Chery builds a new mini-car that isn't a clone
For once a Chinese automaker has built a new car that isn't a clone of something from another company and isn't hideously ugly. The Chery S16 first appeared as a concept at the 2005 Shanghai Motor Show and now appears headed toward production. What appears to be production unit remains pretty faithful to the concept. The design isn't bad for a small car although a few elements do draw on other cars. The C-pillar looks like the D-pillar area of the Chevy Equinox while the lights front and rear borrow from the VW Beetle. Unfortunately, while Chery does appear to have made progress in design, they still seem to have a long way to go when it comes to actually bolting all the parts together. So far there is no indication of what kind of drive-train the S16 will have or if it will be exported.
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[Source: The Hollywood Extra]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dad 5:13PM (1/02/2008)
"and isn't hideously ugly"
But it is still very ugly.
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Mort 6:01PM (1/02/2008)
I might buy one, but the Chinese have a hideous quality record. I will wait for Japan to make one.
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GoodCheer 6:06PM (1/02/2008)
To be fair to Chery, I suspect that if you go looking for the style queues that were "ripped off" from some other vehicle you would find them on ANY car from ANY manufacturer. With so many hundreds of headlights having been made, to make one that does not look "ripped off" from something else, you'd have to go to one of the new silly/extreme shapes like on the Opel Flextreme.
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Domenick 6:24PM (1/02/2008)
Half Equinox. Half Neon. All ugly.
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Throwback 7:59AM (1/03/2008)
This looks terrible. Perhaps they should go back to making bad copies of good designs.
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kert 3:23PM (1/03/2008)
do you care what your subway trains look like ? do you care what the plane you last boarded looked like ? If it gets you from point A to point B comfortably, conveniently and cheaply, who gives a rats behind what it looks like ?
Why are cars an exception here ? This thing has ten times more right to live than something like Pontiac Aztek.
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Throwback 4:37PM (1/03/2008)
Ah the Aztek. I would not use that car as an excuse for anything. Since I don't own the train or the plane I do care what my car looks like. I suspect most car buyers do as well, even folks in China. Aesthetics are important for most things we buy.
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baddkitty 8:45PM (1/06/2008)
Someone better check it for high contents of lead.
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Robert Wayne 10:21PM (1/06/2008)
Actually it's not a bad looking little car and I'll bet it gets terrific gas mileage. The only thing I don't like is that it's being manufactured in a commie country that's beating the **** out of us financially already, thanks to idiotic trade agreements by the U.S. govt.
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