GM can regain market share in China after hitting 20-year low, executive says

DETROIT
–


General
Motors
believes
it
can
regain
market
share
in
China
after
hitting
a
roughly

20-year
low
last
year
amid
changing
market
conditions
and
increased
domestic
competition,
GM
President
Mark
Reuss
said
Thursday.

The
longtime
GM
executive
said
new
all-electric
and
plug-in
hybrid
electric
vehicles,
as
well
as
the

redesign
of
its
Buick
brand,
will
help
the
automaker
turn
around
operations
in
the
region.

GM’s
market
share
in
China,
including
its
joint
ventures,
has
plummeted
from
roughly
15%
as
recently
as
2015
to
8.6%
last
year
—
the
first
time
it
has
dropped
below

9%
since
2003.
GM’s
earnings
from
the
operations
have
also
fallen,
down
78.5%
since
peaking
in
2014,
according
to
regulatory
filings.

Reuss
also
touted
the
competitiveness
of
GM’s
Chinese
joint
venture
partners
such
as
Wuling
Motors.
GM
first
established
operations
in
China
in
1997.

“You
can
look
at
it
any
way
you
want
from
a
larger
geopolitical
standpoint,
but
for
us
in
China,
this
has
been
a
great
advantage
for
us
to
be
partnered
so
deeply
for
so
many
years
with
our
JV
partners
there,”
Reuss
said
during
the
Financial
Times
Future
of
the
Car
Summit. “We
have
an
advantage
there
with
Buick
and
Wuling,
and
it
goes
both
ways.”

GM’s
market
share
declines
in
China
are
the
result
of
growing
competition
from
government-backed
domestic
automakers
fueled
by
nationalism
and
a
generational
shift
in
consumer
perceptions
of
the
automotive
industry
and
electric
vehicles.
The
company,
along
with
other
American-based
automakers,
is
managing
geopolitical
tensions
between
China
and
the
U.S.

GM’s
U.S.-based
brands
such
as
Buick
and
Chevrolet
have
seen
Chinese
sales
drop
more
than
those
of
its
joint
venture.
The
joint
venture
models
accounted
for
about
60%
of
GM’s
2.1
million
vehicles
sold
last
year
in
China.

The
market
declines
have
spurred
questions

on
whether
GM
would
exit
China,
as
it
has
other
underperforming
markets
in
recent
years.

Reuss
said
Thursday
that
GM
plans
to
remain
in
China “for
the
foreseeable
future.”

GM
CEO
Mary
Barra
told
investors
in
February
that “nothing
is
off
the
table
in
ensuring
that
GM
has
a
strong
future
to
generate
the
right
profitability
and
the
right
return
for
our
investors”
in
China.

GM
on

Tuesday
announced
a “leadership
transition”
in
China.
The
automaker
said
Steve
Hill,
currently
GM’s
vice
president
of
global
commercial
operations,
would
succeed
GM
China
President
Julian
Blissett,
effective
June
1.