Qipai Observation | After GAC's 30 Million Vehicles

GAC's 30-millionth vehicle has rolled off the line.

The ceremony was held at the Panyu factory. After the opening video, production bases in multiple cities around the world connected synchronously, and GAC Honda P7, GAC Toyota BZ7, Qijing GT7, GAC Aion N60, and GAC Hyper S600 rolled off the line sequentially. The last one, the RHD Trumpchi M8 PHEV, drove onto the stage as the 30-millionth complete vehicle. GAC Group Chairman Feng Xingya handed the keys to Thai movie star Tony Jaa, and the room rang with the sound of camera shutters.

This is one of the most important moments for GAC Group in its 29 years. The fifth domestic automaker to cross the 30 million vehicle threshold, the two strategic directions formed by New Energy and Going Global are clearly visible on the stage.

But in the past year, what drove substantive changes in this company was another less noticed thread. In November 2024, GAC moved its headquarters from Guangzhou's Zhujiang New Town CBD to Panyu Automotive City. The distance between the decision-making layer and R&D, manufacturing was shortened from dozens of kilometers to a few hundred meters. Subsequently, a 200-person user insight department was established, product development processes were reorganized, IPD and IPMS systems were introduced, and the vehicle development cycle was compressed from 26 months to 18 months.

These adjustments share a common direction: let those closer to users make decisions, and let user voices enter products faster.

I. From Zhujiang New Town to Panyu

In November 2024, GAC launched the 'Panyu Action'. The outside world saw the headquarters move from Zhujiang New Town CBD to Panyu Automotive City, but the essence of this relocation was not geographical displacement, but a physical shortening of the decision chain.

Before this, the decision-making layer of GAC and R&D, manufacturing, marketing were separated by dozens of kilometers. With each layer of information transmission, there was a loss. After the headquarters landed in Panyu, decision-makers, engineers, and production lines were in the same place, 'Those who can hear the gunfire make decisions' changed from a slogan to daily routine.

More substantial changes occurred at the organizational level. GAC integrated the independent brand sector into Product HQ, Procurement HQ, Finance HQ, and three Brand Marketing HQs, then established Trumpchi BU, upgrading the brand from a business unit to a market entity with complete operational rights and responsibilities. A User Insight Department was newly established under the Product HQ, with a planning team of 200 people. At the same time, professional managers were recruited globally to promote project-based reform.

These adjustments point to the same goal: breaking down 'departmental walls'. In the past, R&D built cars, Marketing sold cars, After-sales repaired cars, each managed their own area, and user voices were diluted between departments. After the reform, GAC introduced IPD (Integrated Product Development) and IPMS (Integrated Product Marketing and Sales) processes, building an end-to-end management system from 'user insight, needs analysis to product development, delivery experience'.

The results appeared in numbers: business efficiency and decision efficiency increased by about 50%, vehicle standard development cycle shortened from 26 months to 18 months, and R&D costs reduced by more than 10%. Market response speed increased 6 times—in the automotive industry, this means a product decision changed from 'can afford to wait' to 'cannot afford to wait'.

But behind these numbers is: GAC began to operate like a startup. A 200-person user insight department is almost unimaginable in traditional automaker organizational structures—it means someone is specifically responsible for 'listening', not just 'doing'.

II. 'Full Mic On' Without Limits

If organizational change does not land on specific user touchpoints, it is just a pile of PPTs.

Since 2025, GAC has regularly held the 'Full Mic On' user event. Led by Feng Xingya, top executives from R&D, Marketing, Quality, After-sales, etc., appeared collectively, face-to-face with users from all over the country.

At the 2024 Beijing Auto Show, a Trumpchi E8 user raised three questions: the external camera on the fender was easily blocked by mud and water, limiting the 360 panoramic view; daytime running light identification needs improvement. GAC claimed tasks one by one on site, forming a cross-departmental special team within 24 hours. Two months later, the camera improvement solution was installed on the car, and the optimized daytime running lights were applied to the new car models.

The value of this case is not in 'speed', but in revealing the hardest part of transformation: giving frontline user feedback an institutionalized channel directly to the decision-making layer, and forming a closed loop.

For this, GAC established a full-process closed-loop management mechanism—numbered filing, weekly follow-up, monthly review, common issues synchronized to all users immediately, and individual follow-up after rectification completion. 161 user suggestions collected in three sessions of 'Full Mic On' were directly converted into product optimization plans.

From a business logic perspective, the cost of this 'hard work' is not low—each event involves several hours of time for executives from multiple departments, manpower costs for cross-departmental collaboration, and R&D investment for subsequent rectification. But the change happening in the automotive industry is: when the gap in the product itself gradually narrows, service reliability and response speed are increasingly becoming key variables for user selection.

III. Writing the Most Sensitive Issues into Commitments

On December 28, 2025, GAC announced that its three major independent brands jointly launched the 'Three Responsibilities' policy—battery, motor, and controller system spontaneous combustion, manufacturer compensates with new car; battery degradation exceeds limit, manufacturer replaces battery for free; smart parking accidents, manufacturer bears repair and third-party losses.

This is the first domestic independent brand to systematically propose 'Three Responsibilities' commitments. Battery degradation standards were refined into quantitative indicators: 2 years or 50,000 km degradation not exceeding 10%, 3 years or 60,000 km not exceeding 15%, 6 years or 100,000 km not exceeding 20%.

The economic meaning of this policy is not hard to understand. In the new energy vehicle industry, battery degradation, spontaneous combustion risk, and intelligent driving accident liability are the three issues users care about most, and also the three areas automakers are least willing to commit to—because commitment means cost. If battery degradation exceeds standard requiring free replacement, if spontaneous combustion requires new car compensation, these costs will eventually be counted in the corporate financial statements.

GAC dares to do this based on two premises: one is enough confidence in its own product quality—the Magazine Battery cumulative installation of 1.5 million units, safe driving over 160 billion kilometers; two is that when price war marginal benefits are diminishing, shifting competition from 'spec wars' to 'responsibility wars'.

From market feedback, this strategy is showing results. In January 2026, GAC Trumpchi terminal sales were 26,937 units, up 25.07% month-on-month; Trumpchi global sales in the first quarter broke 92,000 units, up 33.06% year-on-year. 'Three Responsibilities' was interpreted by the market as 'a signal that the manufacturer has confidence in the product'.

IV. GAC in County Towns

If 'Full Mic On' solves the problem of 'being heard', and 'Three Responsibilities' solves the problem of 'trust', then channel penetration solves the problem of 'accessibility'.

China's county-level markets contributed nearly 60% of new car growth, but most brands' service networks remain concentrated in tier-1 and tier-2 cities. GAC's plan is: add 1000 county-level authorized stores within the year, as of the end of June, 600 outlet recognitions were completed.

These 600 stores are not downsized versions of traditional 4S stores. GAC launched the 'Multi-brand Authorization + Lightweight Agency' model—the same store can display Trumpchi's fuel/hybrid cars and Aion's pure electric cars. Investors only need about 1 million yuan to start, 200-300 square meters is enough to open, capital threshold dropped by more than 90% compared to traditional 4S stores. Dealers support zero-inventory operations, customers place orders online via APP, adopting order-based marketing.

The business logic behind this model is not complex: the single store output in county markets is insufficient to support 4S stores with tens of millions of yuan investment, but the combination of 'million-level investment + multi-brand collection + zero inventory' makes the single store economic model feasible. GAC investment promotion information shows, after launch, more than 1000 investors signed up.

The significance of channel penetration goes beyond selling cars. The core pain point for county users is 'repair far, response slow'. GAC's 'Experience + Service + Recharging' integrated outlets, accompanied by '9 Vertical, 10 Horizontal' recharging network—covering 213 cities nationwide, self-operated charging piles over 27,000, core urban areas achieve '1 km straight line must have a station'—attempt to copy the service density of tier-1 and tier-2 cities to county towns.

This is a layout that requires patience. County market purchasing power and brand awareness have a gap compared to tier-1 and tier-2 cities, and the after-sales capability of the lightweight agency model also faces tests. But if successful, GAC will establish first-mover advantage in markets where most competitors have not yet deeply cultivated.

V. After 30 Million Vehicles

Back to this number of 30 million vehicles. For GAC, the true value of this milestone is not about having another zero, but that it provides a window to review user operations.

GAC's investment in user operations is visible: the manpower cost of the 200-person user insight department, the multi-department collaboration cost of each 'Full Mic On' session, the channel construction cost of 1000 county stores, the CAPEX of 27,000 charging piles, the potential compensation cost of the 'Three Responsibilities' policy. These investments appear as expenses on the financial statement, not generating direct revenue in the short term.

But the business logic of the automotive industry is changing. When the gross profit of new car sales is continuously compressed by price wars, when the profit from selling cars itself becomes thinner and thinner, user lifetime value—after-sales, trade-ins, ecosystem services—becomes a more reliable profit source. And the premise of all this is that users are willing to stay within your system.

GAC's H1 independent brand sales were 346,000 units, up 35.69% year-on-year. Behind this number are people within the 30 million existing users willing to continue choosing GAC, and new users attracted by 'Three Responsibilities', channel coverage, and user communication.

After the ceremony dispersed, the real test began. The moment the 30-millionth vehicle was delivered into Tony Jaa's hands, the relationship between GAC and users was being redefined, formally stepping into a brand new stage.