Growing demand has spurred a new brand out of GM's Chinese JV.
Baojun's Official Logo
Today General Motors announced that, in conjunction with its Chinese joint-venture, it would be starting up another brand in China. The joint-venture has been for mini-commercial vehicles and consists of GM, SAIC and Wuling. The new brand has been dubbed "Baojun" and will be sold at Wuling dealerships throughout China.
The joint-venture claims that escalating demand for affordable vehicles has caused them to initiate the Baojun brand. According to GMI sources, Baojun will be marketed as an entry-level brand as the <nobr style="color: rgb(74, 149, 225); font-weight: normal; font-size: 100%; font-family: verdana,geneva,lucida,'lucida grande',arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" id="itxt_nobr_3_0">Chevrolet</nobr> brand continues to move up-market globally.
“Baojun is being positioned as a reliable partner with an image that is confident, smart and dependable,” said Shen Yang, General Manager of SAIC-GM-Wuling. “We aim to surpass customer expectations by creating a brand that combines world-class quality with low ownership costs.”
According to GM, the joint-venture has developed one vehicle for Baojun. GM declined to provide any details on what type of vehicle the brand will launch with. Sources have indicated that Baojun will leverage retiring GM platforms to keep costs low and provide entry-level vehicles.
Sources have also told GMI that the GM management is looking into eventually spreading the new brand to other growth markets. Said markets would likely include India and Russia.
Baojun is the Chinese translation for "treasured horse."
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