Electric vehicles: China's GAC Aion shifts up a gear in Hong Kong with ambitious sales target, new models in pipeline

Chinese state-owned carmaker Guangzhou Automobile Group (GAC) said it plans to intensify its push into Hong Kong's electric vehicle market by setting itself an ambitious target of 4,000 sales in the city by the end of this year.

GAC Aion, the electric vehicle (EV) unit of GAC, the Chinese partner of Toyota and Honda, aims to meet this target by introducing more new-energy car models to the city's drivers later in the year, according to Coleman Cheung, general manager of Harmony Motor Aion in Hong Kong.

"We can only hit this sales target with a diverse range of car models. We will not be able to sell 4,000 vehicles with just one model," said Cheung at the launch of GAC Aion's showroom in Wan Chai on Thursday afternoon.

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"Together with the quality of the GAC brand and car models that can match the demands of the Hong Kong market, there is a definite possibility that we can meet this target."

He said GAC Aion's plan to bring more electric car models to Hong Kong was in line with the government's decarbonisation road map for the city to attain zero vehicular emissions by 2050.

The government outlined plans three years ago to encourage the uptake of EVs, with a target to stop registering new petrol and petrol-electric hybrid vehicles by 2035.

Hong Kong had 91,633 registered plug-in EVs as of April, a 68 per cent increase from a year ago, according to data from the Transport Department. EVs account for 14 per cent of the city's private cars.

GAC Aion first entered the Hong Kong market with the launch of its first vehicle, the Aion Y Plus, in the city at the end of January.

More than 100 of the 5-seat pure-electric sport-utility vehicle have been sold in the city so far, according to Cheung.

The Aion Y Plus can be purchased for HK$229,800 (US$29,393) under the government's "one-for-one replacement" scheme, which grants concessions to car owners if they scrap and deregister petrol-powered cars and replace them with electric vehicles.

The EV maker unveiled its first showroom in Kowloon Bay in January, and aims to open four more by the end of the year, Cheung said.

GAC has two new models planned for Hong Kong this year. It hopes to offer the Hyper HT, a luxury five-seat SUV with gull-wing door design, to the city's motorists in the third quarter.

And in the three months after that, it plans to introduce its seven-seat plug-in hybrid, the Trumpchi E9.

"This year, we will set up Hong Kong as our window to overseas markets," said Wayne Wei, general manager of GAC International at the launch event. He said the carmaker would bring in more talent and resources to consolidate its business in the city.

"We will holistically increase the quality of our products, brands, sales and service in the Hong Kong market," said Wei.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

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