Photoblog: BaoJun 630
The first BaoJun 630 came down the production line yesterday and it seems to be a good looking car. The interior is certainly from GM’s parts bin, but the exterior is very similar to SAIC’s Roewe 350 and has some Roewe 550 looks in there also, the whole car looks exceptionally well for a vehicle that is going to be around 50,000rmb to 70,000rmb when fully launched. Power comes from a 1.5L engine from the Roewe 350. The BaoJun is a marvel of modern globalization with it taking bits and pieces from the USA, UK, China and Korea. The platform was designed in Korea, whilst the body design was done in China with GM’s help, the brand was developed in China and also the engine was developed by SAIC in the UK technical center. It seems a car brand is no longer restrained by its national boundaries, and the BaoJun 630 is out to prove that. Another interesting boundary that this BaoJun is pushing is the overlap into the pricing segment that was traditionally controlled by the Chinese self developed brands, how this will play out is anyone’s guess at this stage!
Photos from AutoHome.com.cn:
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“It seems a car brand is no longer restrained by its national boundaries, …”
It hasn’t been restrained for years already. BMW’s are also build in America, with European, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and American components. So what’s German about it?
“So what’s German about it?”
Just he price tag.
SAIC’s participation in a project that could undercut their Roewe brand seems odd. Yes, they are invested in BaoJun as well, but the success of their Roewe brand is not yet assured, and establishing the new dealer network will be a major task. There are stories going around that GM has committed to help SAIC market their MG brand through Chevrolet dealers in Europe, and may eventually help them in North America as well. If any of this is true, then I understand SAIC’s cooperation in BaoJun. The PRC wants to see successful export strategies for it’s auto industry. Without such an agreement, SAIC is just helping GM undercut the lower end of the Roewe model lineup that looked very promising.
We’ll see how this all sorts out.
Wow…………….WHAT a car. IF Baojun can really keep the 630 in the 50-70,000rmb price range (imagine being able to buy a auto trans version, WITH a GPS/DVD display – for 70,000rmb??), it is going to be a BIG success. One notable omission – no climate control from I can see in the pics. IMO, not a big deal…….I think my fingers would be more than capable of adjusting the a/c when needed!!
I’m assuming we’ll see the “official” debut of the 630 at the Guangzhou show, hopefully they’ll also announce prices as well. I’m REALLY looking forward to seeing this in person, which should be soon – it will probably go on sale immediately in Nanning since we’re only 2 hours (by car) away from the Liuzhou factory. Congrats Baojun – a very auspicious and impressive effort for your first car!
I have negative view on this Baojun 630. SAIC should spend the money wisely on its own Roewe & MG brands. These Baojun lineups will undercut all domestic automakers. The more successful of Baojun, the more difficulties facing Chery, Geely, Greatwall…
Why help foreigners to kill your own brothers? SAIC is hopeless. Why the central government turn a blind eye on this practice? What SAIC did are not helping the Chinese auto industry, SAIC will be a traitor helping foreigners to destroy the rise of fellow automakers. What a selfish act by SAIC !!!
HK has a negative view on most things. This wont kill off Chery or Geely, it will drive up quality standards across China.
The BaoJun is great. No doubt many auto manufacturers will be taking them to bits for studying ASAP.
I’m sorry CCT, I fully understand your position here. I just vent out my anger in this JV matter.
Good guys : Chery,Geely,Greatwall…
Bad guys : SAIC,FAW,BAIC,DFM,BYD…
Time & history have already told the truth. Go ask any Chinese about their views on the “Big Four”.
hk, a bit hard to see your logic on this…….and CCT is correct regarding the quality issues with Geely/Chery/etc.
IMO, Chery has bigger problems to deal with than worrying about this new company that has ONE car to sell so far…..Chery needs to figure out how the hell to organize it’s 3 brand lines and market them in a proper manner for the consumer. Geely is figuring it out, and we’re starting to see the big plan with them and how they are positioning their products within each sub-brand. Also, I have a bit of a hard time classifying Chery and Great Wall as “good guys” – let’s not forget that Chery essentially copied the Chevy (Daewoo) Spark to create the QQ, and Great Wall copied the Fiat Panda (for the Peri) as well as Scion (for the Coolbear and the Florid). I have NO PROBLEM with Baojun being a international product, with contributions from four different countries – and ALL LEGAL AND AUTHORIZED (unlike some of the actions of Chery and Great Wall). If Chery, Geely and Great Wall are TRULY worried about the potential of Baojun, then I suppose they better go back to the drawing board and build a better car. They all have design centers and some bright minds working for them – let them put that brain power to work and create better cars to compete with the Baojun!
Jon, you miss my point here. Baojun brand is under SGMW JV using mainly GM technology and parts. The beauty of this operation is to offer a foreign car but in domestic price. This surely undercuts all domestic brands in the same price brackets. If Chery/Geely cannot sell their cars in the same price range, how can they grow and improve their quality? If Baojun, Venucia … are successful, the market share of REAL domestic brands will shrink accordingly.
You may argue that China’s auto market is growing faster & bigger, everyone should get its own share. The situation doesn’t look that great, Chery/Geely are way far behind the foreign brands in technology and quality. Just like you, you will buy a Baojun 630 instead of Brilliance FSV or Chery Fulwin 2. They are playing not in the same level and please tell me how can domestic brands win this competition. Some sort of protection policy are needed (like Japan & Korea did before to grow their auto industries) from central government to discourage those pseudo-domestic brands.
hk, you might be surprised when I say this……..but I would still choose a FRV or a Fulwin 2 hatch before I would buy a 630 (I need a hatch to carry musical instruments, etc.). I readily admit I like the 630 a lot – it is a attractive car and seems to be well built. Nevertheless, I ALSO admire many of the current crop of chinese cars as well, and since I consider China my home now (been here almost 8 years), I would prefer to spend my money where it can help chinese factory workers to keep their jobs. I know that not all foreigners would feel the same that I do, and that is fine – it is simply MY choice to buy a chinese car vs. a foreign branded car.
The reality is that the 630 will most likely be a “regionally popular” model – we’ll see a lot of them in Guangxi, Guizhou, etc….provinces that are fairly close to the Liuzhou factory (in Guangxi). This is similar to other brands like Brilliance (hugely popular in the Laoning province – no surprise since their factory is in Shenyang), Geely (very popular in and around the Zhejiang province but not as much in southern China), BYD (quite common on Shenzhen roads, I don’t see nearly as many in Nanning) and so on. The same with Chery – in Nanning the Spark is actually more popular than the QQ, because the Spark is built in Liuzhou. Baojun is not going to take over the chinese auto market – and I’m sure that upcoming models from Chery and Geely will prove to be competitive vs. Baojun. For example, I REALLY like the upcoming Geely (actually Englon I think) SC515-RV – A gorgeous 1.5l hatch that should be on the market anytime now. It will sell in the same price range as the 630 – and the Fulwin 2 sedan/hatch already sell in the 50-70,000rmb range as well (and they’re both very nice cars). Let’s just see how good the Baojun REALLY is once it’s tested in detail by the chinese auto magazines, and let’s also see what the consumer says with their choice of purchase. I think Chery and Geely are capable of holding their ground in the market, and the increased competition from a car like the 630 will propel them to improve their products as well – as a consumer I see that as a positive thing.
Thanks Jon, your choice of REAL domestic brands is deeply appreciated. What I worry most is due to the very success of Wuling small vans throughout China, Baojun cars can easily penetrate all regions. Just look at the number of Korean cars sold in China, there should be no problem for Baojun to get a good market share. My view still remain negative.
On second thought, if Baojun can undercut ALL Korean cars instead then we will have a very interesting situation. That may not be bad for China’s auto industry. Pretty confused…..