The passion is inflamed as the first love

Will is hard to steel. The heart is wide as the sea. The calm is stable as the iceberg. The passion is inflamed as the first love. "Here's how Chery, in his lobby, the characteristics of its staff. The Interior of the plant, 100 employees are working to finishing of the vehicle. Later, dozens of cars are parked one behind the other, until their quality is controlled, the sound of the horns and alarms. A hive as we see more European plants since the 1980s. We are in Wuhu, a city of 2 million inhabitants, 350 kilometres to the West of Shanghai. The average wage is roughly 200 euros per month. It is here that is the cradle of Chery, now little the first automobile group purely Chinese before BYD, i.e. without association to a foreign manufacturer, the sixth at the national level. "When our company was created in 1997, there was not much here", reflects Lu Fujun, Director of purchasing, showing a photo representing a warehouse in open country. Now, the plant is located in the heart of an industrial zone, gridded roads twice three-way and large international companies such as shopping centres.

The evolution of the sales of Chery is the image of the transformation of the landscape in Wuhu. Volumes, which did not exceed the 30,000 private vehicles in 2001 reached 500.303 units in 2009, in a market still largely dominated by General Motors and Volkswagen, both associated with SAIC. Again this year, the company expects a sharp increase in sales to 700,000 vehicles.

Chery was first started on the bottom of the segment, with cars less than $ 10,000, which perceived quality is comparable to that of the Lada, but who have a reputation for good ratio quality/price to the Chinese middle classes. Recently, the Builder seeks to range, especially with its new brand Riich, logo strangely similar to that of Bentley. The names of cars, such as A3 or X 5 appear to German inspiration. "The Japanese are strong in industrial processes, the Americans in marketing and the Germans in technology." "Then we took a little bit of everyone", said Jin Yibo, Director of the communication. Accelerates the pace of launches. Chery, which focused on the market 3 or 4 vehicles per year in the first years following its creation, plans to launch a dozen new models in 2010.

"Top quality".

This offensive also aims to export markets. The constructor, which boasts of being the first Chinese exporter in the car, displayed a target of 100,000 units sold abroad this year, double the volume of 2009, but 25 less than in 2008. This for example in South Africa, in Egypt or the Morocco, Chery is said not ready to come on Western markets. "Europe and the United States being the two largest markets outside China, we want to be sure to succeed before entering", justifies Jin Yibo. Yet, the evocation of Chery on the Heuliez folder and the Sicilian plant of Fiat suggest that he has ambitions in Europe.

Chinese manufacturers remain nevertheless faced with problems of registration, even if they are progressing in terms of quality. "The incident Toyota them has cooled because they realize it takes quality to come in Europe or the United States", said Christian Marsais, Director of Valeo in China, supplier of Chery. Export will also force them to show them more respect intellectual property, at the risk of being convicted in a foreign court.

The Chery range on