SAIC and General Motors strengthen their alliance in the Chinese market until 2047

Chinese manufacturer SAIC Motor and the American group General Motors have agreed to extend their alliance for twenty years through the SAIC-GM joint venture, which will now run until 2047. The decision comes after a deep restructuring of the joint company and several years of declining sales.

SAIC and GM thus seek to regain stability and make more efficient use of their shared resources in research and development, supply chains and external markets.

The collaboration between the two firms began in June 1997. In this new phase, the core of the strategy will be electrification and greater integration of local capabilities. Vehicle development in China will continue to rely on the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Centre (PATAC) in Shanghai. In 2025 the joint company already presented its Xiao Yao Super Hybrid and Electric architecture. The goal for 2030 is to launch at least thirty new energy vehicles (NEVs) under the Buick and Cadillac brands. In the Chinese market, the NEV category includes battery electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and extended-range electric vehicles.

Looking beyond China

Besides meeting domestic demand, SAIC-GM wants to turn its operations in China into an export platform. The plans include shipping vehicles to the Middle East, South America, Mexico, Africa and several Asian countries. Sales to the United States are ruled out, among other reasons, because of the US ban on imports of connected vehicles manufactured in China.

The first premium new energy model destined for export will be the Buick Electra E7, a luxury plug-in hybrid SUV whose overseas sales will begin in October 2026 and which offers a combined range of more than 1,600 kilometres. Buick had presented the Electra sub-brand in the Chinese market the previous year.

The sales figures still reflect the complexity of the moment. In July 2026 SAIC-GM sold 34,773 units, 17.7 percent less than in the same month of the previous year. In the first seven months of the year the decline was 7.45 percent, to 265,927 vehicles. These data do not include a second joint venture of the partners, SAIC-GM-Wuling, which sold approximately 789,000 units between January and July 2026. Together, the two alliances allowed General Motors to register 1.9 million vehicles in China last year, a figure that nevertheless represents a 51 percent drop compared with 2016.