The automotive industry's trials forge resilience in maintaining one's original aspirations.

This was our conclusion after visiting the SGMW Baojun base.

The intensity of competition in the 2025 automotive market hardly needs elaboration. Almost all automakers are adopting the same tactics: reducing prices and enhancing current models with additional features. This approach resonates with consumers' expectations; to create a hit, one must satiate their desires.

However, there's a delicate balance between adding and subtracting. Prices cannot plummet indefinitely, nor can the addition of features continue endlessly. Observing SGMW today, it's evident that the hallmarks of a hit-maker are subtly resurfacing.

Not shouting doesn't equate to being obscure.

From an external perspective, including that of many automotive media outlets, there's inevitably a disconnect between the perception of SGMW and reality.

Externally, SGMW is a contemporary expert in new energy mini-cars. In 2024, sales of the Hongguang MINIEV exceeded 261,000 units, with cumulative sales surpassing 1.45 million units. The Wuling Hongguang MINIEV family has led its segment for 52 consecutive months.

Perhaps the remarkable performance of the Wuling Hongguang MINIEV overshadows Wuling's true strength and the reasons behind its breakthrough and enduring popularity.

With this understanding, let's view SGMW from another angle, and the conclusion will starkly differ.

In 2024, SGMW's total sales amounted to 1.54 million units, of which 800,000 were new energy vehicles, accounting for over 50% and marking a 63% year-on-year increase. Additionally, overseas exports reached 225,000 units, setting a new record high.

It's clear that among Chinese automakers, SGMW is currently leading the transition to new energy, with BYD at 100% and SGMW in second place. Furthermore, it ranks among the top in the cluster of Chinese automakers expanding overseas.

Analyzing the data from a broader and more comprehensive perspective, since its establishment, SGMW has surpassed 30 million units in cumulative production and sales, making it the first Chinese brand automaker to achieve this milestone. Its cumulative sales of new energy vehicles have exceeded 3 million units, ranking third globally.

And clearly, behind this global TOP3 performance, there are numerous untold stories.

The story lies in this company's attempt to break the long-standing shackles of the industry and spearhead a new revolution in intelligent manufacturing and innovation.

The main thread is that SGMW was an early pioneer in new energy, learning and growing through action.

In 2014, SGMW embarked on its breakthrough in the new energy field. In 2017, it launched its first new energy vehicle, the Baojun E100, providing a solution for short-distance urban commuting. That same year, it collaborated with the Liuzhou Municipal Government to create the "Liuzhou Model" for promoting new energy vehicles with local characteristics. Simultaneously, it established the global small electric vehicle GSEV platform. Relying on the GSEV platform, it created the phenomenal product "People's Commuter Car" – the Wuling Hongguang MINIEV in 2020. In August 2022, SGMW achieved its first million-unit milestone in new energy vehicle sales, becoming the fastest automaker globally to reach this milestone and earning the title of "Popularizer of New Energy Vehicles".

Behind these key milestones, SGMW has blazed a trail uncharted by others, focusing not just on efficiency and manufacturing but also on developing key components and supply chains from scratch. This has solidified Wuling's manufacturing foundation, making it irreplaceable in terms of cost and technology.

And the latest achievements stem from the forward-looking layout of the "1-2-5 Project". "One" refers to the construction of the Guangxi New Energy Vehicle Laboratory. "Two" refers to building product scales of one million units each for pure electric and hybrid vehicles. "Five" refers to the construction of five emerging industrial clusters worth ten billion yuan each, encompassing energy systems, electronic controls, smart electric drives, intelligent mobile robots, and business innovation.

It's precisely because of such planning and foundations that SGMW has become an expert and benchmark in related fields. For instance, its intelligent island-style flexible production enables vehicles to be produced with the highest efficiency and quality. Comprising over 280 industrial robots forming 16 unmanned islands, unmanned logistics vehicles (AGVs) carry various components and travel between islands as directed by the large system program, delivering them to designated locations for final assembly. It went into operation in 2023, relying on the operation digital management platform (EODP) and AI operation large model (EOAI), implementing cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, 5G, big data, and edge computing. Through intelligent island-style flexible manufacturing, it achieves multi-variety, personalized, and large-scale production.

The greatest benefit of this approach for consumers is that it truly embodies scientific cost reduction. High-efficiency production lowers production costs while enabling rapid production capacity scaling and shortening the vehicle delivery cycle.

Three New Models in the Second Half: The Hit-Maker Returns

A correct strategy coupled with full-scale acceleration yields results.

Apart from intelligent island-style flexible production, SGMW has also mastered numerous core technologies at the battery, electric drive, and electronic control levels. The "Tian·Ling·Shen" technology system has applied for 1,517 patents and is equipped on 22 models, driving the joint development of over 65 ecological partners.

For example, the Lingxi Power system comprises a hybrid-dedicated engine, electromagnetic DHT, and oil-cooled electric drive, all calibrated using user data from various scenarios.

Another example is Lingmou Assisted Driving, China's first strong vision-based, map-free solution. It aims to provide a "convenient drive, easy parking, and safe journey" experience, striving to create a highly practical intelligent assisted driving system. It includes basic, standard, advanced, and flagship versions, prioritizing user safety in urban, highway, and parking scenarios, offering leading-edge driving assistance.

The Lingyu Cabin employs a "1+N" architecture design, deeply integrating DeepSeek to swiftly respond to user needs, covering eight major dialects with a dialect recognition rate of ≥95%. It offers four Lingyu Cabin versions: basic, standard, advanced, and flagship, catering to different user needs.

Shenlian Batteries achieve five-zero safety – zero spontaneous combustion, zero intrusion, zero water ingress, zero propagation, and zero leakage – through extreme design, manufacturing, and validation. They are ultra-safe batteries that do not ignite or explode upon gunshot and have achieved zero spontaneous combustion in 3 million cases, leading the way in meeting new national standard requirements.

The benefits of this series of technological innovations can be summarized as follows: Wuling has achieved technological parity through innovation. Many technologies that originally cost over 20,000 yuan are now available within 150,000 yuan due to Wuling's breakthroughs, making them comprehensive masterpieces.

According to plans, SGMW will launch more new models in the second half of this year, including Xingguang 730, Xingguang 560, and 710S – one MPV and two SUVs.

These are poised to disrupt the market. Take Xingguang 730 as an example; it's a global-standard world car, ensuring both brand and safety. Secondly, in terms of powertrains, it offers gasoline, plug-in hybrid, and pure electric options. The gasoline model is equipped with a 1.5T turbocharged engine delivering a maximum power of 130kW. The plug-in hybrid model pairs a 1.5L engine with a maximum power of 78kW with an electric motor. The pure electric model boasts a maximum power of 100kW and is equipped with 54.5kWh and 60kWh lithium iron phosphate batteries, providing CLTC pure electric driving ranges of 450km and 500km, respectively.

In other words, SGMW has created a superior alternative to the Odyssey through technological innovation. The remaining two models will also redefine purchase rules, experiences, and technological parity.

Final Thoughts

In summary, today's SGMW is not just a disruptor in breaking price rules but also a master of technology.

With top-tier intelligent manufacturing capabilities and substantial investments in batteries, electric drives, electronic controls, intelligent cabins, and intelligent driving assistance, the fruits of its labor are now being reaped. As long as precise product definitions are achieved and the real needs of users are heeded and understood, creating hit products will not be difficult.

Of course, SGMW still faces the challenge of reorganizing its strategies for various segment markets. Once these are clarified, "Whatever the people need, Wuling will make" can truly become "Whatever Wuling makes will be a hit."