Chrysler To Sell Chery Cars Next Year
July 05, 2007

Next year, Chrysler will introduce in North America a small car built by China’s Chery Automobile Co. It likely will be the first Chinese-made car to be sold in America and may well be the cheapest.

Chery’s A1 hatchback will be sold by Chrysler beginning in the first quarter of 2008, Chery president Yin Tongyao said in Beijing as the two companies officially inked the deal that had been announced last December.

The first Chery-produced vehicle will be branded a Dodge and arrive in Latin America and possibly Eastern Europe) by the end of 2008. 

Beyond that, Chrysler is working with Chery to develop the next generation B-segment vehicle, which could come to the North America and Western Europe by the end of 2009.

Though neither Chrysler nor Chery confirmed U.S. pricing, the current Chery 1.3-liter A1 now sells for about $7,100 in China. The cheapest car sold in America now is the Chevrolet Aveo that starts at $9,995.

Chrysler’s smallest and cheapest model in the U.S. is the Dodge Caliber that starts at $13,850. Chrysler the Chery-built car for the U.S. would sell for around $10,000 -- amore than its Chinese price -- because of added equipment required for the U.S.

Chrysler also could sell other Chery models around the world in the future. Chery could eventually build as many as 100,000 vehicles a year for Chrysler.

Posted by Michelle Krebs at 7:55 AM under Chrysler , Companies , News | Comments (0) | digg this | Seed Newsvine