Chery QQ

The Chery QQ (codename S11) is a city car produced by the Chinese manufacturer Chery Automobile since 2003. From 2006 the car was renamed the Chery QQ3 in China, when Chery launched their new supermini the Chery QQ6.

In China, it is sold for 29,000--50,000 RMB. The price on the European market is going to be around € 5000, beating the Dacia Logan as the most inexpensive car in that market. In Iran, the car is assembled as the MVM 110 by the Modiran Vehicle Manufacturing Company and is a replacement for the Kerman Khodro built Matiz. In Sri Lanka, the car is assembled with some locally manufactured parts by David Pieris Motor Company.

The Chery QQ is available with the following two gasoline-powered engines (both EURO III compliant):

• 0.8L SQR372 I3 DOHC 12v — 38kW (51hp) at 6000rpm, 70N·m (52ft·lbf) at 3500rpm
• 1.1L SQR472F I4 DOHC 16v — 50kW (67hp) at 6000rpm, 90N·m (66ft·lbf) at 3500rpm

Controversy

The car is at the center of an industrial rights controversy, since General Motors have claimed that it is very similar to the Chevrolet Spark/Daewoo Matiz. GM executives have proved that the doors of the Chery car can be mounted on the Chevrolet Spark without modification, and Car and Driver, an automobile magazine, calls it "a copy".

In Iran, the Chevrolet Spark/Daewoo Matiz had been assembled by local company Kerman Khodro since the year 2000 in a joint venture with the South Korean GM Daewoo. However the crisis at Daewoo resulted in a take-over by the American General Motors corporation, which then put a ban on Iran and stopped supplying CKD kits to the Iranian company. This resulted in Kerman Khodro licencing the Chery QQ car for the replacement and put it into production at their subsidiary MVM.

Competition

Although once the cheapest in its class, the Chery QQ has recently been challenged by the new Tata Nano from Tata Motors, India. At a price of $2500, the Tata Nano is now the cheapest available car in the world.