2009 Chery S18: China Brings New Competition to the EV Market

Chery S18

Our partners over at AllElectricCars.com reported last week that Chery Automobile Corp. of China introduced the S18 EV. This introduction could make the EV or “electric vehicle” market very interesting in the future--or a source of more heartburn for car companies still hunting for juice in the electric-car market.

The Chery S18 EV claims to have a range of 93 miles on a single charge and a top speed of 74 mph making it sound pretty reasonable. Currently, the company hasn’t announced when mass production might begin or whether they will bring the EV to the North American market, let alone the U.S. However, this does provide some interesting food for thought.

Flash back--in July of 2007, Chrysler and Chery announced an alliance that was supposed to bring the Chinese automakers vehicles to the U.S. market. Under this alliance the vehicles were to be sold under the Dodge brand, giving Chery access to a global distribution network and Chrysler a boost in the small vehicle market (read more at TheCarConnection.com). Motor Trend reported that the original plan was to have the first Chery vehicles arrive stateside as early as 2009. However, under the doom and gloom of the current economy the Chery deal got the axes late in 2008. Mostly, this was the result of Chrysler and the rest of the Big 3 asking Congress for bailout money. It shouldn’t be a surprise that the idea of giving the U.S. car manufacturers money to then have them turn around and boost the Chinese car market wasn’t exactly on the government’s agenda.

Bricklin Chery Car

Even though the Chery Automobile has had a minor set back as far as distribution to the U.S. market, they do have some momentum working for them. According to Reuters, in 2007 they were reported to be the fourth largest car company in China and one of the fastest growing. Now? Even with a reported decline in sales, Reuters’ says that Chery Automobile is still holding on to the No. 5 spot in the Chinese automotive market.

So watch out America--it's only a matter of time before we see a Chery in our showrooms, especially if there is any truth to the reports that Chery is looking to acquire Volvo (read more here). Until them stay tuned to allsmallcars.com for more news on the Chery and any other small car news, reviews, photos and more. And if electric cars have you all energized, plug into our partner site allelectriccars.com for the Chery report and more focused EV news.