General Motors might have sliced three brands from its North American lineup earlier this year – Pontiac, Saturn and Hummer – but the Detroit automaker is expanding its Chinese operations by introducing a new, low-end brand: Baojun.
The brand, part of a joint venture with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) and Wuling Motors, will be positioned below any of GM’s current offerings in China.
“The introduction of Baojun is part of GM’s multi-brand strategy in China,” said Kevin Wale, President and Managing Director of the GM China Group, in a statement released to the media. “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.”
Baojun means “treasured horse” in Chinese, GM says, and vehicles will be distributed through the company’s existing channels – likely as separate showrooms located within current GM retailers. GM has no plans to use the Baojun name in any market other than China, although we wouldn’t be remotely surprised to see Russia and Eastern Europe receive similar vehicles under a different name.
Product lineup to come
GM has also not indicated a specific product lineup or even estimated an on sale date.
Look for at least a small sedan and hatchback, and likely some sort of multi-people carrier aimed at fulfilling the needs of China’s rapidly-expanding urban and rural buyer base’s needs.
GM is likely to draw heavily on its new design and engineering studio in Seoul, South Korea, to develop the vehicles.
The automaker did release an image of Baojun’s logo – a stylized horse’s head.
