Source | Jiemian News

Art Editor | Xing Jing

Reviewer | Song Wen

A significant proportion of consumers interested in purchasing joint venture new energy vehicles are still loyal customers of joint venture brands.

(A GAC Toyota dealership located on Beijing's South Third Ring Road)

Inside a GAC Toyota 4S store in Beijing, the bZ4X and bZ3X, two new energy vehicles, are prominently displayed in the most visible part of the showroom. Spacious experience areas are reserved around the vehicles, while fuel-powered models like the Camry and Highlander are densely arranged on the other side of the showroom.

The store sells approximately 100 vehicles per month, with the Camry still accounting for nearly half of the sales. However, the proportion of the two new energy models in the sales tasks is increasing. While they have not yet replaced the brand's classic fuel-powered models, they have already secured prime showroom positions and sales resources that were rarely enjoyed in the past.

In the first half of this year, joint venture brands completed their most intensive round of new energy product launches since entering the Chinese market. Several new models have been redefined for Chinese consumers, incorporating local platforms and intelligent technologies. In late March, GAC Toyota launched the bZ4X; around the Beijing Auto Show in April, the Buick Velite 7, Dongfeng Nissan NX8, and SAIC Volkswagen ID.ERA 9X entered the market within a month of each other.

Jiemian News recently conducted intensive visits to multiple joint venture brand stores in Beijing and found that these new models generally had a strong start. GAC Toyota took the lead in achieving significant sales of its pure electric models. According to official data, the bZ brand Cumulative (cumulative) sales exceeded 50,000 units in the first half of the year. The bZ3X led the joint venture pure electric market for 10 consecutive months, with cumulative sales surpassing 120,000 units. The bZ4X, launched in late March, exceeded 10,000 deliveries within three months.

The growth in new energy vehicle sales also supported GAC Toyota's overall performance. From January to July this year, GAC Toyota retail sales exceeded 390,000 units, consistently topping the joint venture brand sales charts. It is one of the few leading joint venture automotive companies to achieve positive growth.

Joint venture brands have a large base of fuel-powered vehicle users and a mature 4S store network. Once competitive new energy products are launched, this system can directly cater to the trade-in demands of loyal customers, providing the first batch of orders for the new models.

(GAC Toyota store)

At a Buick 4S store in Beijing, the Velite 7 is similarly placed in the most prominent position upon entering the store. On the day of Jiemian News' visit, which was a weekday, the store had a modest customer flow. Most loyal customers who came for maintenance and repairs gathered around the GL8 exhibit, but a few individuals stopped in front of the Velite 7.

The Velite 7 is the third model released under Buick's new energy sub-brand, Velite, and is also the first mid-to-large-sized plug-in hybrid SUV. Jiemian News learned that this model initially had a long waiting period after its launch, but now some colors and configurations are readily available, with order fulfillment times shortened to around three weeks.

Customers who visit the store are most concerned about intelligent driving, energy consumption, and discounts. Sales staff told Jiemian News that nearly all customers who view the car request test drives, focusing on experiencing the performance of the assisted driving system in congested traffic. The actual pure electric range achievement rate and whether the vehicle supports 800V fast charging are also frequently asked questions during consultations.

Discounts are another unavoidable topic. According to sales staff, the Velite 7 currently offers manufacturer incentives of 1,000 yuan off a 4,000 yuan purchase, superposition (stacked) with trade-in subsidies and local government subsidies, totaling over 20,000 yuan. Additional policies include complimentary compulsory traffic insurance and two-year interest-free loans. The terminal price of this model is uniformly locked by the manufacturer, leaving no further room for dealers to offer discounts.

The buyer profile is also becoming clearer. The sales staff revealed that Velite 7 buyers are concentrated in the 35 to 40 age range, mostly loyal Buick fuel-powered vehicle owners trading in for new energy models. Many are family users with children, who pay more attention to configurations like rear-seat entertainment screens and in-car refrigerators that appeal to children.

Currently, the store sells approximately 70 to 80 vehicles per month, with the Velite 7 ranking among the top sellers. However, it should be noted that after reaching nearly 8,000 units in May, sales of the model dropped to less than 6,000 units in June, a decline of nearly 30%.

The sales staff were not surprised by this. According to their observations, new energy vehicles generally experience the highest enthusiasm shortly after launch, followed by a downward trend. Whether new orders can be timely secured after the initial round of orders is concentratedly fulfilled is the real test for joint venture electric vehicles.

(Inside a Buick 4S store in Beijing, the Velite 7 is placed at a key exhibit position)

The atmosphere at a Dongfeng Nissan dealership is relatively livelier. On the day of Jiemian News' visit, which was also a weekday, the store had a steady stream of customers, with almost no empty parking spaces. The after-sales workshop was also packed with vehicles waiting for maintenance and repairs.

This is an established store that has been operating for about two decades. Compared to newly renovated automotive stores nearby, the furnishings here appear outdated. The N6, N7, and NX8, three new energy vehicles, are placed in the center of the showroom, while fuel-powered models are relocated to the other side. Those who stop at the new energy exhibits are relatively younger, while the fuel-powered vehicle area is mostly frequented by middle-aged and elderly customers.

A salesperson similarly told Jiemian News that customers who view the cars most frequently ask about assisted driving. Battery capacity, actual range, and warranty policies are also frequently asked questions. Unlike some brands that aggressively promote intelligent driving features, this salesperson was quite cautious when introducing assisted driving, stating that the vehicle can handle 70-80% of urban road conditions and would not consider it a core selling point.

Among the potential consumers contacted by Jiemian News, a significant proportion are loyal customers of joint venture brands.

A consumer viewing cars at the Dongfeng Nissan store drives a Japanese vehicle that is over a decade old. He had noticed the latest NX8 model online and compared it with several new force products, but his family still insisted on choosing a joint venture brand. Ultimately, what prompted his decision were the long range of the NX8's extended-range version, the lifetime warranty for the three electric systems, and the expiring trade-in subsidies.

The main reasons these consumers choose joint venture electric vehicles are their emphasis on certainty. They measure products using "new force" standards, demanding comprehensive configurations such as intelligent driving, screens, and refrigerators, along with competitive pricing. They also rely on brand judgments from their fuel-powered vehicle purchase experiences, questioning whether the company will "collapse" and whether the after-sales channels are well-established, as well as whether the unseen aspects can withstand scrutiny.

On the other hand, this also means that joint venture brands have not yet achieved a breakthrough. While new product launches can shift orders from same-brand fuel-powered vehicles or older new energy models, they may not necessarily bring in new sales of equivalent scale to the company. Some consumers still perceive joint venture brand new energy vehicles as lacking in product strength.

Taking the Dongfeng Nissan NX8 as an example, the model's sales are still in the ramp-up phase, with retail sales exceeding 4,500 units in May, making it the top-selling joint venture mid-to-large-sized SUV for that month. In June, combined sales of the pure electric and extended-range versions surpassed 5,000 units, with cumulative deliveries exceeding 10,000 units over more than two months since launch.

However, a significant portion of NX8 orders come from diversion within the brand. Sales staff told Jiemian News that many customers who originally focused on the new energy sedans N6 and N7 were ultimately attracted to the larger-sized and more capable NX8 in terms of intelligent driving. To stimulate sales of older models, the N7 currently offers a batch of special-priced vehicles through corporate customer channels, with discounts of around 10,000 yuan.

Order transfers within the brand also occur at SAIC Volkswagen stores. During Jiemian News' visit, three new energy vehicles were placed at the center of the showroom, with the new ID.ERA 9X positioned directly facing the store entrance, making it the first thing customers see upon entering. Mainstream fuel-powered models like the Passat and Tiguan L were displayed nearby, while the ID.3 and ID.4X, two earlier new energy models, were moved to the parking lot outside the store.

A salesperson told Jiemian News that a customer had negotiated the price for a Teramont and was ready to sign the contract but, after test-driving the ID.ERA 9X and experiencing its advantages in energy consumption and intelligent driving, abandoned the Teramont and opted for the 9X instead. This extended-range large SUV is diverting orders from same-priced fuel-powered vehicles.

(Inside a Dongfeng Nissan store in Beijing, three new energy vehicles are placed at core positions)

It should be noted that the recent dense (intensive) launches of joint venture electric vehicles have not yet synchronously changed the overall sales structure of joint venture brands.

Sales staff at multiple joint venture brand stores told Jiemian News that new energy vehicles only account for 10 to 30% of store sales, with Dongfeng Nissan and GAC Toyota at around 30%, Buick at less than 20%, and SAIC Volkswagen at about 10%. While new energy vehicles have secured prime showroom positions, fuel-powered vehicles remain the true pillars of joint venture brands in terms of terminal sales.

Data from the China Passenger Car Association shows that in June 2026, the retail penetration rate of new energy passenger vehicles in China reached 62.8%, with domestic brands achieving an 81.8% penetration rate for new energy vehicles, while mainstream joint venture brands only reached 11.9%, a difference of nearly 70 percentage points.

For joint venture brands, the challenge is greater than simply making a new model popular in the short term; it is about sustaining that popularity. Data shows that the N7, launched in April 2025, was the first joint venture pure electric sedan to exceed 10,000 monthly sales, but by June this year, its sales had dropped to just over 1,200 units. The N6, launched eight months later, sold over 6,800 units in its first month but fell to less than 1,000 units six months later.

Zeng Zhiling, Director of Asia-Pacific Automotive Market Forecasting at GlobalData, stated in an interview with Jiemian News that most electric vehicles currently launched by joint ventures in China are emergency products born out of sales pressure, rapidly developed using Chinese platforms to address short-term sales needs, with a lack of planning for subsequent generations. As a result, orders come quickly but also dissipate rapidly.

In fact, the entire smart electric vehicle industry faces challenges in sustaining long-term product popularity. Li Bin, founder of NIO, proposed the concept of the "new vehicle effect death valley," where new models become popular immediately upon launch, but demand declines just as production capacity ramps up. The iteration speed of smart electric vehicles far exceeds that of fuel-powered vehicles, making it difficult for a new model's popularity to last more than a year.

Leading new energy companies address this by adopting faster replacement cycles to counteract fading popularity. According to AlixPartners data, over 75% of products from Chinese "new forces" are updated or replaced within three years, compared to only 25-33% for traditional automotive companies. When one model's popularity declines, another quickly takes its place, sustaining the brand's overall popularity.

However, most joint venture companies are currently unable to keep up with this replacement pace. The root of the gap lies not only in products but also in organizational structure. Zhang Yichao, Partner in Automotive and Industrial Consulting at AlixPartners Greater China, told Jiemian News that new automotive forces typically have only two or three reporting levels, with shorter decision-making chains, while traditional automotive companies may have over a dozen internal levels, limiting their ability to respond quickly.

Joint venture brands are attempting to sustain popularity at the operational level. GAC Toyota is trying to change the traditional product cycle of "finalizing upon launch." According to a report by Economic Observer, after the launch of the bZ3X, over 10 face-to-face communication sessions were held between China's chief engineers and users, collecting thousands of owner suggestions and completing three large-scale OTA updates.

Continuous updates can extend the product lifecycle of individual models, but more importantly, subsequent products must be timely introduced. Following the bZ3X, the bZ4X has already been launched. Sales staff at GAC Toyota stores told Jiemian News that extended-range versions of the Highlander and Sienna are also in progress. Wen Dali, Executive Deputy General Manager of GAC Toyota, previously stated that GAC Toyota plans to launch one to two new models annually over the next three years.

This joint venture company is also attempting to reduce uncertainty for fuel-powered vehicle users transitioning to new energy vehicles through battery safety guarantee policies. Whether due to quality issues, chassis scrapes, or even collisions in traffic accidents that cause battery fires, GAC Toyota takes responsibility and promises to cover all models of the bZ3X and bZ4X, with lifetime benefits for both new and existing users.

The first round of market feedback after the Beijing Auto Show indicates that when product configurations and user experiences approach mainstream levels, joint venture brands can already persuade loyal customers to switch from fuel-powered vehicles to new energy vehicles. However, what will determine the true growth of joint venture new energy sales is where the next batch of customers comes from after the initial round of orders is fulfilled and whether the next model can be timely introduced.

*Article Source: Jiemian News.