Star Metro - Chery wants to make small electric car in Europe

"We want to build a French car for the French," Chery France's director Yanbang Yu told AFP.

Chery is China's third-largest carmaker, but it has long been China's top exporter, selling abroad half of its 2.8 million vehicles it manufactured last year.

But it has only recently begun to sell cars in Europe, where it lags behind Chinese rival SAIC which sells cars in the region under the historic British badge MG.

Chery has been boosting the sales network of its Jaecoo and Omoda brands in Europe, which launched in France this month.

To reinforce its European operations, Chery has decided to install a research and development centre in Paris "to work on a small city car, because France would be a very big market for this little car, and the best way is to design it in France," said Lionel French Keogh, Chery's commercial director in France.

"We want to learn what French consumers’ tastes are, and we want a small, beautiful design," added Yu.

Chery has already begun assembling hybrid cars in Spain at a former Nissan plant, selling them under the Ebro brand.

It aims to raise production to 200,000 cars per year within three years and is looking at acquiring other manufacturing sites in Europe.

Spain and Hungary have been popular among Chinese companies looking to begin battery and car production in Europe to escape EU tariffs on imported vehicles.

M.Johnston--SMC