By Jennifer Ditchburn
OTTAWA (CP) — Ni hao to cheap Chinese cars!
A new poll suggests a quarter of Canadians would be interested in buying a $10,000 Chinese car once it’s available on the domestic market.
The Canadian Press-Decima Research survey found 21 per cent of respondents said they were likely to buy the car, with another four per cent saying they were certain to go for the $10,000 deal.
The A1 hatchback is expected to be introduced on the North American market next year by U.S. automaker Chrysler.
Quebec respondents were the most likely to express interest in the car, with 43 per cent saying they were either certain or likely to buy it.
And, in a perhaps sorry reflection of consumer attitudes toward domestic cars, more than half of respondents said they believed the Chinese car would be of better or equal quality to North American models.
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“I think it says that people are not feeling great about the level of quality they think they get from North American cars,” said Jeff Walker, Decima’s senior vice president.
“It also says something about the perception of quality of Chinese products. If you had asked this question five years ago, we wouldn’t have seen this result. But it’s clear that people are starting to believe that you can get both inexpensive and relatively decent quality items from Chinese production.”
Chrysler Group announced earlier this month it would begin selling Chery Automobile Co.’s A1 in 2008, with plans to market other models in the future. With a pricetag of approximately $10,000, it would cost half the price of Chrysler’s least expensive model.
Walker said the data suggests there would be a strong niche market for the low-cost car in Canada, even though two-thirds of those polled said they were unlikely or certain not to buy one.
“Carmakers will tell you that if they see two per cent of the population that’s a great number. When people without seeing this car, just seeing the price and taking whatever considerations of quality into account, 25 per cent say they’re going to look at this — that’s a pretty significant number.”
Meanwhile, the recent bad publicity out of China linked to contaminated medical supplies, dog food ingredients and other products does not seem to have dampened the initial reaction to the car. Walker says some Canadians might subconsciously equate a Chinese car with the quality of Japanese models, and probably do not make a link between the food and drug scandals and bigger ticket items.
“In the case of a car, everyone would be understanding that if you’re going to try and produce a car for the North American market you’d have to meet North American standards, and this car could.” The poll of just over 1,000 Canadians was conducted July 5 to July 9. The margin of error is 3.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
OTTAWA (CP) — Ni hao to cheap Chinese cars!
A new poll suggests a quarter of Canadians would be interested in buying a $10,000 Chinese car once it’s available on the domestic market.
The Canadian Press-Decima Research survey found 21 per cent of respondents said they were likely to buy the car, with another four per cent saying they were certain to go for the $10,000 deal.
The A1 hatchback is expected to be introduced on the North American market next year by U.S. automaker Chrysler.
Quebec respondents were the most likely to express interest in the car, with 43 per cent saying they were either certain or likely to buy it.
And, in a perhaps sorry reflection of consumer attitudes toward domestic cars, more than half of respondents said they believed the Chinese car would be of better or equal quality to North American models.
“It also says something about the perception of quality of Chinese products. If you had asked this question five years ago, we wouldn’t have seen this result. But it’s clear that people are starting to believe that you can get both inexpensive and relatively decent quality items from Chinese production.”
Chrysler Group announced earlier this month it would begin selling Chery Automobile Co.’s A1 in 2008, with plans to market other models in the future. With a pricetag of approximately $10,000, it would cost half the price of Chrysler’s least expensive model.
Walker said the data suggests there would be a strong niche market for the low-cost car in Canada, even though two-thirds of those polled said they were unlikely or certain not to buy one.
“Carmakers will tell you that if they see two per cent of the population that’s a great number. When people without seeing this car, just seeing the price and taking whatever considerations of quality into account, 25 per cent say they’re going to look at this — that’s a pretty significant number.”
Meanwhile, the recent bad publicity out of China linked to contaminated medical supplies, dog food ingredients and other products does not seem to have dampened the initial reaction to the car. Walker says some Canadians might subconsciously equate a Chinese car with the quality of Japanese models, and probably do not make a link between the food and drug scandals and bigger ticket items.
“In the case of a car, everyone would be understanding that if you’re going to try and produce a car for the North American market you’d have to meet North American standards, and this car could.” The poll of just over 1,000 Canadians was conducted July 5 to July 9. The margin of error is 3.1 per cent, 19 times out of 20.
