Affordable "Chinese Brand" Cars Could Be More Affordable

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Honda revealed prices for their „Chinese Brand“ Everus S1. As reported before, these “Chinese brands” are brands created by joint ventures, based on (usually not the latest) foreign platforms, filled with parts of foreign pedigree, and as much Chinese manufacture as possible. Supposedly, these brands are targeted at the lower income brackets. They better start saving. When the concept was launched, the target price for the cars was under $10,000, but what is going on sale is consistently over that.

Prices for the Everus start at 69.800 yuan ($10,752) and go up to 99.800 yuan ($15,373), reports CarNewsChina. That’s a lot of coin for a car that is based on an old Honda City platform, powered by a 1.3 liter or 1.5 liter minimill.

Supposedly, the fresher looking BaoJun, a Buick Excelle posing as a Chinese, will be priced similarly.

GM China’s BaoJun might have an ace up its sleeve: China Daily reported that a discontinued version of the Chevy Spark could be revived as a Baojun, called “Lechi” (“happy driving”) and sold for around $6,000. In China, that’s considered a decent entry level price.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • MarcKyle64 MarcKyle64 on May 10, 2011

    I'm sure Hyundai is quaking in their boots at that famous chinese build quality competing with them...

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