Chery Automobile is a small automobile manufacturer in China. It is owned by the local government of Wuhu , and produced 86,567 vehicles in 2003.
Chery was founded in 1997 to prop up the economy in remote Wuhu. The company was not able to obtain a license to produce vehicles for sale in all of china, but was saved by an order for taxis by the local government. In 2001, Shanghai Automotive Industry Company (SAIC) invested in the company, allowing it to use SAIC's national retail sales license.
In 2003, Chery founded a research and development organization, quickly designing its own 3- and 4-cylinder engines. However, Chery was also sued by GM Daewoo for copying that company's Chevrolet Spark . Chery claims that they licensed the vehicle design prior to General Motors' purchase of Daewoo.
Visionary Vehicles
Chery is working with Malcolm Bricklin's company, Visionary Vehicles, to be the first Chinese automobile sold in the United States. The plan calls for five new car lines to be imported, none of which exists today. The cars would include a basic, inexpensive model, a larger sedan, a sporty coupe, an SUV, and a sport wagon. Design would be handled by Bertone and Pininfarina of Italy. Bricklin plans to have 250 dealers in the United States selling 250,000 cars in 2007.
In March, 2005, Chery recieved an export credit from China's Export and Import Bank of 5 billion yuan (US$605 million) to begin trading overseas. Chery also received a 2.4 billion yuan (US$290 million) loan from the China Development Bank to further finance its research and development.
Chery has also attracted Western suppliers to Wuhu, including Tower Automotive , Siemens, and TRW. Delphi will also supply parts for Chery's vehicles.
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