Since last July, a little-known car maker in China’s southwest has dominated the world’s largest electric car market, outselling bigger players and even Tesla almost every month with a tiny, bare-bones EV that starts at just $4,500 The Hongguang Mini is the brainchild of SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile C, a joint venture between SAIC Motor Corp and Guangxi Automobile Group Co, two state-backed car makers, and US giant General Motors.
“Our company’s mentality is to produce whatever people need,” Wuling’s head of branding and marketing, Zhang Yiqin, said in an interview. “We keep close tabs on our users. The hurdles to electric car adoption can be cleared only when consumers find using them a comfortable thing.” Zorah Zhang is a typical client. The 23-year-old is a fan of Hayao Miyazaki, the Japanese animator who directed My Neighbor Totoro, a fantasy film featuring a character called The Catbus, a grinning feline whose seats are covered in fur.
Outside Liuzhou, EV penetration in China is still only around 6% and competition is fierce. Tesla may be the name that resonates loudest, particularly in larger cities like Beijing and Shanghai where its first Gigafactory is located, but a host of newer, local entrants from Nio Inc to Xpeng Inc, Li Auto Inc and WM Motor are crowding in.
For now, it’s a strategy that’s paying dividends for Wuling. The company, owned 50.1% by Shanghai-based SAIC, 44% by GM’s China unit and 5.9% by Guangxi Automobile, sold 1.6 million vehicles last year. While that was down about 4% from 2019 amid the pandemic, Wuling’s new-energy vehicle sales almost tripled to 174,000 units.
Wuling has been able to churn out cheap cars thanks in part to its good supply-chain management, honed with the super-popular microvans. Many of Wuling’s suppliers have also set up manufacturing bases in Liuzhou, which has helped cap costs further. It’s a model that’s being replicated by car companies in other cities and provinces across China, flattering for Wuling but challenging too as the price of rivals’ cars come down.
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