GM Is Building Cheap Cars for China’s Masses

For much of the past decade, sales of global automakers were buoyed by demand from China, whose residents have eagerly snapped up locally produced versions of pricey foreign cars such as Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen’s Audi, and BMW’s namesake sedans. Yet General Motors Co. has not only fared well with its premium-priced Buick line, it’s killing it with Baojun, a made-for-the-mainland brand that sells for as little as $6,000.

There was a method to the down-market move. GM figured the next wave of car buyers in China would come from the smaller cities, especially in the interior of the country, where the middle class is growing and people are buying more cars. Baojun sales are up tenfold since 2013, to 1 million cars last year, more than Chevrolet and not far behind Buick.