[erik (laofan) cmvdc]

Dear Friends,

Last week I made a 3750 km trip through China. We hired a Chery QQ in Beijing and drove to Qufu, Wuhu (Chery factory), Huangshan and Jingdezhen, and than back to Beijing. The aim was to drive a 30.000-yuan-car through cities, highways and countryside. I made the trip together with a journalist who is going to write about it.

In Wuhu we visited the Chery factory and we spoke with pr people and people of the R&D department.

They showed us a lot of new models and projects. The pr department showed a power point presentation, we were not allowed to take pictures (br..) but we could make some notes. Outside of the r&d part of the factory we saw several prototypes.

I made a list of the models discussed:
S12: (new name A1), designed by Bertone. We saw some prototypes, no production activity.
S21: (QQ6), designed by IAT, Japan. There was a pre-production in factory hall two. Some vehicles were in use as taxis, for test purposes.
S22: (new name V1), the mpv designed by IAT. Only some prototypes on the factory site.
S23: a mini-suv, designed by IAT. No pictures seen.
S24: a QQ coupe, also by IAT, we saw a drawing.
A18: (new name V2), the station wagon designed by Jiajing. Only some test models.
B12: (new name A7), will be produced from 2008/9, designed by Bertone. Only the power point pictures, already published in the forum.
B21: (new name A6), Chery’s big hope for the US, an all-wheeldrive V6 (3.0-litre) designed by Bertone. We have already some photos in the forum.
B22: (new name T3), a large SUV, from Pininfarina (?).
B23: the V8 coupe, already a photo in the forum this week, Bertone, 2009.
F11: high class limousine, V6/V8 (3.0/ 4.2-litre), they showed us several pictures of a car with a German (!!) license. Ready in 2009.
M11: (new name A3), a four-door hatchback, designed by Pininfarina.
M12: also a four-door hatchback, a bit bigger, also made by Pininfarina.
P11: The SUV this week new on internet (also shown in the forum), designed by IAT, for the US.
P12: the crew cab pickup, designed for the US by IAT. Pictures already since a longer period on the net, also in the forum.
H11: a big minibus, the size of the new Toyota Hi-Ace, especially for the US.

Two projects are cancelled:
A16: a smaller version of the A5, about 1.3-litre, designed by Jiajing. Only a model made.
Q11: mini-minicar for South East Asia (10.000 yuan), designed by Jiajing, very ugly.

Two projects are fake:
S13 (MM), pictures on the net showed a city-car designed by Pininfarina, has nothing to do with Chery.
A21 hatchback: photo shopped pictures of a two-volume A5.

I suppose we can expect a lot of new pictures, now and than leaking to the internet (especially mychery.net!). Chery policy is a bit double: showing you the information but not really willing to give it to you. The risk of leaking is very big by acting like this.

 

[AXLE]

Wow, how exciting! Chery has very, very big plans for the future by the looks of things. I wish I could see some more photos though! Thanks a bunch for sharing that info with us man!

 

[edge]

Fascinating. It is clear that Chery has big plans for the future.

 

[Really_I_Hate_China]

16 new cars? where are chery going to get 8 billion dollars from?

 

[m_a_gamal]

16 new cars? where are chery going to get 8 billion dollars from?

Who told you that the cost R&D of any car is 500 million $, sometimes it is more, and somtimes less.
Developing more than a car in the same time reduces the costs, because the possibility of using modular components is much more.
Companies like toyota or mitsubishi which produce the same engines since may be 20 years with slight modifications and various configurations to match the emission lows and the fashion.

 

[great06]

I am a Chery and Geely supportor :thumb:

 

[edge]

Who told you that the cost R&D of any car is 500 million $, sometimes it is more, and somtimes less.
Developing more than a car in the same time reduces the costs, because the possibility of using modular components is much more.
Companies like toyota or mitsubishi which produce the same engines since may be 20 years with slight modifications and various configurations to match the emission lows and the fashion.

Don't worry my Egyptian friend, China Hater makes up many numbers and ideas off the top of his head without any evidence. So don't try to reason with him, it doesn't work.

 

[RCtennis3811]

1: "I heard you got a new car. What did you get?"
2: "An A6."
1: "Wow! You bought an Audi, huh? Congrats!"
2: "Oh, it's a Chery..."
1: "I understand - you must love your new Audi!"
2: "No, no. It's a Chery A6."
<awkward silence>

 

[DOS]

I made a list of the models discussed:
S12: (new name A1), designed by Bertone. We saw some prototypes, no production activity.
S21: (QQ6), designed by IAT, Japan. There was a pre-production in factory hall two. Some vehicles were in use as taxis, for test purposes.
S22: (new name V1), the mpv designed by IAT. Only some prototypes on the factory site.
S23: a mini-suv, designed by IAT. No pictures seen.
S24: a QQ coupe, also by IAT, we saw a drawing.
A18: (new name V2), the station wagon designed by Jiajing. Only some test models.
B12: (new name A7), will be produced from 2008/9, designed by Bertone. Only the power point pictures, already published in the forum.
B21: (new name A6), Chery’s big hope for the US, an all-wheeldrive V6 (3.0-litre) designed by Bertone. We have already some photos in the forum.
B22: (new name T3), a large SUV, from Pininfarina (?).
B23: the V8 coupe, already a photo in the forum this week, Bertone, 2009.
F11: high class limousine, V6/V8 (3.0/ 4.2-litre), they showed us several pictures of a car with a German (!!) license. Ready in 2009.
M11: (new name A3), a four-door hatchback, designed by Pininfarina.
M12: also a four-door hatchback, a bit bigger, also made by Pininfarina.
P11: The SUV this week new on internet (also shown in the forum), designed by IAT, for the US.
P12: the crew cab pickup, designed for the US by IAT. Pictures already since a longer period on the net, also in the forum.
H11: a big minibus, the size of the new Toyota Hi-Ace, especially for the US.

Does the letter designation (S#, A#, B#, F#, M#, P#, H#) for the prototypes tell about the chassis used in the model and does the letter designation for the final names symbolize the general body style of the finished product (V1 mpv, V2 station wagon, A7 sedan, A6 sedan)?

1: "I heard you got a new car. What did you get?"
2: "An A6."
1: "Wow! You bought an Audi, huh? Congrats!"
2: "Oh, it's a Chery..."
1: "I understand - you must love your new Audi!"
2: "No, no. It's a Chery A6."
<awkward silence>

I agree with you, Chery defiantly needs new names for there production names, and if they actually premiere with those names Chery probably would be sued.

 

[superidler]

wow~~

Dear Friends,

Last week I made a 3750 km trip through China. We hired a Chery QQ in Beijing and drove to Qufu, Wuhu (Chery factory), Huangshan and Jingdezhen, and than back to Beijing. The aim was to drive a 30.000-yuan-car through cities, highways and countryside. I made the trip together with a journalist who is going to write about it.

In Wuhu we visited the Chery factory and we spoke with pr people and people of the R&D department.

They showed us a lot of new models and projects. The pr department showed a power point presentation, we were not allowed to take pictures (br..) but we could make some notes. Outside of the r&d part of the factory we saw several prototypes.

I made a list of the models discussed:
S12: (new name A1), designed by Bertone. We saw some prototypes, no production activity.
S21: (QQ6), designed by IAT, Japan. There was a pre-production in factory hall two. Some vehicles were in use as taxis, for test purposes.
S22: (new name V1), the mpv designed by IAT. Only some prototypes on the factory site.
S23: a mini-suv, designed by IAT. No pictures seen.
S24: a QQ coupe, also by IAT, we saw a drawing.
A18: (new name V2), the station wagon designed by Jiajing. Only some test models.
B12: (new name A7), will be produced from 2008/9, designed by Bertone. Only the power point pictures, already published in the forum.
B21: (new name A6), Chery’s big hope for the US, an all-wheeldrive V6 (3.0-litre) designed by Bertone. We have already some photos in the forum.
B22: (new name T3), a large SUV, from Pininfarina (?).
B23: the V8 coupe, already a photo in the forum this week, Bertone, 2009.
F11: high class limousine, V6/V8 (3.0/ 4.2-litre), they showed us several pictures of a car with a German (!!) license. Ready in 2009.
M11: (new name A3), a four-door hatchback, designed by Pininfarina.
M12: also a four-door hatchback, a bit bigger, also made by Pininfarina.
P11: The SUV this week new on internet (also shown in the forum), designed by IAT, for the US.
P12: the crew cab pickup, designed for the US by IAT. Pictures already since a longer period on the net, also in the forum.
H11: a big minibus, the size of the new Toyota Hi-Ace, especially for the US.

Two projects are cancelled:
A16: a smaller version of the A5, about 1.3-litre, designed by Jiajing. Only a model made.
Q11: mini-minicar for South East Asia (10.000 yuan), designed by Jiajing, very ugly.

Two projects are fake:
S13 (MM), pictures on the net showed a city-car designed by Pininfarina, has nothing to do with Chery.
A21 hatchback: photo shopped pictures of a two-volume A5.

I suppose we can expect a lot of new pictures, now and than leaking to the internet (especially mychery.net!). Chery policy is a bit double: showing you the information but not really willing to give it to you. The risk of leaking is very big by acting like this.

3750K is a lot for a week. Would you mind if you share your driving experience with QQ? Such as a noise level, response of the car at a certain speed, comfortability of the seat for your long trip? :thumb:

 

[erik (laofan) cmvdc]

answers

First the question from DOS, if the numbers indicate anything about the used platforms. The answer is no.
I will check with my Chinese friends if we can add to this list the platforms used.
Second the question from Superidler about my experiences.
Let me tell you first that I am a regular China traveller since 24 years, but that I never drove more than a couple of kilometers in a new car, mostly on factory sites. I did a tremendous lot of bicycling, so I am used to the Chinese traffic, and each taxidriver or busdriver must have hated me, as I am always looking critically and fully attentionally how he or she drives.
So this was my first real driving experience in China.
The QQ was hired. In Beijing, it was not easy to find a company that rents QQs. The hiring price was 200 yuan per day, the car was hired for a month.
The roundtrip (3750km) was made in 7 days, but we spend 1/2 day in Qufu, a full day in Wuhu, a full day in Huangshan and a 1/2 day in Jingdezhen. So that leaves us 4 driving days. Mostly on highways (about 80%), some in the countryside (15%) and the rest in the cities (5%). Beside of the trip we used the car also in the Beijing traffic.
My friend measures 1.92m, and we had some worries if he would fit in. That came out easy, he could place the drivers and codrivers chair easily backwards, he had space enough. You can understand that there was not much legroom left for potential rearseat passengers, but we hadn't any.
We had a manual geared 1.1 version of the QQ.
The car was 3 years old, made in September 2003, and was one of the first QQs made, serial number 746. It had driven 65.000 km.
Lacking power steering, the steering was extremely heavy in city traffic, probably due to damage or extensive wear out.
The gearbox had the same wear problems, sometimes the reverse wouldn't work (and that gives you sometimes a lot of problemes), the five difficult to find, back from five to four needed some skill and experience.
The car was perfectly balanced, and driving fast felt perfectly secure. We started to drive 120 at the highway, but -as the highways in middle China are most of the times completely empty- we went faster and faster, and the last day I drove continuously 135 km (on the meter) for ten hours (1000 km). You can understand that we were anxious about the temperature of the cooling system, it was hot that week, 35 degree celsius) but we didn't spill a drop and the cooling fluid temperature never raised. We measured the fuel consumption, we did 1 liter to 13 kilometers, which is according to my opinion much too much, but the high speed we drove is probably the main reason of a high consumption. We didn't use any drop of oil during the trip.
We were surprised how well the car performed.
When at Chery factory, they let us drive a brand new QQ (the QQ311) to compare with our gearbox and steering, and I must say that this car gave us a totally different feeling.
When you have more questions, please ask them.

 

[mikoyan]

1: "I heard you got a new car. What did you get?"
2: "An A6."
1: "Wow! You bought an Audi, huh? Congrats!"
2: "Oh, it's a Chery..."
1: "I understand - you must love your new Audi!"
2: "No, no. It's a Chery A6."
<awkward silence>

I think the production model will be called "A6XX", where the "XX" might represent its engine's displacement or something like that.
This pattern has be shown with the V520 crossover as an example

 

[mikoyan]

Interestingly, the "M14" project was not mentioned at all.

what is the status on that?

 

[AXLE]

Good question mikoyan! what is happening with the M14?

 

[erik (laofan) cmvdc]

missing concepts and prototypes

Yes, I also noticed that some of the concepts and prototypes presented at the Shanghai Auto Show 2005 were missing in the power point presentation. I asked about the S16 (the Wow, the 'egg' designed by Fumia), and they told us that the S16 is in development, to be produced in 2008, especially for the European (city) market. To me it looks like a problem that the S16 uses the QQ platform, which is very difficult to adjust to the present European requirements.
We didn't talk about the M14 and the B13.

 

[superidler]

First the question from DOS, if the numbers indicate anything about the used platforms. The answer is no.
I will check with my Chinese friends if we can add to this list the platforms used.
Second the question from Superidler about my experiences.
Let me tell you first that I am a regular China traveller since 24 years, but that I never drove more than a couple of kilometers in a new car, mostly on factory sites. I did a tremendous lot of bicycling, so I am used to the Chinese traffic, and each taxidriver or busdriver must have hated me, as I am always looking critically and fully attentionally how he or she drives.
So this was my first real driving experience in China.
The QQ was hired. In Beijing, it was not easy to find a company that rents QQs. The hiring price was 200 yuan per day, the car was hired for a month.
The roundtrip (3750km) was made in 7 days, but we spend 1/2 day in Qufu, a full day in Wuhu, a full day in Huangshan and a 1/2 day in Jingdezhen. So that leaves us 4 driving days. Mostly on highways (about 80%), some in the countryside (15%) and the rest in the cities (5%). Beside of the trip we used the car also in the Beijing traffic.
My friend measures 1.92m, and we had some worries if he would fit in. That came out easy, he could place the drivers and codrivers chair easily backwards, he had space enough. You can understand that there was not much legroom left for potential rearseat passengers, but we hadn't any.
We had a manual geared 1.1 version of the QQ.
The car was 3 years old, made in September 2003, and was one of the first QQs made, serial number 746. It had driven 65.000 km.
Lacking power steering, the steering was extremely heavy in city traffic, probably due to damage or extensive wear out.
The gearbox had the same wear problems, sometimes the reverse wouldn't work (and that gives you sometimes a lot of problemes), the five difficult to find, back from five to four needed some skill and experience.
The car was perfectly balanced, and driving fast felt perfectly secure. We started to drive 120 at the highway, but -as the highways in middle China are most of the times completely empty- we went faster and faster, and the last day I drove continuously 135 km (on the meter) for ten hours (1000 km). You can understand that we were anxious about the temperature of the cooling system, it was hot that week, 35 degree celsius) but we didn't spill a drop and the cooling fluid temperature never raised. We measured the fuel consumption, we did 1 liter to 13 kilometers, which is according to my opinion much too much, but the high speed we drove is probably the main reason of a high consumption. We didn't use any drop of oil during the trip.
We were surprised how well the car performed.
When at Chery factory, they let us drive a brand new QQ (the QQ311) to compare with our gearbox and steering, and I must say that this car gave us a totally different feeling.
When you have more questions, please ask them.

Thanks for the reply, it sounds good to me ( oh...135Km for ten hours... )

 

[DOS]

First the question from DOS, if the numbers indicate anything about the used platforms. The answer is no.

I first must apologize if my question may have been somewhat confusing, but that is not what I was asking. Because as far as I am aware the S21 and the S22 both utilize the QQ platform, (Please correct me if I am wrong) I have assumed that all of the prototype’s with the S designation use the same platform, and that all prototypes designated with an A, B, F, M, or P, also will share a similar Chassis. Then when I looked through the model descriptions, I started to notice that similar body styles seemed to share letter designations, so I am asking about the method Chery has used to classify there prototypes and final models.

 

[KING_OF_HILL]

Dear Friends,

Two projects are cancelled:
A16: a smaller version of the A5, about 1.3-litre, designed by Jiajing. Only a model made.
Q11: mini-minicar for South East Asia (10.000 yuan), designed by Jiajing, very ugly.

Think you made a typo here, the A16 wasn't cancelled, it was A13 (with 1.3-L engine) that was cancelled. The A16 is on promotion all acrose the country now.

But these are some exciting news anyway. Way to go Chery!

:lol:

 

[KING_OF_HILL]

16 new cars? where are :nono: chery going to get 8 billion dollars from?

Good question man, let me know when you get it figured out

Time will tell, you only have to wait til 2009 to see your rule-of-thumb still holds. We'll C.

 

[jetamr]

Nice! I wanna to exchange more news with you

I wanna to exchange more news with you.I don't know how to contact you .Could'u give me one EMail?At frist I will show you some picture about chery's new car.I wait you!:thumb: