A Chery Automobile official has confirmed that the company will enter the Brazilian market at the end of this year during an automotive conference in São Paulo city organised by the Brazil-China Chamber of Economic Development (CBCDE).
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
“Chery has signed an agreement with a partner to sell vehicles in Brazil. First the cars will be imported, but the plan is to start production from CKD kits shipped from China in the future”, Chery’s Wen Xiande said.
He did not reveal the name of the partner.
The Chinese automaker plans to introduce the QQ compact car in Brazil and will launch it during the São Paulo Auto Show, in October.
A group of 100 delegates from Chinese autoparts makers and automakers went to São Paulo to attend the conference and get to know the Brazilian automotive market.
“The Brazilian market is interesting and we expect to sell trucks in Brazil. Now we are looking to a partner”, said China National Heavy Duty Truck Group vice-president Zhang Zhongle.
The majority of the Chinese delegates were from autoparts makers looking to sell mainly to the aftermarket, but they would also like to supply automakers in Brazil.
The movement of Chinese autoparts into Brazihas gained intensity this year.
“The Brazilian market represents a big chance for Chinese companies”, said Nanjing Huade Spark Plug (NHSP) vice-president Gao Zhaohua.
According to the Brazilian Association of Autoparts Manufacturers (Sindipeças), between January and March 2006, Brazil imported $US45.16m’s worth of Chinese autoparts, a growth of 54.1% year on year compared with the $US 29.3 million in Q1 2005. In the same period, autoparts imports into Brazil fell 2.7%.
China is now ninth biggest autoparts supplier to Brazil, up from 12th a year ago. It has passed Spain, Mexico and Switizerland and is now breathing down the nexk of the UK, eighth in the rankings.
Germany sells the most autoparts to Brazil – $US274.12m in the first quarter. But this was off 19.4% compared with the same period of 2005.
Rogério Louro
