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With the global automobile market gradually to the trend of small displacement development, more and more automobile enterprises to implement three-cylinder engine, but because of the three-cylinder general acceptance is not high, so many automobile enterprises to pick up the "four-cylinder engine" strategy. Buick, for example, had seen a significant decline in sales due to the launch of three-cylinder models.

A few days ago, SAIC GM Buick Marketing Department Minister Niu Feng in an interview, once again mentioned the idea of a three-cylinder engine. It said that as the first automobile enterprise to fully popularize three-cylinder engines in the field of family cars, SAIC GM has borne greater market pressure, which has also caused fluctuations in sales of some models of Buick brand in the past two years.

Niu Feng admitted that in the face of the needs of users in different regions of China, there is not enough consideration for replacing four-cylinder machines with three-cylinder machines. This is mainly due to the large difference in demand among Chinese users, and the low acceptance of three-cylinder machines by consumers. At that time, when using three cylinders, the monthly sales volume of Yinglang dropped to 12,000 to 13,000 at its lowest point.

According to statistics, the sales volume of Yinglang, which is the most popular seller of Buick, is 421,000 vehicles in 2017, which is equal to Lavida and Xuanyi. However, in 2018 after changing power, the sales volume of Yinglang drops to 262,000 vehicles. In 2019, Yinglang sold 280,000 vehicles, but SAIC GM paid a heavy price behind maintaining sales volume. The terminal discount was 40,000 - 50,000 yuan, which was basically the joint venture A-class sedan with the most severe price reduction. It is in this way that Yinglang's sales volume can be barely guaranteed under the substantial profit margin, but this also makes SAIC GM's price system suffer greatly and the brand reputation is damaged.

Niu Feng said that at that time, the upper three-cylinder engine was mainly considering the engine small displacement high efficiency, low fuel consumption is the trend, and now many joint venture brands including luxury brands are also doing small displacement.

According to previous media reports, a senior sales manager from a Shanghai Buick dealer said that the move, mainly GM's three-cylinder machine, was "too fast, too radical and lacked careful planning." He also revealed that his company was one of hundreds of dealers at dealer meetings who persuaded gm to abandon its three-cylinder plan, but eventually launched the three-cylinder model.

Therefore, the three-cylinder machine is actually a product strategy set by the manufacturer to meet the increasingly stringent fuel economy and emission regulations. The product of the manufacturer's response to the regulations will eventually be introduced into the market. At this stage, consumers often find it difficult to accept it unless they make concessions on price.

However, Buick still chose to pick up the "four-cylinder engine" again. With the launch of Yinglang equipped with 1.5L four-cylinder engine, it also helped Buick brand sales to gradually pick up. In October, Yinglang model terminal retail sales reached about 36,000 units, returning to the first echelon of joint venture mainstream family sedan.

However, Niu Feng said that this does not mean Buick has given up the three-cylinder engine. "Single-cylinder optimization" has always been the design concept of SAIC GM engine, engine small displacement, high efficiency is also an indisputable trend, including luxury brands, almost all brands are moving in this direction.

Therefore, starting this year, Buick will gradually add 48V light hybrid technology to the original 1.3T three-cylinder engine model as the main route. Today, the whole three-cylinder still accounts for a certain proportion of sales, still maintained at 30%-35%, and we take back the four-cylinder self-priming engine, mainly to meet the overall customer demand.

In the future, we will have more products. 48V light hybrid technology will also be used in many products in the future. Next year, some mid-level SUVs will be equipped with 48V than Angkewei S, including our GL8 for further upgrading, and heavyweight products will also be launched.

In any case, the implementation of the "three-cylinder engine" or will become a trend, after all, the development of small displacement will be more in line with policy standards, but adaptation needs a process. Now Toyota brand has also been equipped with 1.5L three-cylinder engine on the new model, plus the existing BMW, Ford, Honda, Geely, Linkages, SAIC and other brands, the three-cylinder engine camp has not shrunk. Therefore, Niu Feng said that Buick will always insist on 1.3T+48V technology and insist on more mainstream joint venture brands joining in.

According to the latest sales volume of SAIC GM Buick, Buick sold 99057 vehicles (wholesale sales) in October, up 27% year-on-year, which directly refreshed Buick's highest monthly sales volume in recent two years. 1-10 Total monthly sales reached 687439 units, down 4.1% year-on-year.

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