Chery was sued by GM in 2004

I know, it's two years late, but I didn't cover this topic so I want to do it now. Two years ago, Chery was sued by GM through Daewoo for copying the Daewoo Spark design and using it for the Chery QQ. What was copied? Well, almost all of it. Interior body structure, exterior and interior design and many key components.
What pissed GM off was that Chery was selling the QQ cheaper then the Spark, and in more units on the chinese market then Daewoo managed. While Daewoo sold around 8000 Spark's, Chery sold many more. And between two identical cars, one of them with a much lower price, which are you going to choose? The Chery QQ of course.
The Chery QQ begun production in 2002, and despite GM's offensive, Chery was even starting to export the QQ model in foreign countries.
I say this has to stop. Chery just ruins its reputation with stuff like this. If they want to be a world wide company then they have to behave in the spirit of the law and stop pulling this crap.

1875 cars recalled by Chery

Well, all that talk about Chery's low quality is proven right now. Chery is the first chinese car manufacturer to recall cars from the overseas. Chery announced that they're recalling 1875 cars, Tiggo SUV's to be more precise. All the Tiggo's recalled are with automatic transmissions and the reason is that they could suffer engine failure if the defective fan controller isn't repaired.

The first local recall for Chery was last year but that was just for China and it was about the Eastwind models. While I say that this proves me right about the bad quality of the Chery models, this also makes me something else about them. They're starting to grow a conscience and start to think about the customers. I think this recall proves that and I hope Chery will not hesitate to recall every single car that its faulty because of their work. I think the new laws for the chinese automotive industry will help make Chery a true competitor for the japanese cars.

Chery will go public in 2008

Despite what some analysts thought, Chery Automobile will make its initial public offering in 2008 instead of 2007. The reason for this is the low profit made in 2006, due to the massive expansion in other markets and the research done in this time. Chery will probably do its IPO in both the A-share market from China and on the Hong Kong market.
According to Yin Tongyao, the Chery profit will rise greatly in the 2006-2008 period. Since Chery is one of the few chinese auto companies that don't just rely on foreign models, and design their own instead, I see a great future ahead of them, and hopefully they'll make it to number 1 in China soon enough. While Chery currently makes around 350,000 cars per year, its capacity will go to around 600,000 in 2008, and thats another good reason not to rush with the IPO. I'm sure the foreign investment funds will jump at the opportunity to buy and maybe control Chery, so why not wait a bit longer and increase the value of the stock.

The Chery - Chrysler Hornet rumours

About two months ago, there was a rumour about Chrysler and Chery negociating for a deal. The idea was that Chery would build the Hornet model for Chrysler, at a cheaper price from what I understood. The fact that Chery has limited morals and poor quality might be a problem, if it isn't already. I'm not sure what happened or if the deal is still on the table right now.
Anyway, if it was to happen, and if Chery doesn't blow this chance, it could be a huge break for them. The Chery would begin to gain a reputation in the american market, smoothing their entrance with future cars. Thats if they don't screw up at building the Hornet. Making a car of poor quality wouldn't help at all with their image. So they have to think about it and not just jump on the oportunity. If they can't make a good car this might hurt them more then launching Chery cars without more backup in the US.

Bricklin leaves Chery

I talked before about the lack of quality at Chery, and now this news comes to confirm it. Martin Bricklin and his company, Visionary Vehicles, have decided to stop their cooperation with Chery. Apparently Bricklin isn't satisfied with Chery's quality and safety control, so they will make their own cars.
Bricklin's plan was to design his own models with western experts and then have the cars made in China. Chery was one of the companies chosen for this task. Bricklin also signed up to distribute Chery cars in the US, but this deal seems to have fallen also. Yeah, as I said before, Chery wasn't the only company that was chosen for this task. Several other companies might build Bricklin's models, perhaps with a better quality then Chery did.

Chery and the future

I was interested in writing an article about Chery and its future for some time now. And not so much about Chery, but also about the chinese automotive expansion. The saying that you have to understand the past to know the future is somewhat true here, if we make the connection between the japanese auto boom from the past and the chinese auto boom we see now, partly through Chery and other chinese auto manufacturers.
There is a difference between China and Japan in their auto boom though. While Japan concentrated on quality, China and Chery are not very keen on that. While Chery could build much better cars then they do now, the situation on the chinese market asks for cheaper and cheaper cars, and Chery is a victim of that. Until the market stabilizes we will continue to see manufacturers like Chery making sacrifices when it comes to quality, all in the name of lowering the price. Another way to cut corners when it comes to design cost of a new model is ... simply copying other models, like the Daewoo Spark case. The Daewoo Spark was copied by Chery and made into the Chery QQ, which was cheaper then its Daewoo twin. Chery was then sued by Daewoo for that.
I really hope that in the future Chery will stop its expansion for a while, and concentrate on quality and unique design.