General Motors’ top-selling electric model for the Chinese market, the Wuling Hongguang MINI EV, has received a better-than-average rating in the J.D. Power 2023 EV Initial Quality Study.
Results of the study were published on June 1st, 2023, showing the SAIC-GM-Wuling MINI EV as having notably fewer problems than the average new energy vehicle (NEV) in its category.
The EV Initial Quality Study or IQS measures the number of problems per 100 vehicles, abbreviated to “PP100,” as an indicator of overall quality. A lower PP100 score means less problems and therefore higher vehicle quality, as leading data analytics and consumer intelligence firm J.D. Power explains its methodology.
The study tracks problems in 10 categories, including “features/controls/displays; exterior; interior; infotainment system; seats; driving experience; driving assistance; powertrain; battery/charging; and climate,” according to J.D. Power. Out of 236 problem symptoms identified by the research, “excessive road noise” and “interior smell” were the most common for the 2023 study.
New EV models showed a higher PP100 score (and thus lower quality) than “carryover” models from previous years such as the MINI EV. The study notes Chinese EV makers are pushing new designs out the door faster in an effort to compete with established models, resulting in lower quality due to curtailed research and development time.
GM’s Wuling Hongguang MINI EV achieved a PP100 score of 168, putting it in second place in the “Small BEV” category. It placed immediately behind the Leap Motor T03, which registered a 166-point PP100 score.
The average PP100 ranking for the Small BEV category overall was 190, meaning the MINI EV had an average of 22 less problems per hundred vehicles than its typical segment competitor. The worst-scoring EV in the category, the Changan Lumin, racked up 260 problems per hundred vehicles, nearly 100 more than the MINI EV.
As of April 2022, the Wuling MINI EV held the title of China’s most successful EV model for 16 consecutive months, with more than 550,000 of the tiny BEVs sold. However, a year later in April 2023, MINI EV sales have plunged, leading GM and its partners to cut prices on an electric vehicle model already offering paper-thin profit margins.
MINI EV sales fell more than 31 percent year-over-year for April 2023 according to figures supplied by the China Passenger Car Association or CPCA. In an effort to prop up sales, SAIC-GM-Wuling is offering the MINI EV with a greatly reduced price and a monthly battery subscription. Since the battery is non-removable, the “subscription” amounts to an interest-free car loan following a down payment.
The MINI EV sales slump continued despite the recent release of the KFC Special Edition. The tiny BEV features the Kentucky Fried Chicken initials, plus a large, colorful image of a red-and-white striped bucket jam-packed with breaded chicken pieces occupying almost half of its profile exterior surface.
The KFC Special Edition joins the previously released Gameboy Edition of the MINI EV, which rapidly racked up 30,000 reservations in early 2022 from mostly male customers in China. The Macaron variant, aimed chiefly at young Chinese women, launched a year previously with the exclusive Avocado Green, Lemon Yellow and White Peach Pink exterior paint colors and extra safety features.
As a reminder, the Wuling MINI EV seats four and offers 105 miles of driving range. A single front-mounted electric motor develops 17.4 horsepower and 62.7 pound-feet of torque, providing a top speed of 62 mph. An upscale trim debuted in 2021 with a larger 26 kWh battery boosting usable range to 186.4 miles, while cradling a more-powerful 40-horsepower motor.
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Comments
Ford comes out with 700 HP super charger engine for the f150 . GM comes out with this …. Yup .. GM is not American company anymore
I don’t see the point in your comparison. GM isn’t allowed to sell small cars in China because Ford sells a truck?
neither me
The comparison just shows where GM priorities are and it’s not here. They have several opportunities to give americas compact truck , actual trial blazer people want . Instead they are only intrested in small evs like this. Ford and Toyota even dodge can produce what the American population wants. GM has forgotten that .
I don’t disagree with most of what you’re saying, but I don’t see how their JV in China building cars for China has anything to do with that. Look at the ridiculous vans that Ford-JMC built for China.
WHY NOT SMALLER WHEELS ??? guys, what is happening with the God Designers ? is it Pasadena Art Bankruptcy too ?
Best looking gm product since the 1970 Firebird.
This is a GM product manufactured in China so it qualifies as American. Yet Toyota, Honda, and Nissan manufactures cars in the U.S. and they are still Japanese. The brand owner determines its nationality, thus GM can sell then here in the U.S. as long as it complies with Federal safety standards. And the profit goes to U.S. banks with GM accounts.
That’s a terrible comparison. This is a joint venture product made in China for China. GM isn’t even the majority owner.
Looks like a death trap.