken in the electrification track.

　　In the past few years, joint ventures have been accustomed to technological dividends in the Chinese market, and naturally, in the new era, they are not willing to fall behind for a long time. So, with the understanding of electrification brought by several car companies mentioned earlier, Volkswagen's "ID.", General Motors' Ultium Ultran, Toyota's "bZ", Honda's e: NS... this is the big direction strategy.

　　And in terms of specific technical execution, they have never stopped.

　　For example, the recent Shanghai Auto Show has attracted over 1000 companies from upstream and downstream of the automotive industry to participate in high-end exhibitions, with over 150 new cars making global debuts and a total of over 1500 complete vehicles making concentrated appearances... These have created the most lively A-class auto show in China in the past three years.

　　During this period, a large number of foreigners were attracted to come and observe. They were shocked and puzzled by the development of Chinese cars, and with their own disbelief and unwillingness to fall behind, they went back to report to the management about the huge changes in smart electric vehicles that are happening in the Chinese market.

　　Among them, after visiting the Shanghai Auto Show, Volkswagen reorganized its software department to accelerate the development process of advanced driving assistance system and auto drive system while giving up highly independent research and choosing a more open cooperation mode to save the cost of electrification transformation.

　　Because the public knows that high-end intelligent connectivity and advanced driving assistance are deeply loved by Chinese consumers. If they want to achieve long-term and healthy development in this land, they must make breakthroughs in these areas. However, in the past, Volkswagen was constrained by the problem of the on-board operating system. Either the product was delayed, or complaints were made, or the market roast

　　It can be said that the public has been struggling with operating systems for a long time. Therefore, restructuring the software department to accelerate the development of more intelligent and convenient car systems is one of Volkswagen's efforts in specific technical execution.

　　General Motors from the United States is not idle either.

　　Recently, General Motors announced that Mike&Middleot; Mike Abbot is about to assume the position of Executive Vice President of General Motors, responsible for its software business. After joining, Abbott will directly contact Mary&Middleot; Mary Barra reports on her work.

　　General Motors stated that Abbott will be responsible for the company's newly established end-to-end software organization. It is reported that the department will focus on the development of vehicle and enterprise software technology and solutions, and provide digital services and functions to individual and commercial customers.

　　It is worth mentioning that Abbott was a visiting scholar at Stanford University's Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (SAIL), specializing in research on computer vision and other globally beneficial products. His previous identity was Vice President of Engineering in Apple's Cloud Services department.

　　During his tenure at Apple, he led a team responsible for developing the core infrastructure of all Apple cloud services, including iCloud iMessage, Private Relay, email and account security. He has extensive technical industry experience in cloud computing, storage, networking, security, and other fields.

　　Mary· Bola also stated in a statement, "General Motors has entered the next stage of technology driven transformation, with a focus on rapidly scaling new electric vehicles and software platforms, thereby driving faster innovation and providing a new and exciting user experience

　　From strategic adjustment to technological promotion, traditional giants represented by Volkswagen and General Motors are finding ways to cater to more diverse consumer demands and seek better development for the enterprise. Despite the current difficulties and hardships, what they are pursuing is not only "selling more cars" and "living for a few more years", but also the future of the automotive industry.

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