Archive for China

Alado Bumi Sdn Bhd launched the new fully imported CBU Chery QQ AMT today, powered by an automated manual gearbox similiar to the unit in the Proton Savvy AMT.

The 52hp 75.5Nm 0.8 liter Chery QQ AMT is priced at RM42,888, while the 0.8 liter Chery QQ with a 5 speed manual transmission sells for RM39,888. Only 100 units of the Chery QQ manual remains, out of the 200 stock that was brought in.

In other Chery news, Chery expects to start local assembly of Chery cars in Malaysia in Proton’s plant by next year if talks go well. As for Cam Soh’s other company, IGC which intends to assemble Geely cars in Malaysia, the government has only given approval to assemble 1.6 liter Geely cars here, but not models lower than 1.6 liter. Are we looking at a non-tariff barrier working in action to protect Proton?

Click here for a price comparison of the Chery QQ with other models in it’s class.

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Great Wall is the latest Chinese car manufacturer making a foray into the European car market, with 500 units of it to hit the streets of Italy this month. Previously, Jiangling was the first with a car in China - the Jiang Ling Landwind SUV. The Great Wall Hover is a 5-seater SUV based on Isuzu Axiom underpinings powered by a Mitsubishi 4G64 2.4L SOHC engine, making 125hp at 5,250rpm and 190Nm of torque at a low 2,500rpm.

Available in both 4X4 and 4X2 drivetrains, the Great Wall Hover is one of the more better looking Chinese vehicles, though it looks like the front is Vauxhall-inspired. More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Great Wall Hover enters Italian streets

FAW Tianjin Xiali Automobile is Toyota’s partner in China. They’ve recently launched a few compact car called the FAW Xiali C1 back in the first half of 2006, but I did not notice it until reader ShadowFox pointed it out to me. The Xiali C1 rides on a 2425mm long platform, and measures 3810×1670×1480 mm. Engines range from 1.3 liter to 1.6 liter.

The front lights look like it was taken off the Suzuki SX4, and the rear lamps are clearly inspired by Audi’s eagle head shaped rear lamps. But the whole shape of the car in it’s entirety looks very familiar, I’ll let you decide for yourself what it reminds you of.

More photos after the jump, including photos of the car’s interior which features a center-mounted dashboard meter panel very similiar to the Naza Sutera’s. FAW was also the company responsible for the FAW Xinfu Happy Messenger electric car.

Click here to read the rest of FAW Xiali C1

Proton has made a few announcements today, let me go through them one by one. They’re mostly to do with memorandum of understanding and intent signed with other companies.

Proton reports that the Memorandum of Intent between Proton and Petronas has ended, and both parties are now assessing alternative engine sourcing opportunities. I am not sure if I am right, but from what I can understand by “assessing alternatives”, it looks like Proton will not be using the Petronas E01-based technology for it’s larger displacement engines.

Click here to read the rest of Assorted Proton announcements

Information Gateway Corp Sdn Bhd (IGC) and Geely will start assembling Geely cars in a plant near Kuantan in October 2006, beginning with the Geely CK sedan. This will make Malaysia the first country outside China where Geely cars will be assembled. Malaysia will be used as a base for Geely to tap the regional market.

IGC will be handling assembly, marketing and distribution of the Geely cars. Geely does not have any stake in the set-up, and are only supplying technology know-how and key auto parts like the bodies, engines and gearboxes - basically a CKD pack.

The Geely CK is powered by a 94hp 1.5 liter Toyota engine. The chassis was developed by Geely engineers together with Daewoo. Geely recently began mass production of it’s own 1.8 liter aluminium block engine with continuously variable valve timing technology that produces 140 horsepower. 50,000 units a year will be built in Geely’s Ningbo plant in the Zhejiang Province. The engine will make it’s debut in the Geely FC-1 sedan. Developing own engines is important for Chinese manufacturers, as most of them use third party engines, usually old Toyota and Mitsubishi designs.

This little electric run-about started off as a Daihatsu Move, much like the Perodua Kenari we see on our local shores. Chinese automotive manufacturer FAW took it, and rebadged it for the Chinese market as the FAW Xinfu, or it’s direct translation, the FAW Happy Messenger.

Then another Chinese company, Qingyuan ripped out the gasoline engine and put an electric motor in it. The result is the Qingyuan ZX40, which Miles Automotive of the USA is importing as the Miles ZX40. The 40 in it’s name likely refers to it’s 40 mile range, which is about 64 kilometers on a single charge. Or it could be it’s 40 km/h top speed. Not very feasible to replace your car, especially highway driving, but useful for the missus to do her groceries nearby.

The US$15,000 car is street legal in the US, but target customers are townships, military bases, ports and research institutions.

Miles Automotive and Qingyuan has bigger things in the works - the XS200 which will have a 200 mile (320km) range and an 80mph (130km/h) top speed.

UK magazine AutoExpress carried photos of the Chery QQ crash test results yesterday. Clearly European consumers are a little worried about the influx of Chinese cars into their market soon in the future, for example the new Nanjing-assembled MG Rover cars, the JiangLing Landwind, and the Geely Beauty Leopard. Bad crash test result photos (as well as some good ones?) of the Chery QQ have been around the internet for a long time, so it is not exactly breaking news for us. There are also accusations that the Chery QQ is a rip-off of the Chevy Spark, and there was a lawsuit but it was settled out of court and since dropped.

What raised my curiosity is this little excerpt from the article…

A Chevrolet spokesman told us: “The QQ results are horrific. China clearly isn’t ready to sell cars in Europe.” After complaining about copyright infringement, Chevy’s parent firm GM made an out-of-court settlement with Chery which agreed not to sell the QQ outside China.

Since the Chery QQ is available here in Malaysia, is AutoExpress misquoting the Chevy spokesman?

Source: AutoExpress

Geely will be introducing it’s Geely BL sports car into the European market soon, with a targetted launch date set sometime in 2008. It will be banking on low cost as one of the attraction points - anyone looking for a cheap sporty ride to buy the car but does not mind the fact that it only comes with either a 1.3 liter or a 1.5 liter engine. Transmission options are a 5-speed manual and a slushbox likely to be a 4-speed with overdrive. The car has discs at the front and drums at the rear, and the 1.3 and 1.5 liter 16-valve engines make 84 horsepower and 92 horsepower respectively, both at 6,000rpm. Torque output is 110Nm at 5,200rpm for the 1.3 and 128Nm at a lower 3,400rpm for the 1.5 liter. These engines push a 980kg car. Mostly all show and no go, but it doesn’t look terribly underpowered. Notice the classic Chinese design element - tiny wheels which barely fill up the wheel arches.

Geely has caused some amusement with it’s Geely Merie, a sedan that mimics the Mercedes Benz C-class. They are China’s largest privately-owned car manufacturer. The Geely Beauty Leopard (yes, that’s what BL means) sells for as low as US$7,500 (RM27,600) in China. The car will probably be rechristened for the European market as a car called something that sounds that silly probably will be a sales turnoff. This car falls into the tiny spoarts car segment, and I’m reminded of the old school Mazda Eunos and Toyota Sera. No confirmed prices yet, but we’ll know sometime closer to 2008.

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Chery has released information on their latest compact car, the Chery QQ6 known internally as the S21. The Chery QQ6 is a small notchback said to be inspired by the design of the Volkswagen New Beetle. The notchback form is popular in China, as evident by Citroen developing the Citroen C-Triomphe, a special notchback version of Citroen C4 the specially for the Chinese market. The 4-door supermini is based on a new platform, not carried over from the previous Chery QQ and the notchback form is the first in a series that will also include a hatchback and a stationwagon.

This platform is said to be developed by Chery entirely on it’s own. It offers two engine options, a 1.1 liter and a 1.3 liter. It will be priced between US$5,250 and US$6,500 in the Chinese market. With the introduction of the QQ6, it’s sibling the Chery QQ will be renamed the Chery QQ3 as Chery intends to continue selling the Chery QQ3. More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Chery announces Chery QQ6 (S21)

Alado has launched the CBU Chery QQ here in Malaysia, with an on the road price of RM39,888 for the QQ model and RM41,888 for the QQR model. The Chery QQR model is basically a QQ with a sporty bodykit. The Chery QQ comes with an 812cc 12 valve 3 cylinder EFI DOHC engine, making 52hp at 6,000rpm and a max torque of 75.5 Nm between 3,500 and 4,000rpm. It comes with a 5-speed manual transmission only. Good news is the car comes with a power steering system.

Alado intends to sell only 200 units of both the Chery QQ and Chery QQR by the end of 2006. As I previously reported, Chery also intends to assemble an MPV and an SUV here in Malaysia, the Chery B14 V5 Crossover and the Chery T11 Tiggo. While previous reports suggested they might be assembled at Oriental Assembler Sdn Bhds plant in Johor Baru, Alado group executive chairman Tan Sri Cam Soh Thiam Hong said at the QQ launch that Alado is currently in talks with a few other assemblers and Proton tops it’s list of preferred assemblers. This would be in line with Proton’s alliance talks with Chery, which would result in Proton assembling it’s vehicles at Chery’s plant in China and Chery assembling it’s vehicles in Proton’s plant here.

Price comparison between similiar models available after the jump:

Click here to read the rest of Chery QQ for RM39,888