I have marked a few paragraphs with ~~~ to highlight the frenetic pace of development. The business model is affordable modern cars for third world markets including China herself. The American car market may be the biggest in the world. But it is a mature market with cutthroat competition even the big three Detroit Iron has trouble surviving in. Chinese car manufacturers would be silly to want to enter this market as an independent. But with Detroit three seeking China made cars to fill out their low end models it is possible that this will be a very profitable partnership. When they hit US roads the US importer will have to be responsible for quality and consumer issues since there cars will be rebadged and sold under the aegis of a Detroit three company.
A website with pictures is at
Chery's millionth car 'just the beginning' August 24, 2007
~~~The company, established in 1997, started production in 1999 and made its first million cars in seven years and nine months, said a statement from the company. It took Chery about six years to make its first 500,000 vehicles, and only 17 months to complete the second half-million.
The millionth car is an A3 four-door hatchback, which made its debut at last year's Beijing auto show and is expected to go on the market this year.
The compact model, equipped with Chery's own-brand engine, was designed to meet environmental and safety standards in the US and European markets, despite some industry analysts claiming that Chinese producers lack the technology to meet the standards on their own.
In contrast with Chery, Sino-German auto maker FAW Volkswagen took 13 years to make its first million cars, while it took more than eight years for Shanghai GM and Guangzhou Honda to build their first million cars.
Chery, the ambitious flag-bearer of Chinese indigenous brands, is capable of producing 400,000 cars, 400,000 engines and 300,000 transmission cases a year. Chery, now the biggest Chinese passenger-car brand by unit sales, plans to raise its annual output to a million cars by 2010.
A new plant, which will begin production in October, will increase capacity by 250,000-300,000 cars a year. China has 30 sedan manufacturers, nine of which produce more than 200,000 vehicles a year.
Chery, based in Wuhu, Anhui province, sold 232,785 cars in the first seven months of the year, maintaining its position as the country's seventh-largest auto manufacturer and the fourth-largest sedan producer.
With sales on the home market dominated by foreign auto makers such as General Motors, Volkswagen and Toyota, Chery is eager to expand on the global markets. Since 2001, it has exported 153,694 cars to 56 countries, making it the biggest Chinese sedan exporter for four consecutive years. It plans to raise annual exports by 800% from last year to 400,000 by 2010.
~~~Chery plans to have 14 overseas factories by 2010 to assemble its own-brand cars. It now has seven plants in six foreign countries - Iran, Russia, Ukraine, Indonesia, Egypt and Uruguay. The top Chinese car exporter is planning new plants in other countries such as India and Argentina, it said.
Producing autos abroad will enable Chery to avoid foreign nations' tariffs on cars shipped from China and will allow it to source spare parts in these countries. It said the move will help it cut costs overseas to "reap more profits and improve price competitiveness".
~~~This month, Chery established ties with Italy's Fiat to supply
100,000 engines a year for Fiat cars made in China and abroad. Chery has also signed a deal with Chrysler to export Chinese-made cars to the United States and Europe. The two companies will jointly develop new products based on Chery's small-car platforms.Cooperating with foreign auto makers was no barrier to developing Chery's own-brand products, said president Yin Tongyao. "It will help Chery build indigenous cars with international competitiveness."
In his congratulatory letter to the auto maker, Chinese Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan said Chery had distinguished itself as China's self-developed auto brand at home and abroad.
"Taking the millionth car as a new starting point, Chery should further innovation on technologies and management and upgrade its products and service," Zeng said.
(Asia Pulse/Xinhua Informati