GM China winning in no-frills car market

General Motors has enjoyed first-mover advantage in China’s cheap, no-frills car market as foreign rivals focused on selling higher-end cars in the country’s wealthier mega-cities. But now, with sales growth in Beijing and the biggest cities stalling, other global car makers are looking more closely at selling affordable, basic cars in smaller cities, according to Reuters. GM has been almost alone among the big foreign car makers to see the potential for selling passenger cars to the developing so-called tier-three, -four and -five cities where buyers can now afford to upgrade from noisier, uncomfortable, rear-wheel drive vans. It estimated several years ago that China’s entry car segment could grow to 7 million cars a year – some way bigger than Japan’s entire autos market.