GAC Group Plans to Acquire Stake in FAW Joint Venture; Buick ZhiJing New Energy Rolls Out 150,000th Vehicle

Recently, GAC Group announced a major asset restructuring plan, intending to acquire a stake in a joint venture passenger vehicle company under FAW Group. Around the same time, the 150,000th BEV (battery electric vehicle) from Buick ZhiJing rolled off the production line. The brand, launched 16 months ago, has an average transaction price of RMB 257,000. On the afternoon of September 17, 2026, Cui Dongshu, Secretary General of the Passenger Car Association, stated in a post that these two developments signal Chinese joint-venture automakers have fully entered a deep transformation phase characterized by systemic restructuring. In his analysis of August’s sales mix, Cui noted that for mainstream joint-venture brands such as Toyota, Honda, and Nissan, internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles still form the core of their sales volume. Few new energy vehicle (NEV) models have made it into the top ten best-selling models within their respective brand lineups, with some brands having all-ICE top-ten rankings. He explained that GAC’s current asset restructuring represents an optimization of existing resources within its joint-venture segment, aiming to enhance the efficiency of electrification investments through equity realignment and resource consolidation. Meanwhile, Buick ZhiJing’s approach involves local teams leading product definition while retaining GM’s global engineering quality standards, completing architecture development, product implementation, and market iteration entirely within China.