Kevin Wale and Dan Akerson Remarks at GM China Press
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BEIJING MOTOR SHOW GM China Press Conference April 23, 2012 Spoken word takes precedent Kevin Wale, president and managing director, GM China Group Welcome and good evening! I’m Kevin Wale, president and managing director of the GM China group. Thank you for being here. I know you’ve had a long day so we are especially thankful you could join us. We promise to make this an interesting evening. We are honored to have GM Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson here with us at Auto China 2012. Although it’s his first visit to a major auto show in this country, this is Dan’s 5th visit to China in the past 18 months. There’s a reason why he has become a frequent visitor. Thanks to the strength of our joint- venture partnerships, China has grown to become GM’s largest market and he is deeply interested in learning about and investing time in our business. GM has been the industry leader among global automakers in China for the past seven years. With our great partners, we have created a strong presence across China. I’m proud to say that despite an overall industry slowdown at the start of the year, GM sales have remained robust in 2012. In the first 3 months, our sales were up 8.7 percent year on year to over 745,000 units. It was our best quarter yet. We should be reaching a million sales any day now. All three of our manufacturing joint ventures – Shanghai GM, SAIC-GM-Wuling and FAW-GM – along with all of our brands have grown their sales in 2012. As you know, GM remains a company on the move in our largest market. This year we have introduced important new products like the Chevrolet Volt and Malibu, and opened new facilities such as our climate wind tunnel at PATAC. Tonight we have an update for you on our plan to lead the industry in technologies for today and the future. As many of you remember, we demonstrated our future thinking at Expo 2010 … let’s take a quick look back. [RUN EN-V FOOTAGE FROM EXPO] I know many of you were there in Shanghai when we revealed the EN-V concept electric networked vehicles to the world. The EN-Vs combined electrification and connectivity in a small, maneuverable package. They were designed as a solution to traffic congestion, parking limitations, and air quality issues that will face tomorrow’s mega-cities. 1 The response of visitors at the Expo was overwhelming. EN-V turned out to be one of our most talked-about concept cars ever. Our designers and engineers are exploring a range of options for turning the EN-V concept into a reality. Well today, I’m pleased to give you an exclusive, first-look at the newest version– the EN-V 2.0! We’re excited about the EN-V 2.0 -- it would use technologies such as the mobility Internet, electrification and telematics to help change the automotive landscape and ensure a sustainable future for our industry. This rendering is our vision for the next step. It has all the most exciting and attractive elements of the original concept EN-V, such as the small footprint and maneuverability, but it has evolved into a more practical design for real-life use. It features emission-free electric propulsion, and it’s connected and autonomous just like the original EN-V. However, it will also have features that customers need -- like climate control, personal storage space and the ability to drive in all weather and city road conditions. The EN-V 2.0 will have a modular architecture, giving us the flexibility to create a simple vehicle with manual operation or a more complex design that is fully autonomous and networked. That modular design will allow us to move quickly as we learn about practical applications of this technology. Our plan is to use the EN-V 2.0 in pilot studies throughout China, in places like the Tianjin Eco- City, to explore this type of future vehicle solution. Stay tuned for more updates on our plans for EN-V 2.0 later this year. Now I’d like to invite Dan to tell you more about our plans for continuing to grow and lead the industry in China. Dan… DAN AKERSON, chairman and CEO Thank you, Kevin. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. It’s great to be with you and to be back in Beijing. As Kevin said, this is my fifth visit to China in 18 months. I’ve been coming so often that Kevin no longer says, “Welcome to China.” Now he says, “You again?” My frequent visits and that of the GM Board last September signify the importance of China both to General Motors and to our industry as a whole. It is also symbolic of our continued commitment and support for China’s long-term development and its role in the international community. 2 We are dedicated to lead in China – to make a positive contribution to this country and to the communities in which we operate. The year of the Dragon is an important one for GM China. Here are just a few of the major events happening for us in 2012: o We will celebrate the 15th anniversary of the creation of our SGM and PATAC joint ventures and the 10th anniversary of the establishment of SGMW. o We will open Phase II of the GM China Advanced Technical Center at the end of the year. o We will continue to expand our manufacturing presence. o We will introduce more great new vehicles like the Chevrolet Malibu and Cadillac XTS and Cadillac ELR. o We will open the SGM Proving Grounds in Anhui province. o And we will expand our dealer network to 3,500 stores in 2012 from 2,900 in 2011. As you know, China is an incredibly important part of GM’s global business. GM’s sales growth and profitability here have made it a major contributor to our bottom line. We attribute our success to the fact that no auto company has the years of experience bringing the latest vehicles, technologies and manufacturing processes to China like GM has. We are committed to fully integrating our business here into our global operations and we have done that where it makes sense. o PATAC is one of our six global engineering bases. o SGM is part of our global purchasing organization, and o Design is fully integrated. We are also delivering on our promise to hire and train the best local talent, to help us develop and sell the world’s best vehicles. One of our aims is to help grow a new generation of automotive engineers, designers and leaders right here in China. We have ambitious plans to grow all areas of our business here in China. In no area is that more apparent than in our dedication to bringing new technology and products here. During the past 2 days we talked about some of the newest products for China – like the Cadillac XTS, which will be built here in China, and the ELR coming after that. The Chevrolet Tru and Code Concept cars we showed yesterday are a great example of our efforts to explore new territory. Young buyers under 30 are vital to Chevrolet’s continued success all around the world, so we are asking what they want in a car, how it should look and what it should do for them. 3 On my trip to China last September we opened the first phase of our Advanced Technology Center in Shanghai. Engineers there are researching and developing EV batteries and lightweight materials. The Shanghai Advanced Technical Center will become GM’s 2nd-largest development center after our tech center in Detroit. o Phase 2 opens late this year. It will include an engineering facility focused on powertrain and electrification research. o The Advanced Design studio will develop concept cars for China and other markets. We are also working hard to address a major concern for people all around the world -- rising fuel prices. There are many ways we can improve fuel economy ... from aerodynamics and light weight materials, to smaller turbo engines, alternative fuels, and electrification. At GM, we believe there is not a single solution ... so we're working on many of them. The Volt arrived in China last month. We think it’s the best EV on the market because of its extended range ability. We will use it to gauge market acceptance for electric cars. Learnings from Volt will also be valuable as we help build the charging infrastructure. We’re also exploring the use of other technologies like internet mobility, electrification and telematics to change the automotive landscape in China. We'll continue to update you on our progress, including later this year as we open the new phase of our Tech Center in Shanghai. With the phenomenal growth potential in China, a lot of automakers are talking about bringing their best to China, and some are now starting to do it. You won’t find a single one that has walked the walk and talked the talk for as long as General Motors has. Our commitment to China has been a key to our success and allowed us to lead the industry in sales for seven consecutive years. It’s been a pleasure speaking to you this evening. Thank you for your time. 4 .