Chery

	Chery
Country	China
Parent	Independent
Subsidiaries	-
Brands	Chery, Riich, Rely, Karry
Location	Headquarters, R&D center and main assembly plants: Wuhan
Sales figures	2008: 356,000 units 2007: 381,000 units 2006: 305,200 units
Introduction	Chery is just a small to mid-size player in the fast-growing China car market, but unlike most of its local rivals, it attempts to build its own cars rather than setting up joint-ventures with foreign car makers. After some controversial copycat designs, the latest cars from Chery are essentially original. They are also much closer to the world standard in technology and build quality, thanks to the employment of foreign consultants and its decent R&D facility. Chery also shows more global vision than its local rivals, which can be seen in its high export rate, overseas joint-ventures, foreigner-friendly corporate website and skillful brand management. Chery currently has 4 brands - Chery is mainstream family cars, Karry is mini commercial vans, Rely is for company MPV and SUV, while Riich is its premium brand.
Brief History	The history of Chery is rather short compare with many other Chinese car makers. It all started in 1997 by the Anhui province government to boost local economy. As it was not blessed by the central government, it could not form joint-ventures with foreign car makers, thus it had to fight by its own effort. Initially, it acquired the license of old SEAT Ibiza from Volkswagen group for production in its new Wuhan plant. Then, in 2003, it introduced a pair of copycat designs, QQ and Eastar, which closely modelled Daewoo Matiz and Magnus respectively. This caused some legal disputes with General Motors and a bad image overseas. Its Tiggo SUV of 2005 was also a clone to Toyota RAV4. Chery A5 (2006) - the first real own design However, since then Chery began showing some originality. The A3, A5, A6 and G6 were developed with the help from external engineering consultants, such as Italdesign and Pinifarina (styling), Lotus (chassis dynamics), AVL Austria (engines) and Ricardo (hybrid powertrain). In particular, Chery supplied its ACTECO engines to the FIAT cars assembled in China. Meanwhile, it also established overseas assembly plants through joint-ventures in developing countries like Argentina, Iran, Turkey and Thailand. With around a third of its production exported, Chery was the biggest exporter among Chinese car makers.