China to go Small
By CAR lobbyist Jeremy Cottrell
Chrysler has
partnered with Chery, a Chinese government-owned automaker, to design, produce
and distribute small and sub-compact models in the United States within the next
two years.
Chery is one of China’s fastest growing automakers, with sales around 300,000 units in 2006. The size of the vehicles will be comparable to that of the currently produced Chevrolet Aveo, Nissan Versa, and Honda Fit. However, Chrysler and Chery plan on “beefing up” the Chinese version to accommodate demands and expectations of American drivers with a MSRP of around $10,000.
While the compact, sub-compact, and small hybrid sector is an ever expanding and ever popular segment of vehicle sales, the experiment by Chrysler and Chery seeks to undercut the major manufacturers’ current offerings.
Chery has gone on record stating that they can offer an American version of their vehicle for $7,500 and be available within one year to introduce to the U.S. market.
These claims are in direct dispute by Chrysler, who put the timeline at roughly 2009 and at a slightly higher price point. Still, a vehicle at $10,000 represents one of the lowest entry prices in the market. If successful this could cause significant problems for sales of the Smart Car, which is expected to be more widely distributed within the U.S. within the next year.
At the moment there is no word on fuel efficiency or carbon emissions for the joint Chrysler-Chery vehicles, but comparable vehicles rate at roughly 30 mpg.