The new Chery Eastar sedan has been launched on the Chinese car market. The Eastar is a very important car for Chery. The old one was on the market for some eight years and very popular among budget buyers and taxi drivers who wanted a no-frills big car for little money. Chery made the new one much better, much better looking and it is still incredible cheap. Price starts at only 95.800 yuan and ends at 135.800 yuan.

Big car! Size: 4866/1840/1500, wheelbase is 2768. Engines: 1.8 with 132hp and 170nm or a 2.0 with 139hp and 182nm. Transmission: 5-speed manual or CVT. It comes standard with ABS+EDB, dual front airbags, electric windows and mirrors, USB-ports and a six-speaker sound system, and much more… The platform however is rather old and basically the same, but improved, as under the old Eastar. This saved Chery a lot of money and so they still earn a few bucks on each car they sell. It won’t be that much however so Chery needs to sell high volumes, but looking at this car and its price it seems they will do just that.

Via: Autohome.

The very first spy shots of yet another SUV from Chery. This is the Chery Cowin SUV, basically the same car as the Chery Riich X3 SUV that is still testing around as well. Both machines are slightly different up front and at the back.

Chery has been working on the Riich X3 for some two years now. It has never been shown on any auto show yet, not even as a concept. Kinda mysterious machine this is… Its objective however we know, succeed the good old Tiggo that has been facelifted so many times I lost count a year ago.

The Tiggo however is still rather successful, that might be the reason Chery is waiting with the X3 and now this Cowin SUV. Engines: 1.6 and 1.8, possibly a 2.0, possibly a supercharged 1.6S.  Price of the Riich X3 will start around 110.000 yuan. Cowin is Chery’s cheapest brand so the Cowin SUV will be cheaper than that.

Via: Sohu.com.

New spy shots from the Chery Riich G2 sedan, it is expected to hit the China car market in Q4. The Riich G2 hatchback debuted two weeks ago at the Beijing Auto Show. Engine is the same for both cars; a 130 hp 1.5. Chery is working on a 1.5 turbo and a cheaper 1.6 will also be available. Price for the G2 sedan will start around 70.000 yuan.

Design is the same as the hatchback until the C-pillar. The Riich G2 was developed as a hatch and sedan from the beginning and it shows, proportions are all right. Rear lights biggest difference at the back, front is for 100% the same.

Wheels seem awfully small, a very common design flaw in locally developed Chinese cars.

Via: Sohu.com.

Chinese carmaker Chery Automobile Co on Tuesday said it hopes to see vehicle exports hit 200,000 units this year. Jin Yibo, a company spokesman, said Chery will make efforts to export at least 170,000 units this year, and will try to achieve the 200,000-unit goal.

Chery’s worldwide sales reached 17,412 units in April, up 39.1 percent from March and 40.1 percent from the same period last year, Jin said, adding that exports are expected to exceed 20,000 units in May.

The company, based in east China’s Anhui province, has 16 production bases around the world and its products have been exported to more than 80 countries and regions.

Chery exported a record 160,200 vehicles last year, maintaining its status as a leading auto exporter in China.

In March, Chery and Indian-owned luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) announced they had reached an agreement on setting up a joint venture in China, and the two sides will hold equal shares in the new company.

Chery opened a plant in Venezuela last August and is expected to start operations at another plant currently under construction in Brazil in September 2013.

The company has also announced plans to build assembly plants in Myanmar and several African countries.

Via: ChinaDaily.

New spy shots of the Chery-Quantum Qoros sedan show work goes very fast and so it has to be because the Qoros is expected to debut at the 2013 Shanghai Auto Show. Power will come from a Chery-sourced 1.6 turbo mated to a 6-speed manual or 6-speed DCT. Size is about 4.6 meter, wheelbase about 2.7 meter. Price is expected to start around 140.000 yuan.

Chery-Quantum is a joint venture between Chery Auto of China and Quantum LLC from Israel aimed at making luxurious sporty cars for the Chinese market and for export to Europe. Their brand-name is Qoros, the sedan on the spy shots is the first car, the car itself is yet nameless.

First good look at the C-pillar. Very sporty there, kinda 4-door coupe thing.

Sportiness again, low profile tires, racy wheels. This Qoros might be an interesting project, if the 1.6 has enough power to match the looks.

Via: PlayersChina, Autohome.

New spy shots from the new Chery Cowin 2 that will hit the China car market late this year, debut is expected at the Guangzhou Auto Show in December. The new Cowin 2 is the successor of the current Cowin 2, based on the ancient Seat Toledo, which has been in production under various names since 1999 and is still a best-seller for the Cowin brand.

The new Cowin 2 is based on a shortened Chery A3 platform. Engine not yet sure but Chery has a lot of engines that will fit in. 1.3 and 1.6 seem likely. Cowin is Chery’s budged-brand so this new Cowin 2 will be cheap, price will start around 45.000 yuan.

Via: Sohu.com.

It is still May-day holiday in China, the Beijing Auto Show is still ongoing so there ain’t much new news. Time so for China Car History! And a very special car we have. This is the mighty Chery Fengyun limousine, a stretched version of the very mundane Chery Fengyun sedan which was based on the ancient Seat Toledo.

The Fengyun limousine was stretched by 20 centimeters around the B-pillar. All extra space went to passengers in the back. The limo was made from 2001 until 2006 when the Fengyun was replaced by the Qiyun.How many limousines were made is not sure but a quick search on the web learned many are still around.

Chery bought the production line for the Seat Toledo in 1998 when production ended in Spain. The whole line was shipped to China and production of the Fengyun started in 1999. Production of the Qiyun, basically a facelifted Fengyun, continues until today.

Power for the stretched Fengyun came from the same engine as the standard Fengyun, a 1.6 four-cylinder with 87 hp. Top speed for the standard car was 154 km/h, the limo was likely slightly slower. Length of the standard cars: 4393, limousine: 4413.

The executive’s dream. Driver not too unhappy either.

Silver decoration above the wheel arches make limousine even more limousine-like.

One Fengyun limousine lost in a bad neighborhood.

The Chery Riich G2 hatchback debuted at the Beijing Auto Show, Chery is also working on a sedan-version but that one will debut later, likely at the Guangzhou Auto Show in December. The Riich G2 will be listed on the Chinese car market in July, price will start around 60.000 yuan.

Power comes from a 1.5 that poops out 130hp and 158nm, mated to a 5-speed manual or a CVT. A less powerful and cheaper 1.6 is expected later, and Chery is considering a 1.5 turbo for the G2 which would make it a ‘small hot hatch’, a whole new market segment for China. Size: 3995mm/1788mm/1555mm, wheelbase is 2500.

A well designed machine, certainly not too boring and original. Chery seems to be working on a ‘design language’, something they don’t have at the moment and never had before.

Chery unveiled the @Ant concept today, 3 days before the start of the Beijing Auto Show. The two @Ants on display look very cool, but what exactly are they doing? Hm hm… Well, they are riding together. An ant is a hard-working animal, it can’t do much alone but a zillion ants can move mountains. That is basically the idea behind this Chery @Ant. It can drive around all by itself but also with other @Ants.

The system, Chery says, works like cloud computing. The cars can ‘see’ each other when they are in the same area. If the computers in each car find out both cars are going to the same destination they will connect automatically, they can connect up to ten @Ants, some ant-train indeed! Power comes from small electric engines in the rear wheels. It would be very interesting to see two @Ants making their connection, it isn’t really clear to me how that would work, the front arms will have to be able to move sideways a bit, which seems a dangerous thing to do on the road.

Connection mechanism.

It would make a very fine electric car by one-self, like that Renault Twizy, but better.

iPhone there, to cloud some @Ants.

Via: Autohome.

Chery couldn’t wait for the Beijing Auto Show to start and unveiled the Chery TX SUV concept at party yesterday night. The TX concept previews Chery’s future design language for SUV’s. The TX was designed by one James Hope, an Englishman working for Chery.

Mr. Hope explaining things.

A very fine lined car this TX is, I especially like the horizontal lines on top of the wheel arches. The TX is powered by a 2.0 turbo that poops out 144kw and 190nm, mated to a CVT bringing power to all four wheels. No greenyweeny here!, good. Size: 4465/2082/1670, wheelbase is 2825.

Chery didn’t open the door and with some reason, the interior doesn’t seem very finished yet, even for a concept car.

No logo on the steering wheel, guess Chery needed one week more…

Via: Sohu, Autohome.