2024 is a critical year for joint venture brands, as the share of domestic brands has exceeded 50% for the first time in 2023, and joint venture brands must make more efforts in 2024 to avoid being eliminated.
Taking U.S. cars as an example, the share of U.S. cars in China has been declining in the past few years, but the Chinese market has a bright future, so they are not willing to give up. In 2024, there are still a lot of new cars that major American car brands are preparing to launch.
Chevrolet: Continue to work on large cars
Chevrolet was also at the peak of sales and reputation in China a few years ago, but now it has degenerated into a second-tier brand, and Chevrolet new cars are rarely seen in the mainstream market. In 2024, Chevrolet's new car plan will still focus on the "big car" that American cars are best at.
The new Chevrolet car that will attract more attention in 2024 is the TR**erse HEV, which is based on the gasoline version of the TR**erse and is still positioned as a medium and large SUV, and is expected to be launched in 2024.
The design style of the new car is relatively tough, basically the same as the overseas version, and it also has a 5197mm body and a wheelbase of 3072mm, and is available in two seating layouts: 7 and 8 seats. As an unplugged model, this car is also equipped with a 2The hybrid system consists of a 0T engine and an electric motor, but the maximum engine power is only 150kW.
In addition to the TR**erse, Chevrolet will also launch a larger SUV in 2024, the Tahoe Tahoe, a full-size SUV that is expected to be equipped with a four-wheel drive system and a 10-speed automatic transmission. However, it is still unknown whether this large-displacement "oil tiger" will find a living space in China.
In addition to this, Chevrolet has another blockbuster model, which is the Explorer EV. As can be seen from the name of the model, this is a gasoline-to-electric model built on the fuel version of the Explorer. According to the previous declaration of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, this is a medium-sized SUV, providing two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive versions, with a maximum power of 150kW and 180kW, and a wheelbase of up to 2954mm, and the overall performance is not bad.
Ford: Lying flat, but not completely flat
In the past few years, Ford has been quite strange, has been poisoned by the three-cylinder engine, and has also tried to transform into a mobility company, and it is also the first mainstream car company to announce that it will "lie flat" in China. However, in 2024, Ford still has some good models.
First of all, the Ford Horse, which is considered to be "like a tank 300" from the beginning, has attracted a lot of popularity for Ford's appeal in the field of off-road vehicles. On January 29, the car officially made its domestic debut.
According to official information, the Ford Flame will be equipped with 23T engine, the length of the car is 4825mm, the wheelbase is 2950mm, but also has a wading depth of 800mm, full-time four-wheel drive system, 10AT gearbox, three-stage nitrogen shock absorber, etc. are not absent, as an off-road vehicle, its professionalism is still relatively high.
It is not yet clear the price of this car, but if nothing else, the price of this car will be more than 300,000 yuan, which is relatively close to the people in the American off-road vehicles, but compared with domestic models such as Tank 300 and Formula Leopard Leopard 5, it does not have any advantages in cost performance.
In addition, Ford's Muatang Dark Horse will be officially launched in the near future. It does not belong to the "electric horse" family with dismal sales, but is an original gasoline version of the sports car. The car has been unveiled before and is expected to be equipped with a 5The 0-liter V8 engine has a maximum power of 334kW and will also have a personalized body in pure black. After the official launch, it is likely to be favored by some sports car enthusiasts.
Buick: The GL8 is worth the toss
Buick is the most obvious American brand in the past two years, and in 2023, its main model Yinglang will no longer be able to maintain its position in the industry, in addition to Yinglang, Buick GL8 is one of the few models worth tossing Buick.
Previously, General Motors said that by 2025, it will launch more than 15 electric vehicles based on the Autonen platform in the Chinese market, including the pure electric version of the Buick GL8. The car is expected to be officially launched in 2024, and it is worth mentioning that it will be a special car for China.
The new car adopts a new design language, and the sense of grade of the exterior and interior has been significantly improved, and it is expected to become the highest-positioned model of Buick after the official launch, and there will be a lot of progress in various functions and configurations. In 2023, the Buick GL8 will still be the preferred model for many medium and large MPV users, and its EV version has naturally become the focus of attention from the outside world. In addition, the Odette platform can also bring a good imagination space.
However, it should be noted that pure electric medium and large MPVs are not popular in the domestic market. At present, more than 90% of the sales of new energy medium and large MPVs Denza D9 and VOYAH Dreamer are contributed by plug-in hybrid models, which proves that high-end consumers still have concerns about the difficulty and slow charging of pure electric models, which may affect the prospects of the Buick GL8 pure electric version.
Cadillac: Continuing the difficult transition
Cadillac is the leading brand in the domestic second-tier luxury car market, and its development is not bad, but it is also difficult to resist the invasion of the new energy tide, so Cadillac is also working hard to transform to new energy. After the launch of Ruige and the market response was flat, Cadillac is not discouraged, and will launch another medium and large SUV in 2024 - Cadillac Optiq, known as IQ in Chinese.
The new car adopts the classic design of the Cadillac electric car family, and also has a length of 4822mm and a wheelbase of 2954mm, which is still relatively good in terms of appearance. At the same time, the new car will also be equipped with front and rear dual motors and electric four-wheel drive system, with a comprehensive system power of up to 213kW, and will use ternary lithium batteries.
IQ was also born from the GM Autonen platform, and the technical level of the Autoneng platform has reached the first-class level of the domestic new energy market, but the thunder is loud and the rain is small, and the performance of the models launched is not ideal. In terms of positioning, IQ Aoge is lower than IQ Ruige, and the price will also be lowered, in this case, whether IQ Aoge can give full play to the potential of the Autoneng platform, it is still worth looking forward to.
Summary:In the fuel vehicle market, American cars still have a certain influence, but in the new energy era, American cars are more like stragglers, and several major brands want to transform, but they have never been able to get the essentials. They will continue to push for more models in 2024, but it's hard to say if they'll be able to gain a foothold.