GWM, the maker of Haval SUVs and pickup trucks, unveiled its new energy vehicle strategy on Friday evening, pledging to double down on plug-in hybrid electric technology and becoming the latest traditional Chinese car company to play catchup as the shift toward cleaner cars accelerates.
The Chinese carmaker said its new technology can bring the fuel efficiency of a two-wheel drive to its four-wheel SUVs. It does that by placing one motor at the front of the car and one at the back, and employing intelligent torque control.
For the Hi4 technology, “H represents hybrid, i for intelligent, while 4 means 4 wheel drive,” the company said in a statement.
“All EVs of GWM brand will carry the 4WD tech in 2024, while in future the company intends to make it open source.”
The realignment comes as GWM posted a 17% sales decline in 2022, the first time a drop has occurred since 2018. Its lineup is light on electric cars, barring the compact ORA pure EV range, and sales of even those models dropped 23%. That in a year when China NEV sales almost doubled to 6.5-million units.
GWM has since lowered it sales forecast for 2023 from 2.8-million units to 1.6-million. Preliminary net income for the 12 months ended December 31 should come in at 8.3bn yuan (roughly R21,849,960,000), the company said in February, missing the market’s expectations for around 10.1bn yuan (roughly R26,788,694,600).
Makers of internal combustion engine cars are facing a tough time in China, where EV sales now account for about one in every four new vehicles sold. Sales of ICE autos dropped 13% in 2022 while battery EV sales rose 74% and plug-in hybrids surged around 160%, according to China’s Passenger Car Association. Provincial governments and several carmakers have started to offer steep discounts to consumers to clear ICE stock.
In the same event, GWM also announced an unusual move of offering awards of up to 10m yuan for people who report internet trolls. It said the programme will help return peace to the auto industry and rational competition among peers.
GWM’s shift follows that of another large Chinese automaker, Geely. It unveiled a new high-end line of electric cars last month as part of a push to make up lost ground to Tesla, which makes around 70,000 EVs a month from its factory in Shanghai, and local powerhouse BYD.
Geely, one of China’s largest private automakers, already had a suite of electric vehicle brands, however, including pure battery premium line Zeekr, which it launched in 2021.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
GWM latest Chinese automaker to embrace green car future
Image: Bloomberg
GWM, the maker of Haval SUVs and pickup trucks, unveiled its new energy vehicle strategy on Friday evening, pledging to double down on plug-in hybrid electric technology and becoming the latest traditional Chinese car company to play catchup as the shift toward cleaner cars accelerates.
The Chinese carmaker said its new technology can bring the fuel efficiency of a two-wheel drive to its four-wheel SUVs. It does that by placing one motor at the front of the car and one at the back, and employing intelligent torque control.
For the Hi4 technology, “H represents hybrid, i for intelligent, while 4 means 4 wheel drive,” the company said in a statement.
“All EVs of GWM brand will carry the 4WD tech in 2024, while in future the company intends to make it open source.”
The realignment comes as GWM posted a 17% sales decline in 2022, the first time a drop has occurred since 2018. Its lineup is light on electric cars, barring the compact ORA pure EV range, and sales of even those models dropped 23%. That in a year when China NEV sales almost doubled to 6.5-million units.
GWM has since lowered it sales forecast for 2023 from 2.8-million units to 1.6-million. Preliminary net income for the 12 months ended December 31 should come in at 8.3bn yuan (roughly R21,849,960,000), the company said in February, missing the market’s expectations for around 10.1bn yuan (roughly R26,788,694,600).
Makers of internal combustion engine cars are facing a tough time in China, where EV sales now account for about one in every four new vehicles sold. Sales of ICE autos dropped 13% in 2022 while battery EV sales rose 74% and plug-in hybrids surged around 160%, according to China’s Passenger Car Association. Provincial governments and several carmakers have started to offer steep discounts to consumers to clear ICE stock.
In the same event, GWM also announced an unusual move of offering awards of up to 10m yuan for people who report internet trolls. It said the programme will help return peace to the auto industry and rational competition among peers.
GWM’s shift follows that of another large Chinese automaker, Geely. It unveiled a new high-end line of electric cars last month as part of a push to make up lost ground to Tesla, which makes around 70,000 EVs a month from its factory in Shanghai, and local powerhouse BYD.
Geely, one of China’s largest private automakers, already had a suite of electric vehicle brands, however, including pure battery premium line Zeekr, which it launched in 2021.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
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