State-owned corporation | |
Industry | Automotive |
Founded | March 18, 1997 |
Headquarters | Wuhu, Anhui, China |
Key people
|
Peter Bailey (Chairman) |
Products |
Automobiles Engines |
Subsidiaries |
Chery Jaguar Land Rover (50%) Qoros (50%) |
Website | cheryinternational.com |
Chery | |||||||
Simplified Chinese | 奇瑞汽车股份有限公司 | ||||||
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Traditional Chinese | 奇瑞汽車股份有限公司 | ||||||
Literal meaning | Chery Automobile Co., Ltd. | ||||||
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Transcriptions | |
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Standard Mandarin | |
Hanyu Pinyin | Qíruì Qìchē |
Chery Automobile Co., Ltd.,trading as Chery and sometimes known by the pinyin transcription of its Chinese name, Qirui (奇瑞), is a Chinese automobile manufacturer headquartered in Wuhu, Anhui Province, China. It was founded by the Government of China in 1997 and is a state-owned corporation. Chery's principal products are passenger cars, minivans, and SUVs; it sells passenger cars under the Chery marque and commercial vehicles under the Karry brand. Chery is the tenth-largest China-based automaker measured by 2012 output (around 590,000 units).
Chery began the production of automobiles in 1999 and their export from China in 2001. It has been China's largest passenger car exporter since 2003, and in 2011 exported around 25% of its total production. It operates a 50:50 joint venture with Kenon Holdings, Qoros, which was formed in 2007 and sells a range of premium vehicles in emerging markets. In 2012, Jaguar Land Rover formed 50:50 joint venture Chery Jaguar Land Rover for the production of Jaguar and Land Rover cars in China with Chery.
Chery has several vehicle assembly and component manufacturing facilities in mainland China, and its vehicles are assembled in around 15 other countries—primarily in factories not owned by the company that utilize either complete or semi-complete knock-down kits. It has two domestic R&D centers and invests around 7% of its total revenues in product development. Its QQ city car, considered to be the best-known Chery model, spawned a sub-brand in its own right; the QQ6 and the QQme are two other cars produced by the company, and the original QQ may now be designated the QQ3.
In the early 2000s, Chery received criticism from General Motors for alleged infringement of its intellectual property rights.
Chery was founded in 1997 as a state-owned enterprise by a group of officials from Anhui province and began automobile production in 1999 using a chassis licensed from Volkswagen's SEAT Toledo. Called the Fengyun, Chery's first car sold nearly 30,000 units.