By Hong An

The auto market is treacherous and unpredictable, with structural adjustments and shifts in consumer psychology occurring frequently, directly causing the domestic passenger vehicle market to undergo a deep inventory reshuffle from January to July 2026, while July, a traditional off-season, brought a strong chill to the auto market. Affected by the superposition of the traditional off-season and the demand透支 effect from the first half of the year, data from the China Passenger Car Association shows that national passenger vehicle retail sales in July 2026 are expected to decline by 16.8% year-on-year. The industry is returning from a short-term promotion-driven growth model to a development rhythm dominated by real demand. Both year-on-year and month-on-month figures for the overall market weakened, and market demand was generally sluggish. However, against this backdrop, some automakers still delivered half-year results with a sense of contrast, and GAC Group's Hyptec Aion is one of them.

Under overall market pressure, Hyptec Aion still continued its growth trend: July terminal sales reached 34,987 units, a year-on-year increase of 31.74%, achieving five consecutive months of positive year-on-year growth. It ran an independent trajectory during the auto market's adjustment cycle, fully demonstrating Hyptec Aion's resilience in rising against the trend across time cycles.

Creating hit national good cars, C-end has already forged the foundation for momentum

It is understood that the brand's July terminal sales reached 34,987 units, a year-on-year increase of 31.74%, having achieved five consecutive months of double-digit year-on-year growth. More noteworthy is the fundamental optimization of its sales structure—in the first half of 2026, the proportion of C-end private users steadily climbed to 81%, and the brand has completely shifted into a steady upward channel driven by real consumer demand. The sales hits of the Aion i60 and Aion N60, especially the launch of the all-new Ray series, are proving this with facts.

He who wins the C-end wins the world. The firm choice of countless consumers is the ultimate moat for automakers to win, and the most critical indicator is the change in user structure. In the first half of 2026, the proportion of Hyptec Aion's C-end user sales climbed to 81%. The main models have completely shifted from the former Aion Y and Aion S series to new products aimed at private families such as the Aion i60 and Aion N60. Aion used to always be labeled as "ride-hailing," and the scale growth at that stage was essentially driven by the dividend of the mobility market, rather than a reflection of genuine consumer willingness. Today, the 81% C-end share means that more and more families recognize and choose Hyptec Aion as a family vehicle, and the brand has already begun to achieve C-end-led growth.

As a "cultivation-style family blockbuster," the i60 has stable monthly sales of over 10,000 units and is the A-class new energy SUV that best understands Chinese families; the N60 brings L4-equivalent LiDAR intelligent driving down to the 100,000-150,000 yuan price range, with young users accounting for nearly 80%, taking the sales crown in its segment. The hot sales of the two major models jointly push up the C-end proportion and solidify the brand's healthy growth foundation.

Not only that, but C-end-oriented products such as the Aion UT and RT are also widely recognized. Aion uses market results to prove that "only when users have the final say can every model be a hit," and only then can it attract more and more private users to place orders, greatly enhancing the quality of brand growth and its ability to resist cycles.

In the tenth year since the brand's founding, Aion launched the all-new independent Ray series. The first model, Ray 7, is positioned as a mid-to-large super pure electric sedan. The new car has four major advantages: super high appearance, super chassis, super three-electric system, and super intelligence, and will debut in mid-to-late August. Ray's independent series positioning and sporty product definition are essentially a strong offensive launched by Aion into the young C-end market.

Tech inclusion put into practice, building cars that understand users, are affordable, and good to use

High-quality intelligent manufacturing and advanced technology support Aion's continued high-speed, high-quality development. But Aion has not stopped there. Facing changes of the times and the continuous evolution of user needs, Aion chooses to promote a comprehensive user-centered reform from the inside out.

Relying on the deepened implementation of GAC Group's "Panyu Action," the Hyptec Aion BU was among the first to be established at the end of 2025, fully implementing the two major systems of IPD and IPMS, connecting the entire chain of R&D, production, sales, and service, and greatly improving decision-making efficiency. At the same time, the offline channels of the dual brands are accelerating integration, with brand image, marketing strategy, and service experience comprehensively renewed, building a long-term communication mechanism of deep empathy with users.

Institutional innovation is ultimately about better understanding users and creating products that better fit user needs. And the underlying tone running through it has never changed—Aion always adheres to tech inclusion, earnestly making "national good cars" that everyone can afford and use well. For example, the Aion i60 applies GAC's Xingyuan range-extender technology exclusive to the 200,000-yuan class, and continuously advances with the product logic of a "cultivation-style blockbuster." Now its sales continue to exceed 10,000 units, steadily ranking in the top two on the A-class dual-power SUV sales list, and it has already become the A-class new energy SUV that best understands Chinese families.

The Aion N60, priced in the 100,000-yuan class, comes standard with an intelligent driving assistance system featuring LiDAR plus the same-origin algorithm as WeRide's L4 Robotaxi, allowing young people to enjoy a 300,000-yuan-class intelligent driving assistance experience at the lowest threshold. It has leapt to first place in sales among LiDAR intelligent driving models in the 100,000-150,000 yuan pure electric SUV segment, with users aged 25-30 accounting for nearly 80%.

High-quality products precipitate user reputation, and good reputation in turn feeds terminal sales. The four major links are interlocked, building a rare sustainable growth model in the inventory market.

Organizational structure and full-chain renewal reconstruct brand growth, achieving C-end-led growth

It is reported that the BU-based organizational structure reform, dual-brand renewal, IPD system, IPMS full-process management system, and other full-chain renewal actions have reconstructed the underlying logic of brand growth, completely breaking away from past dependence on batch orders and achieving C-end-led growth.

The integrated reform of the Hyptec Aion BU (business unit), implemented at the end of 2025 under GAC's "Panyu Action," is the source driving force behind all its market performance. This organizational change breaks the big-company disease of traditional automakers with redundant hierarchies and fragmented departments, reshaping operating logic from the four dimensions of decision-making, resources, channels, and brand, enabling the company to possess the core capability of rapidly responding to the market.

In the structure of traditional automakers, R&D, production, and sales belong to different functional sections, and user needs require layer upon layer of approval from terminal feedback to product implementation, with long cycles; after the BU was established, the entire chain of R&D, production, sales, and service was unified under BU coordination, granting complete autonomous decision-making power and greatly shortening the decision-making chain. User demands captured on the market front line can be directly synchronized to the R&D end, and market competition changes can quickly be transformed into product and marketing adjustment actions, changing the traditional automaker problems of "slow response and low efficiency." At the data level, this is intuitively reflected in that, relying on the IPD integrated development system, the new vehicle development cycle has been compressed from 26 months to 18-21 months, and after platform technology integration, R&D costs have been reduced by more than 10%, optimizing both efficiency and cost.

BU integration simultaneously promotes the reconstruction of the channel system. The dual-brand sales network will expand to more than 1,000 outlets, covering 100% of cities at or above the fourth tier nationwide. Channel integration achieves mutual benefits. The service rights of existing Hyptec high-end stores remain unchanged, but convenience is greatly improved; Aion stores simultaneously list Hyptec high-end models, allowing ordinary users to experience high-end intelligent technology up close. For consumers, they can experience the full product line in one stop nearby; for the brand, single-store foot traffic and transaction opportunities increase simultaneously, channel utilization doubles, providing offline carrier support for the continued rise of C-end sales.

Brief comment

Standing through the tides, ten years toward the new. For a new energy brand that has gone through 9 years, what truly matters is not the level of a single month's sales, but whether it can maintain sustained combat effectiveness amid market fluctuations. From July's data, Aion has at least proven that it already possesses the ability to traverse cycles and has firmly taken root in the C-end market. Years of deep cultivation in technology and industry have built a solid foundation for Aion's long-term development. And Ray's debut shows that Aion wants to use a "new entrepreneurship" aimed at young people to inject fresh momentum into the next "tenth year."