Chery's QQ Tries To Pop Brazilian's Cherry

China’s Chery has sent an intercontinental missile to pop the Brazilian market’s cherry. Though so for some glitch not available at the dealer in my city, the QQ is already on sale in São Paulo and Rio. To keep dealers well stocked (according to the Brazilian enthusiast site webcars.com.br), another shipment of one thousand cars is on the high seas, and on a fast vector towards the Brazilian coast.

For reasons our expert Bertel Schmitt can explain better than me, the more a car is seen on the streets, the more a car sells. So far, and in spite of JAC’s alleged success (have yet to see one), Chinese cars are virtually invisible on Brazilian streets. In declarations to the aforementioned website, Luiz Curi,President of Chery do Brasil, official importer of Chinese Chery, says that they are planning sales of one thousand cars a month. This number will push this car along in their hopes of achieving that virtuous cycle of sell and be seen, be seen so sell. The company will also bring some high visibility colors in order to stand out in the drab sea of grey, silver and black that the Brazilian market has become.

Now, what does this Chinese carlet have to seduce supposedly sophisticated Brazilian car buyers? First and foremost: A Chinese price! The strategy here is to emphasize price. For R$22.900 (or US$14.300 at US$1=R$1.6), it is the car with the lowest list price in Brazil. For allegedly new-rich Brazilians, this is supposedly not important (for wet-dreaming, foaming-at-the-mouth suits and pundits, that is). There are cases in the Brazilian market where price is not fundamental to success. To wit: Honda. its cars are overpriced and under-contented vis-à-vis the competition. Honda however has something no Chinese company has: a reputation.

In striking difference to JAC’s strategy, which is emphasizing quality and cost benefit (former, questionable, the latter, could well be), Chery is going after the price conscious buyer. The weak point in Chery’s strategy is that the dealer will hit the buyer with a destination charge. As I said before, the Brazilian buyer hates, despises, detests add-ons. Delivery fees are deemed so despicable in Brazil that traditional makers have long learned to work transportation fees into the price of their cars. (Which leads some consumers to believe that there are no destination charges in Brazil.) Chery will find out soon enough that Brazilians are just as good in spotting a bargain and a come-on as the Chinese.