A Thai Chery

[gotlost]

Bottom floor Kad Suan Kaw Mall. 389,400 Baht. http://www.thaichery.com/

[Spoonman]

Followed one up Pattaya Nua a few days ago......... ermmm yikes !!!!

[MaiChai]

Its quite expensive. Also on their website the front bumper looks like it falling off!

[stingray]

Its quite expensive. Also on their website the front bumper looks like it falling off!

Cars made in china, oh my dear! this is the last thing we need. As i guess everyone have expirience with all the made in china items like: printers, watches, tools, specially power tools, etc, almost everything tat fails and brokes easly comes from china, even made in china socks, they crack after 4 days. What will happen with the china cars? I'll see when the wheels are falling off, during a fast cornering or the engine mounts and suspeneion parts brake's a part when go over a bumpy road. Plastic parts will brake like paper, oh madonna! Oh je, good luck with them. Have a chinese Motorbike, a Platinum PX 125. Engine is ok, but have to give a lot of attention to keep the bike on the road. The first pothole......... ha ha ha! Edited January 21, 2010 by stingray

[Spoonman]

even made in china socks, they crack after 4 days.

Myabe you need to take em off after 3 days and wash em

[kartman]

Its quite expensive. Also on their website the front bumper looks like it falling off!

Cars made in china, oh my dear! this is the last thing we need. As i guess everyone have expirience with all the made in china items like: printers, watches, tools, specially power tools, etc, almost everything tat fails and brokes easly comes from china, even made in china socks, they crack after 4 days. What will happen with the china cars? I'll see when the wheels are falling off, during a fast cornering or the engine mounts and suspeneion parts brake's a part when go over a bumpy road. Plastic parts will brake like paper, oh madonna! Oh je, good luck with them. Have a chinese Motorbike, a Platinum PX 125. Engine is ok, but have to give a lot of attention to keep the bike on the road. The first pothole......... ha ha ha!

It's the future better get used to ID plates with MADE IN CHINA & MADE IN INDIA.

[ScubaBuddha]

Its quite expensive. Also on their website the front bumper looks like it falling off!

... Have a chinese Motorbike, a Platinum PX 125. Engine is ok, but have to give a lot of attention to keep the bike on the road. The first pothole......... ha ha ha!

I had to spend about 15k to get my relatively new Platinum PX175 to work regularly. I'm always nursing one thing or another on it.

Chinese crash tests:

Ok to be fair that last one was an old car with the drive shaft removed and the trunk filled with cement. Apparently they were demonstrating a new crash facility.

My favorite

[rideswings]

I just bought a new Red Chery QQ for my wife. It was around 439,000 with automatic transmission and power everything. Its a cute little car and drives well. My only dislike so far is the "auto/manual" transmission. If you dont keep your foot on the brake it will roll backward or forward if you are on a hill and it has no "park" gear that locks the wheels when you are done driving it. Need to always use the emergency brake when done.

If youre not interested in the upkeep for Chinese products, better stick to a Jazz, Tiida or Yaris. I know ahead of time the Chery might fall apart after a few years but then we will cut the top off and use it as an interesting sofa for our living room.

[Donnyboy]

i guess the chinese auto industry is still in its infancy, Japan had quality issues as well when they started, rust issues etc, and now leads the way in reliability, South Korea is slowly getting there.

My guess is that when China aquires the technology to build quality cars from cash strapped giants, look out.

[LaoPo]

i guess the chinese auto industry is still in its infancy, Japan had quality issues as well when they started, rust issues etc, and now leads the way in reliability, South Korea is slowly getting there.

My guess is that when China aquires the technology to build quality cars from cash strapped giants, look out.

I agree. (they still have quality issues....-like any other manufacturer....see below)

Toyota, for example, made some 154,000 cars back in 1960 after growing since WWII from 3,275 cars in 1945.

Now they produce some 9,000.000* cars, worldwide.

If Europe and the US would have been paying a little more attention to their own production and efficiency, Toyota would never ever had a chance to grow so big. Both continents have been sleeping, big time.

Warren Buffett, the well known American investor, understood early by buying 10% of the shares with his company into BYD **, a Chinese battery, cell phones, electric cars and other stuff manufacturer, which will likely grow in to one of the largest electric car producers in the world. Pay attention!

They have the know how in sophisticated rechargeable batteries technology which gives them a lead.

BYD already got their permits to sell the plug-in e6 sedan car into the US later this year.

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota#History

** http://money.cnn.com/2009/04/13/technology...ectric.fortune/

Toyota recalls 2.3million US vehicles

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8473789.stm

It's all in the game of world's ongoing rolling balls of ever changing economies....

LaoPo

[bobbin]

A friend of mine took a test drive in one. They are being sold out of the Ford dealership in Pattaya.

He said it was so under-powered, it couldn't get out of it's own way.

Edited January 22, 2010 by bobbin

[katabeachbum]

thaichery is way to expensive.

Proton savy is only 399.900 baht and is far better in every aspect

China is already manufactoring some great quality cars. VW for 2 decades, MB and some other European. So far only other brand names made in China have good quality, but they will catch up.

[indothai]

Too expensive. If it was 150k to 200k i would seriously consider it.

[Farma]

I wouldn’t consider buying one. Ones I’ve seen are poorly made with quality issues.

A few months ago I saw a new one with a burnt out engine bay abandoned in the supermarket carpark.

Just last week I avoided what I thought was a big square piece of cardboard flying through the air at me on the freeway. It was the bonnet of another new Chery. At least he didn’t have to travel far as it happened outside the local Chery dealer.

Edited January 22, 2010 by Farma

[rideswings]

Now Im a big Chery fan. We drove it around 100 km today and it drove great. As far as acceleration is concerned, its not a Ferrari, and neither is any other car with an 1100cc engine in it. Build quality is pretty high, no rattles or squeeks, and the ride is firm but not jarring for such a tiny car. In the 2 days we've owned it, we have been approached by a number of different people who love the styling. It looks like a little red puppy. This is a really good urban vehicle but the engine revs pretty high once youre on the highway so I wouldnt recommend it if youre constantly taking highway drives of more than a few hours at a time.

I will add more updates as we calculate actual gas mileage and as we pass the 1000, 10000 and hopefully the 100,000 km milestones.

Edited January 22, 2010 by rideswings

[eTiMaGo]

Hmmmm it's too easy to fall for the old "Made in China = crap", but I would seriously think twice about driving one of these, i do value my life...

[rideswings]

I think that driving any car puts your life at risk if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time.

[MAJIC]

Its quite expensive. Also on their website the front bumper looks like it falling off!

Cars made in china, oh my dear! this is the last thing we need. As i guess everyone have expirience with all the made in china items like: printers, watches, tools, specially power tools, etc, almost everything tat fails and brokes easly comes from china, even made in china socks, they crack after 4 days. What will happen with the china cars? I'll see when the wheels are falling off, during a fast cornering or the engine mounts and suspeneion parts brake's a part when go over a bumpy road. Plastic parts will brake like paper, oh madonna! Oh je, good luck with them. Have a chinese Motorbike, a Platinum PX 125. Engine is ok, but have to give a lot of attention to keep the bike on the road. The first pothole......... ha ha ha!

Yes correct much of the made in china products leave much to be desired. But I remember way back in the 60s another country did the same, exported worldwide Plastic and Tin c**p which was lucky to last over xmas,and the cheap cars they sent over rusted out in 2 years if they didnt pack up altogether,they used the income from exports wisely and reinvested in producing quality, to make world beating products.The country was JAPAN,who seen off the British Motorcycle Industry with superior products and several other industries including major industries like:shipbuilding,electronics,motor cars,cameras,watches etc.

Lets just hope that China keeps producing s*** otherwise the alternative looks extremely bleak for the world producers.

[Donnyboy]

Lets just hope that China keeps producing s*** otherwise the alternative looks extremely bleak for the world producers.

not all made in china is crap, where do you think the ipod is made, ok its designed in usa but made in china. Once china gets its R&D working well, other countries better look out, its only a matter of time now

big pharma companies like Novartis are pumping huge sums of cash into china now

[indothai]

Reason why stuff from china is cheap/in-expensive is MAINLY because of 1)labor cost vs 2)R&D vs 3)history and 4)experience.

If they can hire expert engineers for low wages, then they will have the competitive edge. But why would an expert engineer work for low wages?

If they build a top class R&D facility, they would have the competitve edge, but it would cost money and Chery would just pass that on to the consumers... increasing the cost of the product.

Chery was founded in 1997, compare that with the other top 5 car manufacturers.

It may seem like I'm bashing Chery.. but i'm not. I know a Chery is NOT a BMW, Benz, or even a Toyota or a Honda... at 390k, it's just expensive (based on the aforementioned points). A new Honda City is about 540k, that's only 150k more than the Chery... (note aforementioned points).

Would I buy a Chery QQ?... Yes, if it was a 150k - 200k max (yes..yes it's a death trap if I run it into a wall or if a bus smashes into me.. blah blah blah.. but i think it would still be a tad-TAD safer than a motorcycle.)...(no i'm not bashing motorcycles.. i love them, and miss going 140mph).

my 2 cents/satang.

[katabeachbum]

Reason why stuff from china is cheap/in-expensive is MAINLY because of 1)labor cost vs 2)R&D vs 3)history and 4)experience.

If they can hire expert engineers for low wages, then they will have the competitive edge. But why would an expert engineer work for low wages?

If they build a top class R&D facility, they would have the competitve edge, but it would cost money and Chery would just pass that on to the consumers... increasing the cost of the product.

Chery was founded in 1997, compare that with the other top 5 car manufacturers.

It may seem like I'm bashing Chery.. but i'm not. I know a Chery is NOT a BMW, Benz, or even a Toyota or a Honda... at 390k, it's just expensive (based on the aforementioned points). A new Honda City is about 540k, that's only 150k more than the Chery... (note aforementioned points).

Would I buy a Chery QQ?... Yes, if it was a 150k - 200k max (yes..yes it's a death trap if I run it into a wall or if a bus smashes into me.. blah blah blah.. but i think it would still be a tad-TAD safer than a motorcycle.)...(no i'm not bashing motorcycles.. i love them, and miss going 140mph).

my 2 cents/satang.

agree, even 250k would be ok, but 390k is just silly

[stingray]

Lets just hope that China keeps producing s*** otherwise the alternative looks extremely bleak for the world producers.

not all made in china is crap, where do you think the ipod is made, ok its designed in usa but made in china. Once china gets its R&D working well, other countries better look out, its only a matter of time now

big pharma companies like Novartis are pumping huge sums of cash into china now

The problem in China is, that most of the business owners are greedy. They want more and more, they never get enought. The save averywhere (quality) to make the biggest profit as possible. Many Chineses not think about doing business tomorrow or any future business. There mentality is to get profit today, bigger the better. Just saw an Australian TV, how they confiscated many imported chinese items at the french custom, because of quality reasons, specially in the food section. They use something like Redbull, it called "Gold Bull", but all the cans get corroded from inside already, because they used cheap alliminium cans. Can you immagine how it is when you drink that stuff? They build mobilephone batteries who blows sometime, etc. Chinese Menthality is difficult to change. We Europeans think ab out good quality stuff, if we produse somethin, because we want continue our business for many years and keep our customers satisfied. Chinese mentality is very different.

[BSJ]

My dear departed dad used to say "Speed doesn't kill....but a sudden stop will"! Even around town, I would be reluctant to drive a little car, even if it is a Cherry!

[VocalNeal]

If they build a top class R&D facility

One GM executive once said that in China R&D means Receive & Duplicate.

[tigerbeer]

I would rather go for the Proton Savvy. 0% 60 months. 5% downpayment and as much as the Thai Chery costs.

[indothai]

I would rather go for the Proton Savvy. 0% 60 months. 5% downpayment and as much as the Thai Chery costs.

I'm waiting for the Nissan March due out this... drum roolll... in March.

I saw one in Bangkok with Embassy plates, and it's not all too bad. They did say it will be around 300k, now if Nissan actually sticks to that price then we are all in for a treat. Though, I am hoping it will not be a complete barebone price ie: manual everything. Only time will tell.

[WarpSpeed]

thaichery is way to expensive.

Proton savy is only 399.900 baht and is far better in every aspect

China is already manufactoring some great quality cars. VW for 2 decades, MB and some other European. So far only other brand names made in China have good quality, but they will catch up.

Beat me to it, That's how'd I go at that price. Proton has been around longer with a decent track record and they have proven Renault power plants and drive trains with even Blaupunkt stereos.. No competition IMO..

Though Chery has moved to the front of most Chinese manufacturers they still have a long ways to go not justifying that price and those other manufacturers mentioned are all Euro/Chinese partnerships and built to Euro specs but still it is only recently that even VW felt secure enough in QC to export outside of Chinese borders to places like Australia with their Polo's.

[rideswings]

Update: After 2 tankfuls of fuel we are averaging 33.6 mpg (14 km per litre) in 50% city driving. The engine has started to loosen up and acceleration is much better than when it was new.

The only problem we have had so far is the car would not shift past 2nd gear one day in either auto or manual mode, so we brought it into the dealer and it was fixed in an hour, computer reprogramming. We have been delighted with the customer service at Chery and the build quality of the car is really outstanding.

Our car came with a Sony AM/FM/CD/MP3 player with USB input and it sounds great. We have seen a few other Cherys on the Road but we still get alot of attention from people who have never seen one before.

So far my wife and I are happy with our purchase.

[Donnyboy]

Reason why stuff from china is cheap/in-expensive is MAINLY because of 1)labor cost vs 2)R&D vs 3)history and 4)experience.

If they can hire expert engineers for low wages, then they will have the competitive edge. But why would an expert engineer work for low wages?

If they build a top class R&D facility, they would have the competitve edge, but it would cost money and Chery would just pass that on to the consumers... increasing the cost of the product.

Chery was founded in 1997, compare that with the other top 5 car manufacturers.

It may seem like I'm bashing Chery.. but i'm not. I know a Chery is NOT a BMW, Benz, or even a Toyota or a Honda... at 390k, it's just expensive (based on the aforementioned points). A new Honda City is about 540k, that's only 150k more than the Chery... (note aforementioned points).

Would I buy a Chery QQ?... Yes, if it was a 150k - 200k max (yes..yes it's a death trap if I run it into a wall or if a bus smashes into me.. blah blah blah.. but i think it would still be a tad-TAD safer than a motorcycle.)...(no i'm not bashing motorcycles.. i love them, and miss going 140mph).

my 2 cents/satang.

agree, even 250k would be ok, but 390k is just silly

yup, Tata Nano can be sold @ 123,000 rupees or 88,000 baht in India, but on the flip side, if Thailand started to sell new low cost cars we will see more cars of these cars on the road due to people trading in their bikes/giving up public transport, expect more gridlock

[wattaman]

Lets just hope that China keeps producing s*** otherwise the alternative looks extremely bleak for the world producers.

not all made in china is crap, where do you think the ipod is made, ok its designed in usa but made in china. Once china gets its R&D working well, other countries better look out, its only a matter of time now

big pharma companies like Novartis are pumping huge sums of cash into china now

The problem in China is, that most of the business owners are greedy. They want more and more, they never get enought. The save averywhere (quality) to make the biggest profit as possible. Many Chineses not think about doing business tomorrow or any future business. There mentality is to get profit today, bigger the better. Just saw an Australian TV, how they confiscated many imported chinese items at the french custom, because of quality reasons, specially in the food section. They use something like Redbull, it called "Gold Bull", but all the cans get corroded from inside already, because they used cheap alliminium cans. Can you immagine how it is when you drink that stuff? They build mobilephone batteries who blows sometime, etc. Chinese Menthality is difficult to change. We Europeans think ab out good quality stuff, if we produse somethin, because we want continue our business for many years and keep our customers satisfied. Chinese mentality is very different.

I think nowadays ALL the business owners think only about profit, there's no bad Chinese or good Europeans. While I don't know much about cars, I like technology and I often buy (useless) gadgets - all tend to break after one year, exactly AFTER the warranty period. In 2 years, for example, I've changed 2 play-stations, 2 laptops, 2 cell phones - all made in various locations