GM has announced that they will be launching a low-cost brand in China with its joint venture partners SAIC and Wuling. The new brand will be called Bao Jun which means “treasured horse”, will produce passenger cars at an affordable price.
The SAIC-GM-Wuling (SGMW) partnership will try and soak up demand for affordable modes of transport in secondary cities and the outskirts, while big names like VW and even Chevrolet supply the demand for their cars in bigger metropolitan cities.
On the matter of the sales network, GM say that they will build it after the car is launched incorporating existing networks, new distributors and elements of the current structure. Unfortunately the company did not confirm the official release date of the car. Word is that it will be built on GM platforms, specifically the one underpinning the outgoing Chevrolet Lova. The photo below is supposedly a Wuling low cost car first seen in late 2008 but there’s been no more word about the car since.
“Baojun will complement our other brands sold in China including our fastest-growing mainstream nameplate, Chevrolet. It will enable us to better address the increasingly segmented Chinese vehicle market,” said Kevin Wale, President and Managing Director of the GM China Group. “Baojun will become another good example of successful partnership. By combining the best resources that SAIC, GM and SGMW have to offer, we will ensure an outstanding ownership experience for a greater number of consumers,” said Chen Hong, President of SAIC Motor.
SAIC-GM-Wuling started out in 2002 and builds a range of Wuling mini-trucks and minivans as well as the Chevrolet Le Chi mini-car. They have enjoyed record breaking sales of 1,061,213 units becoming the first automaker in China to sell more than 1 million vehicles in a single year.
Jacob Mathew Alexander has been a motoring nut for as far as he can remember and has recently turned his passion into writing. After spending some time in the same industry in the UK, Jacob's handy work is from a slightly different perspective.
the car looks nice
but it will never cheaper than proton n perodua
It looks a lot better than the “low cost” car in Malaysia..
Front look OK mar… can challen our Saga..
There is a Prancing Horse, now we have a Slanting Horse. Nice!
louis?????
louis ?????
louis de car????
louis??????
i doubt the quality is as nice as the design……
low cost but still expensive when enter malaysia market due to tax….so lets buy toyota n honda…we pay more beacuse we rich…if city n vios goes over rm100k, we still buy…coz we rich…only loser use cheap car….hahahaha
do you think that once you drive a Honda and a Toyota , people around you will be impressed , and say “look at that guy,he’s rich! driving a Honda made in Pegoh…..hehehe,lawak le lu bro.nak belagak tak agak2.
Sub 200k is a common now….melambak..And one more , pepatah biasa orang sebut:
“Orang yang ada macam2,xmau tunjuk sebab xmau kena copet….orang yang xde apa2 jer yang biasanya selalu sebut dia ada macam2″
You know why? because kalau pencuri datang nak copet lu,apa lu nak heran.lu bukan ada apa-apa pun….
relax…no offense.hahaha
My sister is a manager in one of the largest IT firm in the world and had gone to Japan for studies for 5 years and she only wants to drive a Persona because its cheap, with 10k of salary every month, and she has three two/three storey houses. Tell me how do u define that mister TOYOTA N HONDA SUPPORTERS?
your sister no taste, thats why.
what kind of woman drives a bmw then? the one that earn 100k a month? come on.
Malaysian car tasteless?
what century do u live dude?
theres alot of passion and technical skill on those ‘tasteless car’..
i bet u even can’t afford a kancil..
don’t talk so much if u do know anything
plese don’t make fools of ur self.
His sister much smarter, more house more money come in through rent. Price it right and the tenant pays the house for you! Whereas the flashier the car, the worse the depreciation will hit you, in the end money flow OUT of your pocket! If you’re fired from the job at least your rent income can supplement some of your needs. Can your car supplement your life if you have no money?
That’s why Malaysians have little wealth, got money buy flashy car instead of saving/investing and make the money work for you. And then blame the govt when don’t have money! Stupid really!
Well, do you earn 100k a month? Answer me that smart Ass…
bodoh! ko mampu ke beli persona? tu namanya belanja berhemah, buat apenak beli bmw kalo keta tu boleh bawak ko from point A to B safely? ko ni mesti jenis berangan je lebih,mimpi bawak keta mewah tiap2 hari tapi ko hanyalah seorang mat despatch! hahaha
Only uncles and aunties buy honda and toyota,nowadays we already have a better car to choose example hyundai and kia if you’re richer,then you can buy BMW,Mercedes and Audi,if you’re slightly richer than average Malaysian,aiya you can only buy Toyota and Honda ma.
wah over 1 million cars within 1 year!!! off course they can make it veryyyy cheap..
made in china, of course! if not the material labour cost also very cheap maa…cannot compare to malaysia labour force…
They have a market large and diverse enough for this kind of brand offshoots.
That aside, Youngman (which rebadges Gen2) is an established bus & truck builder and they’ve built some impressive hybrid buses. Wonder if Proton has any plans to work with them on a hybrid car.
Yep, some rapidKL buses use China-made buses, though I can’t remember if they’re made by Youngman.
Its because they are cheaper.
DongFeng, KingLong, Anyuan & ShengLong are China buses use by RapidKL (some use by SBS in Singapore too). Not so sure whether they are made by Youngman or not.
I wouldn’t even dare to buy this car.
even though it’s have the American (GM) DNA.
there have been a lot of issues to consider before purchasing this ‘car’..
quality build, safety features and overall final product..
probably won’t even last a couple of years!.
for goodness sake..
yes safety come first. no point if you have nice good locking car but you’ll ended in graveyard.
I still have doubt on China products, something is still lacking in term of QC, I think Malaysia’s QC is better but we cannot under estimate and take things for granted…..they will catch up in 3-5 years time.
The Chery Tiggo1.6 that’s selling here had been entered into the Malaysian Rally X in a barely modified form. It finished (in one piece) 12 out of 22 or 24 cars. I think it’s the only SUV entered. Not too bad for a China make that’s not purpose built for competition.
BMW = Precious Horse
Bao Jun = Treasured Horse
Blatant insinuation if there ever was one
Copy cats.
Aren’t the Chinese producing cheaper car oredi.. how low-cost can it be now?? Parts boleh tahan ka?? Engine tak luruh ka??
ya. now they had produce cheaper car which is you can buy with a little RMB 20, 000 (RM 10, 000) with 1.3 L engine. I thk Wuling price will be RMB 20, 000 – RMB 34, 000 ( RM 10, 000 – RM 17, 000 )
In China Chery Tiggo 1.6 SUV only cost U below RM 45, 000 (RMB 90, 000) and Chery Eastar with 2.0 engine, stepronic gearbox, auto cruise, abs, ebd, 2 airbag and etc you can get as lower as RM 50, 000 ( RMB 100, 000 )
Guys,
When come to pricing wise, let not forget that China practising communist economy type. Government control the price, not the market.
And, China is third largest economy after US and Japan.
fuckgly car