Author | Zhou Zhiyu
In November 2024, GAC Group moved its headquarters from Zhujiang New Town to Panyu Automotive City, launching a three-year &#34;Panyu Action.&#34; Chairman Feng Xingya stated at the time that for decision-making, one must be able to &#34;hear the gunfire.&#34;
Over the subsequent year and a half, GAC underwent its most intensive round of self-surgery since listing: splitting the R&amp;D system, integrating marketing, implementing IPD processes, conducting competitive appointments for cadres, establishing the Hyperion Aion BU and Trumpchi BU in succession, and making the Powertrain BU independent in March this year. Essentially, the entire chain of research, production, sales, and supply was dismantled and reassembled.
The results of these reforms were brought to the forefront on April 12. That evening, at the 2026 GAC Technology Day held at its Panyu headquarters, GAC unveiled five technologies in one go, spanning powertrains, body structures, cockpits, electronic/electrical architectures, and chips. The breadth of coverage is uncommon for a single technology day among domestic automakers.
This Technology Day was essentially a centralized acceptance test of GAC's reform achievements over the past year and a half.
Wall Street News learned that GAC will also release results such as intelligent chassis technology, updates to the Fang Battery, batteries resistant to ultra-low temperatures, and progress on all-solid-state batteries later this year. This indicates that the reform is far from over; more cards will continue to be played on the table.
GAC spent a year and a half dismantling and reassembling itself. The only remaining question is: Is the speed of playing cards fast enough?
<h2>A Changing Track</h2>
GAC's hybrid R&amp;D did not start late.
A new energy power team was established in 2006, the first hybrid model landed in 2013, and the self-developed GMC 1.0 went into mass production in 2017. Qi Hongzhong, President of the Power BU, outlined this nearly 20-year technical path at the Technology Day, emphasizing that GAC is a &#34;Chinese pioneer in hybrid technology.&#34;
However, the true watershed moment arrived in 2021.
2021 marked a turning point for China's plug-in hybrid market. BYD launched the DM-i super hybrid in January, with cumulative sales of vehicles equipped with it exceeding 200,000 that year. In the same year, Geely, Great Wall, Changan, and Chery also released their hybrid systems. By 2024, BYD had iterated to the fifth-generation DM, and each company's plug-in hybrid product matrix covered the entire price range from A-class sedans to C-class SUVs. The proportion of plug-in hybrids/extended-range vehicles in new energy cars rose rapidly, approaching half in some months.
During this critical window period, GAC's technical route leaned more towards pure electric. The Aion brand even topped the monthly sales charts of new forces in 2022. In the plug-in hybrid field, it wasn't until August 2025 that the Xingyuan Extended Range was released, finally adding a missing leg. The complete plug-in hybrid technology brand &#34;Xingyuan Plug-in Hybrid&#34; waited until the night of the Technology Day.
From a parameter perspective, the Xingyuan Plug-in Hybrid GMC 3.0 transmission is divided into Thunder Version and Gale Version. The Thunder Version, paired with a P4 rear electric drive, achieves a total wheel-end torque of 10,000 N·m for four-wheel drive, bringing mid-to-large SUV 0-100 km/h acceleration into the 4-second range. The Gale Version has an overall weight of 98.5 kg, making it one of the few dual-motor hybrid transmissions achieving mass production below 100 kg, with a WLTC driving efficiency of 93% and an electronic control efficiency of 99.2%.
Regarding energy consumption, official data shows that 2-ton class models have entered the &#34;3-digit&#34; range for fuel consumption per 100 km, while A-class sedans can reach the &#34;2-digit&#34; range.
However, GAC did not simply position this as a catch-up product but attempted to create differentiation—&#34;capable in both city and wild.&#34; This includes four-wheel vector control, a climbing ability of 70% (officially claimed), single-wheel 5,000 N·m off-road recovery torque, and a 35% improvement in passability.
One of the first vehicle models to be equipped is the brand-new Trumpchi hard-core off-road SUV. This marks GAC's first entry into this sub-segment, targeting the currently popular domestic hard-core SUV camp.
While plugging the plug-in hybrid shortcoming, GAC also attempted to open up space on another path.
Also released at the event was &#34;Xingyuan Super Dual Engine&#34; (HEV+), equipped with a 5.4kWh battery and a discharge power of 150kW. It enables pure electric driving at low speeds (over 17 km) and supports air conditioning, audio/video, sentinel mode, and whole-vehicle OTA operations without starting the engine. Qi Hongzhong defined this as &#34;moving oil-hybrids from the feature phone era into the smartphone era.&#34;
Behind this judgment lies a changing market structure.
Industry expectations suggest that 2025 will be a watershed for the share of plug-in hybrids/extended-range vehicles in new energy, while competition in HEVs is intensifying. Starting in 2026, tax incentives for new energy vehicles will begin to phase out. HEV models unaffected by the new tax policy have instead welcomed a new window of opportunity.
At the same time, traditional fuel vehicles and oil-hybrid models remain at a relatively low level of intelligent configuration, and the demand for large-scale stock users remains unmet.
Xingyuan Super Dual Engine attempts to fill this blank, providing users with an intelligent experience close to that of electric vehicles without changing the power form.
Indeed, GAC's heavy investment in the plug-in hybrid track came somewhat late, but while catching up, it is also attempting to define a market space that has not yet been fully developed. Whether these two paths can succeed will depend on the subsequent market performance of the products.
<h2>After Dismantling the Research Institute</h2>
Zhu Taiping made extensive psychological preparations before taking the stage.
As the head of the newly established smart cockpit product line, he led a team still being built onto this highly anticipated launch event.
The pressure came not only from the technology itself but also from the organization. Wall Street News learned that the smart cockpit product line was recently newly established by GAC Group, which also reached a strategic deep cooperation with Qwen, aiming to integrate Alibaba's core ecosystem into the cockpit.
Similar urgency was also reflected in the Power BU. This business unit officially became independent on March 18, 2026. Operating for less than a month, it needed to fully release two sets of power systems at the Technology Day.
Zhang Heng, who presented the Starship body, came from the Whole Vehicle Development Academy, while Liang Weiqiang, who explained the Star Spirit architecture and chips, came from the Platform Technology Research Institute—both departments were established slightly earlier, split from the original GAC Research Institute.
The four executives on stage came from four organizations established less than a year ago. This launch event itself was a freshly reconstructed organizational chart.
After the &#34;Panyu Action&#34; was launched, GAC's first move was to split the existing research institute system.
The internal structure of the former GAC Research Institute was complex: multiple R&amp;D centers operated in parallel with the headquarters and laboratories, with functions such as product definition, whole vehicle development, platform technology, styling design, and smart cockpits intertwined, resulting in long decision chains and slow response speeds.
After more than half a year of adjustments, GAC split it into three primary departments: Whole Vehicle Development Academy, Platform Technology Research Institute, and Styling Design Institute, and established an independent Product Headquarters. Simultaneously, at the brand dimension, Trumpchi BU, Hyperion Aion BU, and Powertrain BU were established, and the IPD process was introduced to attempt to re-realize synergy at the product level.
Management's logic was: power connects to user costs, and cockpits connect to user experience. Separating these modules closest to users allows them to face the market directly rather than relying on layers of approval.
This was not a simple organizational adjustment but an attempt to shift from &#34;technology-driven&#34; to &#34;user-driven.&#34;
Splitting was just the first step; merging was the harder one.
Star Spirit Architecture 4.0 is a typical case. The Platform Technology Research Institute is responsible for underlying architecture development, achieving six-domain integration, 3nm chip support, and 8-minute OTA capabilities. However, true user experience requires Trumpchi and Hyperion Aion BUs to implement specific models, with the cockpit team defining the experience and the Power BU completing calibration.
Efficient collaboration among multiple organizations on the same product does not happen naturally; it is a direct test of overall organizational capability.
In 2025, GAC bore significant performance pressure: full-year revenue declined by 10.43%, and net attributable loss reached 8.784 billion yuan. This coincided exactly with the year of its most drastic organizational restructuring.
Entering 2026, GAC Group General Manager He Xianqing provided the latest data showing a 42.89% growth rate in domestic brand sales in the first quarter, signaling a turning point. He defined 2026 as &#34;the key year for deepening the Panyu Action reform.&#34;
What is meant by &#34;deepening&#34; is allowing the various units after splitting to efficiently mesh again at the product level.
<h2>Not Just GAC's Examination</h2>
Looking at the entire industry, similar restructuring occurred almost simultaneously.
SAIC integrated its major passenger car segment in 2025, unifying Roewe, MG, Rising, and the R&amp;D system; Dongfeng promoted the integration of its domestic brands and strengthened external cooperation; FAW advanced the independence of Hongqi and the restructuring of Besturn. Compared to these, GAC's splitting granularity is finer.
This was no accident but the result of the industry entering a new stage.
According to forecasts, the overall growth rate of the domestic automotive market in 2026 will be only about 1%. The industry has shifted from incremental competition to stock game. At the same time, sales of joint venture brands generally declined, and the model previously relying on joint venture profits to support operations is becoming ineffective.
Domestic brands must possess independent &#34;blood-making&#34; capabilities, which directly depends on organizational efficiency and product iteration speed.
Before this, companies like BYD, Geely, and Chery had already completed their plug-in hybrid product layouts and organizational adjustments and began harvesting market share. Their advantage lies not in a single technology but in the overall conversion efficiency of &#34;technology-product-channel.&#34;
GAC is catching up to this process within compressed time through BU system reform, process reconstruction, and R&amp;D splitting.
The &#34;Panyu Action&#34; proposes achieving 2 million units of domestic brand sales by 2027, accounting for over 60%. In contrast, its domestic brand sales in 2025 were approximately 610,000 units, leaving a significant gap. This goal must be verified through continuous product cycles.
However, catching up does not mean completely replicating the path.
At this Technology Day, GAC also demonstrated different attempts.
For example, in the chip ecosystem: the Hyperion GT Climbing Edition is equipped with 1,004 chips throughout the vehicle, achieving localization at the design level, and jointly promoted chip definition and verification with over a hundred ecosystem partners. Its path is to use whole vehicle demand as a driver to build an industrial synergy system.
Against the backdrop of accelerating domestic substitution of automotive-grade chips, this &#34;whole vehicle manufacturer-led ecosystem&#34; model, once proven, may carry significance beyond a single technological breakthrough.
Another direction worth attention is &#34;oil-hybrid intelligence.&#34;
While the industry focuses on pure electric and plug-in hybrid competition, the intelligent needs of a large number of fuel vehicle and traditional oil-hybrid users remain unmet. By introducing larger batteries and electrical capabilities, HEV models could also gain experiences close to electric vehicles. If this category is validated, not only will GAC benefit, but the joint venture system may also find a new transformation path.
From a product rhythm perspective, GAC's moves have clearly accelerated: the Hyperion GT Climbing Edition launched in May, the Star Spirit Architecture 4.0 went into mass production in the third quarter, and multiple new cars are scheduled for concentrated launch in the second half of the year. The Technology Day was merely the first round of display.
The rhythm of the &#34;Panyu Action&#34; is gradually becoming clear: organizational restructuring was completed in 2025, technology appearances were concentrated in the first half of 2026, and the second half entered the period of intensive product deployment.
For GAC, this is a systematic catch-up from organization to technology to product.
For the entire Chinese automotive industry, the effectiveness of this reform will also become an important observation sample: in a stock market, can traditional automakers regain competitiveness through self-reconstruction?

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The first centralized appearance of the new organizational structure

- In November 2024, GAC Group relocated its headquarters to Panyu Automotive City, initiating a three-year "Panyu Action" reform focused on technological advancements and organizational restructuring.  
- Over the following 18 months, GAC implemented significant internal changes, leading to the release of five major technologies at the 2026 GAC Technology Day, showcasing its efforts in hybrid and electric vehicle development.  
- As the automotive industry shifts from growth to competition among existing players, GAC aims for substantial improvements in efficiency and product innovation to enhance its market position.

GAC Completes Technical Puzzle as Domestic Brands Face Collective Examination