In the industry environment of "double carbon" goal and the gradual popularization of new energy vehicles, the new energy vehicle market is becoming more and more mature, and the market demand is growing. According to the latest sales data in February, the production and sales of new energy vehicles in mainland China reached 368,000 units and 334,000 units, respectively, an increase of 2.0 times and 1.8 times year-on-year, respectively, and the market penetration rate was 19.2%.
At present, the new energy market has gradually changed from the previous subsidy drive to the demand driven by consumers' spontaneous purchases, based on changes in demand, domestic new energy vehicle brands are also hot, and various new energy vehicle products take turns, but this hilarity is basically domestic brands, and most of the joint venture brands are still in a disadvantageous position in new energy.
Therefore, in order to change the situation of low penetration of the new energy market of the joint venture brand, and also in order to seize the opportunity, GAC Mitsubishi chose a shortcut: cooperated with GAC New Energy to launch its first electrified product - Atuka.
On March 23, GAC Mitsubishi Artucko was officially launched, and a total of 2 models of new cars were launched, with a price range of 199,800-229,800 yuan after subsidies.
In terms of car purchase rights, the first owner of Artuka can enjoy the dual lifetime privilege of lifetime three-electric warranty and lifetime free car network traffic. At the same time, there are also "0" anxiety car purchase programs and battery rental policies, 2 years and 30% off value preservation repurchase rights, 5 years or 150,000 kilometers of vehicle ultra-long warranty, replacement subsidies and 20,000 yuan exclusive tourism fund, showing the good sincerity of GAC Mitsubishi.
Electric Mitsubishi is still very "hardcore"
Although GAC Mitsubishi Atuka is based on AION V, but unlike many new energy model design pursuits to take a round and cute route, the appearance of Artuka still continues the mitsubishi brand's previous hardcore and resolute design style, using the Dynamic Shield hard school aesthetic design language, the closed forward grille is angular, full of power, split headlights with a large number of silver decorations reflect a good sense of refinement.
The side of the car also gives people a strong sense of power, the window perimeter and side skirt also use a large number of chrome trim, with a strong and powerful side waistline and suspension roof extended to the rear, the overall appearance looks tough and stylish, in addition to the new car also uses hidden door handles, bringing a sense of futurism.
In terms of body size, the new car has a length, width and height of 4630/1920/1728mm and a wheelbase of 2830mm. This size is very consistent with the positioning of its A+ SUV, which is similar to the AION V, and should not be worried about space.
The overall style of the rear of the car is very simple, and the taillight battle blade shape can see the shadow of some AION models, and the multi-level style design is used in the rear encirclement, and the overall look is decent.
The new car in the interior is also the use of minimalist style design, the upper, middle and lower three layers of different materials, color collocation to create a three-dimensional level of visual effects, double 12.3-inch central control screen and dashboard plus electronic knob shift, is also the design of the current mainstream electric vehicle, and the entire center console uses a large area of soft package material coverage, so that the sense of science and technology in the car is very good, compared to the current Mitsubishi fuel model has been greatly improved.
In terms of the intelligent configuration valued by young consumers, the new car also shows the sincerity of GAC Mitsubishi, which will support a wealth of practical digital functions such as AutoNavi 4.0 navigation, intelligent voice control, mobile phone remote control, mobile phone wireless charging, on-board KTV, and insensible digital key.
Of course, rich driver assistance functions such as FCW pre-collision warning, AEB active brake assist, ACC adaptive cruise, ICA integrated cruise, LKA lane keeping assist 360 panoramic parking are also applied on this car, and the whole vehicle supports L2 level automatic driving assist, which is also the standard configuration of mainstream electric vehicles.
In terms of power, GAC Mitsubishi Atuka is equipped with a permanent magnet synchronous motor with a maximum power of 165 kW, the capacity of the power battery is 69.9 kWh, and the CLTC comprehensive cruising range of the new car reaches 520 km.
A "antidote" of GAC Mitsubishi?
After Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance Renault in the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance experienced the dilemma of breaking up with Dongfeng, breaking up with Brilliance, and returning to the Chinese market, GAC-Mitsubishi, as a good brother, did not have a good life in the domestic market.
In 2021, GAC Mitsubishi has only 3 models on sale: Outlander, Jinxuan ASX and Yige, and all are SUVs. According to 2021 sales data, GAC Mitsubishi sold a total of 66,000 vehicles, down 12% year-on-year, while Outlander sold 56,000 vehicles in the whole year, and now it can be said that it is only on One model of Outlander to support the scene.
Behind the decline in sales, it has been exposed that GAC Mitsubishi has a single product and the slow speed of innovation, under the background that mainstream car companies are preemptively laying out the new energy market, now GAC Mitsubishi has finally brought its first new energy product, and also hopes to inject fresh blood into GAC Mitsubishi.
However, from the perspective of Artuco's price and positioning, it is indeed a bit embarrassing in the domestic market. From the perspective of price and body size, its competitors are mainly locked in the Volkswagen ID.4 series, GAC AION V, BYD Song PLUS EV and other models.
As a model based on AION V, the price of the same battery capacity is more than 20,000 yuan more expensive than that of AION V, and the brand power of GAC Mitsubishi itself is relatively weak, so it is not easy for Atuka to gain a foothold in the new energy vehicle market.
As the first pure electric model of GAC Mitsubishi, the importance of Artuka to the brand is self-evident. Although it is a bit risky in terms of pricing, it is undeniable that Artuco has improved a lot in the design of the appearance, and the hardcore design style has also brought us a little newness. However, in the future, if GAC Mitsubishi wants to gain a foothold in the new energy market, this model alone is not enough, and it needs to show more sincerity.