Chery To Manufacture QQ In Poland?
The Tata Nano still hasn’t caught up with its hype and is, 2 years after its introduction, still battling problems of mass production and spontaneous combustion. Meanwhile, in China, Chery is stamping out its low cost QQ by the hundreds of thousands. The QQ is inseparable from China’s popular culture.
Now, QQ could be thinking of entering Europe through its eastern backdoor Poland.
FSO is better know as the former manufacturer of Polski Fiat (1965-1991) and its partnership with Daewoo. That led to some flirtations with GM . After Daewoo went bankrupt, FSO was back on its own. Ever since, FSO went further down the drain.
Here is another company the Chinese could pick up for cheap. Coincidentally, there is another company that had (until quite recently) GM connections.
Chery has factories in Russia, Ukraine, Iran, Egypt, Indonesia, Uruguay and Malaysia. One in Europe is missing in their collection.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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I wonder if they can sell the car in Europe, because it's an almost direct copy of Chevrolet Matiz. There will be lawsuits at least.
Bertel: is the factory in Uruguay for real? I mean, until now, I know there is EFFA motors making some Chanqua(???) cars in Uruguai, CKD. This factory has been long rumored, but AFAIK is not up and running. Anyway, Chery has said this QQ car will come to Brazil until the end of the year. With a price of R$19,900 (a liilte ove 11K USD), complete with A/C, power stering and windows (that's what we mean by complete in Brazil). The cheapest car in Brazil with all that equipment is the Fiat Uno Mille (old version) that goes for around 24K reais. I don't know if 4K reais is enpugh to make a budget minded consumer trust a well-known, trustworthy brand for something so "exotic" as a Chinese car. Does this car have airbags? The Mille and Kombi will go out of production in 2013 because then airbags will be mandatory and Fiat at least has claimed it'd be too expensive to retrofit. What do you think. Is the QQ the first real car from China to come to Brazil?
Mr Schmitt... how hard/expensive is to get a license on a discontinued car?
Haima has bought the continuation rights to the Mazda Familia/Protege. Their version is just about as good as the source material. Handles well, feels solidly built, and I wouldn't be surprised if it gets at least three stars on a proper crash test. Chery bought out the factories that stamped out parts for the Matiz... which happens to not be discontinued... just sold under the Spark nameplate. Their version is just about as bad as the source material. Maybe a smidgeon worse. Cheap inside, handles like a skateboard on bedsprings, and I wouldn't be surprised if it somehow surpasses the Spark's zero star EuroNCAP rating.