Chrysler-Chery Hornet may be close
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It looks like Chery may be very close to finalizing a deal to build the B-Class Hornet for Chrysler. Daimler-Chrysler has repeatedly told analysts that they will have a deal to build the Hornet in place by the end of 2006. They definitely need a car like like the Hornet quickly, as the smallest car they currently offer is the Caliber, which is selling well but cannot compete with the likes of the Honda Fit, Nissan Versa and Toyota Yaris.
According to Automotive News, Malcolm Bricklin of Yugo (and on a more positive note Subaru) infamy, is actually pleased about the possibility of a deal between Chery and Chrysler. Bricklin announced his plans to import Chery vehicles to the US market under the Visionary Vehicles banner a couple of years ago. Bricklin has had difficulty signing up dealers for Visionary Vehicles because of concerns about quality from Chery (thanks in large part to the Yugo debacle). Bricklin claims that a Chrysler-Chery deal could help demonstrate the credibility of Chery's production quality and make his plans easier. Of course depending on the nature of the deal it could come back to bite both Bricklin and Chery if they're not careful. To date Chery has not been known for either ethical behavior or quality. They did clone the Daewoo Matiz to create the Chery QQ. Hopefully, GM and Ford will be able to just bring their European B-Class cars to this market without having to resort to outsourcing to China.
[Source: Automotive News - subscription required]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
john 11:20PM (3/28/2009)
hey ron ur full of hatred to chinese cars and your 1 heck of a racist u comment a lot but havent tried of it
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ron 6:52PM (12/29/2006)
What a bunch of morons! Compete against Japanese hi quality cars like Honda Fit with ..what??...Cherry ??Plums?? Ridiculous!
I knew selling Chrysler to Germans was stupid, and here's the proof. If they want hi quality small cars, should have turned to India, not China. Indian carmaker Tata has good quality cars, not Chinese trash. China should stick to rickshaws not cars.
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Nikolay Guenov 9:28PM (12/29/2006)
I am surprised at the comments from Ron...Chrysler has been manufacturing vehicles in China for almost 30 years. Beijing Jeep is the product of a joint venture Chrysler has been operating in China. If you go to Beijing or other places in China today, you will find tons of Jeeps on the road. I have lived in China on multiple occasions -- first time between 1987 and 1990 and most recently as 2005, 2006 and have driven muliple versions of the Jeep as well as GM minivan (made in Shanghai also via a JV). Both those vehicles are fine or not any worse than their counter parts in the US.
Overall this is a good move by Chrysler. It will give them further more access to the Chinese consumer.
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Ron 11:41AM (12/30/2006)
Those joint ventures had strong Western oversite; left to their own devices, Chinese make junk. And altho this is bizness, morality should come into play..US has a responsibility to support democracies over dictatorships. India is democracy, China is an awful dictatorship, unfair trader with zero respect for intellectual property rights, and specializes in theft! We should not be doing bizness with THIS nation..and we wouldn't be either if our firms hadn't been sold to Germans who don't share our values!This is a Daimler decision, not Chrysler..it has Deutchland written all over it!
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