Foreign joint-venture brands are accelerating their electrification push in China. General Motors reported third-quarter deliveries of more than 358,000 vehicles in the Chinese market, with new energy vehicles contributing over 60 percent of sales — a record for the period. SAIC-GM's September terminal sales reached 47,695 units, up 6.1 percent month on month, with NEV sales rising 31 percent.
Data from Gasgoo Auto Research Institute show the NEV penetration rate of joint-venture brands climbed from 16.5 percent to 25.1 percent in the first seven months of this year. In sales terms, GAC Toyota's NEV sales grew 124 percent, Dongfeng Nissan 122 percent, Changan Mazda 87 percent and the Buick brand 70 percent.
The shift goes beyond sales figures. In what analysts call the era of "joint ventures 2.0", Chinese local teams now lead product definition, with vehicles developed in China around the needs of Chinese families. Toyota has handed decision-making for China-exclusive models to its local R&D system, with nearly 90 percent of parts in its bZ series sourced from China; the Platinum Zeekr 7 uses a full-stack Chinese solution. Volkswagen jointly developed the electrical architecture of its "Zhongzhong 08" model with Xpeng, which carries Xpeng's ADAS large model, Turing chip and 800V platform.
In August, SAIC and GM signed an agreement extending their joint venture by 20 years to 2047, with plans to launch at least 30 new energy models by 2030.
Source: People's Daily
