Wuling. From simple minivans to elegant electric microcars
The Wuling brand is part of SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile (abbreviated as SGMW), a joint venture between Chinese automotive giant SAIC Motor, General Motors and Liuzhou Wuling Motors. The head office is located in Liuzhou, southwest China. The company manufactures utility and family vehicles, as well as engines for small and mini cars. The joint venture, 44% of whose shares are held by the Americans, was established in 2002. Part of SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile, Wuling has come a long way from simple, inexpensive minivans to elegant electric microcars and SUVs that are so popular today. Find out what is the secret of Wuling’s success.
SAIC-GM-Wuling has already sold 10 million vehicles. The company produces around 1 million vehicles annually, holding that position for five consecutive years. And for eight years it has become the sales leader among Chinese automakers. SGMW manufactures cars under the Wuling and Baojun brands. The Baojun brand produces the eye-catching and well-equipped E100, E200 and E300 models.
The Wuling brand has already established itself as a manufacturer of low-cost minivans and delivery vans. The brand’s models have won numerous titles and awards, and the Wuling Sunshine minivan was even named “the most important car in the world” in a Forbes article and ranked 3rd in the top 10 best-selling cars in the world in 2011. But the inexpensive Wuling Hongguang compact van can be called a real bestseller. For five years, this family has become the best-selling in China, and for 9 years has sold more than 4.5 million cars.
But, although the brand has found success with simple and cheap minivans and vans, Wuling is now exploring the ‘expensive’ market segments: the stylish Wuling Victory estate is already on sale in China. In addition, the manufacturer plans to release the Wuling Hongguang X SUV, intended for export. Yes, yes, SGMW has already made a fundamental decision: Wuling will soon conquer the global market. At the same time, the manufacturer also does not forget about its roots: not so long ago it released an affordable 8-seater Wuling Hongguang Plus minivan and an inexpensive Wuling Journey minivan created on its basis.
The company did not stop there, deciding to expand the segment of electric city microcars. The brand’s newest model, the Mini EV, debuted in the summer of 2020 and has already managed to gain popularity in the Chinese market, thanks to its 4,500 dollar price tag, surpassing the Tesla Model 3 in terms of sales. For the first full year of sales in China, 329,000 of these cars were sold!
