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As has been the trend for several years, GM’s Chinese interests are hauling tail with respect to production, market share, and profitability. It used to be that Buick was the flagship brand driving the bottom line, but now, according to a story on Bloomberg, it is the Wuling marque and its Sunshine mini-van.
Not big-block powered, by any means, the 1-liter engine powering the van delivers fuel economy two or three times as good as other rival vehicles in the segment, although it is also competing against vehicles that are not solely targeted at the Chinese market. Honda’s Odyssey van is a competitor. Its price is a lot heavier and mileage is a lot lower.
If a one-liter powered mini-van is not the living example of automotive hell, please direct us to something worse. We’re hoping they don’t start stowing away on freighters bound for our shores. However, the Bloomberg story also mentions that if the Sunshine were to be sold in
any other place it would require lots of upgrades to meet safety and
crash standards.
