Chrysler is considering asking China’s Chery Automobile to assemble a small car on its behalf for sale in international markets, suppliers and other Chinese sources have told auto industry trade newspaper Automotive News.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
The report, citing unnamed sources, said Chrysler would sell the car under the Dodge or Chrysler brand but not in the United States. There was no word if it would reach Europe, where the new Dodge Caliber is curently being launched.
According to two supplier sources cited by Automotive News, Chery president Yin Tongyao plans to visit Chrysler executives in Detroit on Friday, 5 May to discuss the deal – a Chrysler spokesman reportedly declined to confirm Yin’s visit.
In an interview with Automotive News on Tuesday, 2 May, Chrysler group COO declined to say whether the company was talking with Chery about assembling a small car.
The paper noted that Ridenour did confirm that Chrysler is talking with as many as three automakers about assembling a small car for sale in the United States, and Chrysler CEO Tom LaSorda said last March that Volkswagen is one of the candidates, with Asia- and Europe-based automakers also being considered.
Automotive News also noted that, in April 2005, DaimlerChrysler board member in charge of China, Ruediger Grube, said at the Shanghai motor show that DaimlerChrysler was studying plans to build a car smaller than the Dodge Neon in China for export to North America. After the interview, Chrysler officials reportedly vehemently denied they were planning to import a car from China for sale in the United States.
