Wuling Overseas: A Three-Year Plan to Root the Ecosystem | Auto-First International

From "relying on others to go global" to "full-chain ecosystem" global expansion. On September 17, at the 23rd China-ASEAN Expo held in Nanning, SAIC-GM-Wuling officially released the Global 5 global strategy, and drew a clear scale for this transformation: 3 years to deepen layout in 150 countries, expand 500 strategic partners, and achieve an average annual sales growth of 50%.

At the press conference, Wuling signed a battery local CKD project agreement with Malaysia's Tan Cheng Group, becoming the first result of the new strategy implementation.

Detailed explanation of the Global 5 global strategy. The first is five major strength foundations: All-category products covering SUV, MPV, micro-commuting, urban new energy, and commercial vehicles, "Tian, Ling, Shen" technology system, the world's first MS Smart Island manufacturing system, synergy of "Smart Manufacturing Chain, Supply Chain, Sales Chain, Talent Chain, Finance Chain", plus 68 years of car manufacturing reputation and global cumulative sales and production of 32 million units.

The second is five major cooperation models: Open trade, distribution, production-sales, full industry chain, and technology licensing five paths for different markets, shallow to deep, selected on demand — among which "technology licensing" means Wuling not only exports products but also starts to export manufacturing and technology capabilities.

In addition, the strategy is also supported by five major service guarantees covering the full lifecycle of cooperation, five major markets ranging from ASEAN bridgehead to Asia, Africa, Americas, Europe, and Oceania, and a set of goals supported by a foundation: Wuling products are currently sold in more than 110 countries and regions, overseas marketing outlets exceed 230, and in the next 3 years, the layout will be deepened to 150 countries, 500 strategic partners will be expanded, and annual sales will grow by 50% on average — equivalent to taking nearly 40 new markets on the existing map.

Zhao Xiaobin, Vice General Manager of SAIC-GM-Wuling, provided the foundation data for the Global 5 strategy: global cumulative sales and production exceeded 32 million units, new energy vehicle sales exceeded 4 million units, overseas exports grew continuously for 10 years, and cumulative breakthrough exceeded 1.6 million units/sets. Shi Jiangong, Vice General Manager of the Overseas Business Department, stated that Wuling will transform the full-link self-research and self-construction capabilities into overseas market competitiveness systematically.

This strategy's weight must be viewed in the big picture of Chinese automotive exports. Data from China Association of Automobile Manufacturers shows that in the first 8 months of 2026, Chinese automobile exports reached 7.153 million units, up 66.7% year-on-year, exceeding the total amount of the whole year last year; monthly exports stood on the million-unit level for 3 consecutive months; new energy vehicle exports reached 3.435 million units, accounting for more than half for 3 consecutive months. Chen Shihua, Deputy Secretary-General of CAAM, judged that Chinese automotive exports are shifting from short-term sales expansion to a more stable scale stage, and enterprises need to move from "selling products" to "building systems."

Wuling's choice happens to step on this node. It did not stop the strategy at export targets, but packaged manufacturing, supply chain, finance, talent, and after-sales as a whole, and then used the five-level ladder from trade to technology licensing to adapt to markets at different development stages. This is exactly the typical play of "ecosystem going global."

ASEAN is the most realistic model: Wuling entered Indonesia in 2017. The Cikarang plant produced 200,000 units cumulatively over nine years, driven 16 domestic three-electric enterprises to land, cultivated over 100 local suppliers; from January to July this year, the enterprise's overseas sales exceeded 200,000 units/sets, and monthly sales exceeded 30,000 for 4 consecutive months. This Malaysia CKD project signing is replicating this localization play in another country.

When tariff barriers and localization requirements become the new normal for going global, the window for simply shipping cars out is narrowing. The significance of the Global 5 global strategy lies in equipping Wuling's overseas business with a replicable "systematic operating system" — foundation in ASEAN, protection of five chains, three years as the goal. In the second half of Chinese automotive globalization, the competition is no longer about who sells more, but who can truly take root overseas. Wuling's step is aimed at "rooting."