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A rare insight into the car market - in China

BBC News reports on something we rarely get even a glimpse of or into - China's car industry:

"The sleepy, provincial town of Luizhou is more than 1,200 miles (1,931km) from Shanghai, and 10,000 miles from Detroit.

Yet for General Motors, which Toyota claims to have overtaken as the world's largest car company, it is Luizhou rather than Detroit where the company's future may be decided.

GM has come to Luizhou to produce a tiny minivan, the Wuling Sunshine, which is a best-seller in China, selling more than 460,000 vehicles a year.

The van costs $3,700 (£1,872), has a 0.8 litre engine, and weighs less than 1000kg - yet cheap labour costs mean that GM makes a substantial profit on each vehicle it sells.


Rather than use automation, the Wuling Sunshine is made on an old-fashioned assembly line, which would not look out of date in 1940s Detroit.


Rick Wagoner celebrated at the Wuling factory in 2005

But with labour costs of just $4 per hour - half the rate in Shanghai - GM Asia Pacific boss Nick Reilly says that the company is only spending $100 per vehicle on labour - and the factory is working around the clock on a three-shift system."

Comments

Anonymous said…
$100 per car. Unreal. Thanks for the post.
May 17, 2007 2:07 pm
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