General Motors Has a Promising Strategy for Export Markets with Chinese-Made EVs — But What’s Taking So Long?

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GM’s most sold EV isn’t the Equinox, the Bolt, or the Cadillac Lyriq: it’s the Wuling Hongguang Mini EV, built under a joint venture in China. The model has not only outsold every other GM EV, but it has also outsold all GM EVs built outside China together, and by quite the margin. The secret for the success of the humble Mini EV is a return to the basics: the car is incredibly affordable and, costing under $5,000, offers immense value for a bargain. Though it’s modern, “chic” design also does not hurt.

This model could’ve dominated sales in most developing markets, and not a few developed ones, yet it has seldom been seen outside China. GM could’ve used it to gain rapid market share all over the world, but it chose not to. Why? Well, a few reasons come to mind, but my best guess is that it would’ve cannibalized its affordable vehicles built in overseas factories (for Latin America, this would’ve been Mexico and Brazil).

But the EV transition is unforgiving, and the arrival of affordable Chinese EVs has started threatening GM’s position in a number of categories it perhaps took for granted. Hence, the company seems to be working on a change of strategy and has been hinting for a while that the arrival of Chinese-made EVs in Latin America and other developing markets is only a matter of time.

GM’s plan to fight back

Ideally, GM would face the Chinese EV Armada with Mexican or US-made EVs. However (as most of our readers probably know), the EV supply chain in China stands beyond competition. This makes GM’s EVs from China far more competitive than anything built in the Americas. Pair this with the fact that many of GM’s EVs from China are not selling that well in China and you have a potential recipe for a comeback in the EV segment in GM’s export markets.

We started to see hints of this strategy last year, when the Baojun Yep Plus was seen in trials in several markets in the region. Earlier this year, GM officially announced in several countries the arrival of the aforementioned Baojun under the name of Chevrolet Spark EUV, and the brand has been teasing the vehicle on social media for a few months now, though it has only officially arrived in Saudi Arabia at a reasonable price of $21,000.

Now, before the Spark EUV officially arrives, a second car has been announced under the same strategy: the Wuling Starlight S. I mean, the Chevrolet Captiva EV, a 4.7m long SUV that will come with a 60 kWh battery and stand below the already available, Mexican made Equinox EV, but above the outgoing Chevrolet Bolt EUV.

What’s taking so long?

The Spark EUV was first seen in trials in mid-2024. It was announced early this year, but it’s yet to officially arrive to any market in the world outside Saudi Arabia, even if it’s already being teased on most Chevrolet websites in South America. Meanwhile, the Captiva EV was just announced last month, but it seems it won’t start sales until the end of 2025.

In 2024, most countries in the region got their first “affordable” EVs, thanks mostly to the arrival of the BYD Seagull and the BYD Yuan Up. Undoubtedly, their meteoric rise has caused concern amongst the brands that have traditionally dominated this market, and even if GM already responded (sort of) with its Equinox EV, it desperately needs something cheaper if it’s to compete in the most popular segments.

Which makes me wonder: what’s taking so long? GM could’ve brought either of these vehicles (and many others) at least two years ago, and even today, it seems like it has been planning the Spark EUV arrival for over a year. As the production lines are already churning out these vehicles in the enormous Chinese market, and as neither is selling particularly well (or, at least, well enough to make it to the top 20), I doubt there’s a lack of capacity. And, for sure, this could cannibalize local GM offerings, but it’s also likely to bring back market share that the Chinese brands have taken from them.

Final thoughts

Despite the delay, the EV push we’re seeing is significant: in some markets (like Argentina), Chevrolet will go from zero EVs available now to 3 by the end of the year (the third one being the Blazer EV).

The success of the push will be highly dependent on the pricing of these new EVs. Local media expect the Spark EUV to arrive at a price similar to the BYD Yuan Up, something that would prove a terrible decision, as the Yuan Up far outclasses the Baojun Yep Plus. But should the Spark EUV arrive at a price similar or below the BYD Seagull long range ($22,000), it could prove a decent seller, as it’s slightly bigger and it has a slightly larger battery than the Seagull.

Ditto for the Captiva. It’s a relatively big car, with a relatively small battery for its size, and depending on its price, it could compete head to head with the BYD Yuan Up, the MG ZS EV, and the Seres 3 (which it outclasses), something likely to make it a good seller. Alternatively, it could try to go against the Chery EQ7, the Deepal E07, the Kia EV3, and the BYD Yuan Plus (which mostly outclass it) and sell a few token units every month. For the first scenario, the price should be in the $26,000 to $30,000 range; for the second, $36,000 to $40,000.

It’s hard to stress how much GM depends on the success of these vehicles for its EV strategy. A year ago, I believed GM was on the right path for EV growth, and the arrival of the Equinox EV in Latin America at prices directly in line with the Chinese-built Kia EV5 (its most direct competitor) further convinced me the brand had something going for it. But those times are now over: the US EV push is dead in the water, GM now seems to be lacking the economies of scale on which any EV (or vehicle, for that matter) depends to be profitable, and the tariff war started by the new US administration means that all of the North American auto industry is now far less competitive than it was a mere four months ago. The results speak for themselves: the Kia EV5 has come down in price, the Equinox EV has increased instead, and sales have behaved exactly as you’d expect under these conditions.

The long-term plan seems to be focused on Mexico, turning it into the production hub for cheaper EVs … but that will take time, and more so as the complex supply chains in North America are breaking up. Meanwhile, Chinese production will have to fill the gap, or else GM will lose more and more market share to its Chinese competitors as the region accelerates its transition to cleaner, greener transportation.