At a ceremony held Wednesday evening in Guangzhou and attended by pop idols like Sodagreen, Alex Wong, and Christine Fan, Shanghai-GM announced Buick Encore went on sale with a price range of 149,900-196,900 Yuan (US$23,842-31,318). By just looking at the price tags, one might want to thank the joint venture, for finally here is car costing about the same as in the US (typical Japanese and American cars are 30%-50% more expensive here in China than in the US, even if there are locally made). Wishful thinking indeed.

With significantly reduced functionality, the Encore from Shanghai-GM, developed by PATAC and built in Yantai, Shandong, was more a lookalike of the US model. Although the two share powertrain and styling, the Chinese copy misses most of the attractive features on the original. Gone are cruise control, leather seats, parking sensors, Bose speakers, and six airbags. The multi-link suspension in the rear is replaced by the much cheaper trailing arm type.

Here is an incomplete list comparing the AT version of the entry-level Encore in China and the Base model from the US:

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