Diversification Now: Wuling and King Long to make passenger cars

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The Chinese auto market is booming, and everyone wants a (bigger) piece of the pie. Following the footsteps of JAC, one of China’s largest commercial vehicles makers, Wuling and King Long are planning to enter the passenger car market.

SAIC-GM-Wuling so far has been mainly selling minivans and light commercial vehicles and actually has been very successful, topping the sales charts last month. Chinese media reported Wuling might be unveiling their first passenger car in the World Expo in Shanghai, codenamed GP50.

It is expected this car will be based on the Wuling “Demo Car,” (left) which surfaced before. The “Demo Car” itself was rumored to be based on an older generation Buick Excelle, since it had exactly the same wheelbase – 2600mm, but Wuling declined to give further information.

Fujian-based King Long is one of China’s largest bus makers. King Long reported a first quarter net operating income of 3.1 billion yuan (450 mil. USD), up 67.8% from last year. They too want to sell passenger cars. It was previously reported King Long was investing 134 million yuan (about 19.6 mil. USD) to convert their existing production lines to make passenger cars.

The hatchback on the right was spotted yesterday, and its looks confirm King Long’s strategy of cracking the passenger car market by making low-cost passenger cars aimed at developing countries. They are also planning to introduce a sedan, an MPV and other passenger vehicles.