Chery Automotive Australia has added potentially life-saving electronic stability control (ESC) technology, which will be compulsory for all new cars sold nationwide from November, to its small J3 hatchback and J11 crossover.
However, Chery’s pint-size J1 hatch – one of Australia’s cheapest new cars at $9990 drive-away – will be withdrawn from sale within weeks because it will not be upgraded before the November 1 national ESC deadline.
Further, Australian Chery distributor Ateco Automotive told motoring.com.au that a replacement for J1 – likely to be based on the Chery QQ city-car sold in China – is not currently on the cards for local consumption due to price and safety hurdles, leaving Chery without an entrant in Australia’s smallest vehicle segment for the foreseeable future.
“It’s the hardest segment to make work in terms of achieving the standards we want while still meeting the price – there are some very competitive cars,” said Ateco spokesman Daniel Cotterill, who confirmed that eight to 10 Chery dealerships would be established in Victoria by mid-2014.
“We’re doing that as quickly as we can. We had all of the homework done when we were trying to launch the brand (in February 2011),” he said.
Cotterill revealed that in addition to the J3 and J11 model updates, Chery Automotive Australia is currently conducting engineering evaluation on a new small sedan – based on the Arrizo 7 on sale now in China – likely to be badged as the J4 in Australia.
The J4 is tipped to be powered by a 1.6-litre turbo-petrol engine and offered in both manual and automatic transmissions.
A peek inside the Arrizo 7 reveals a marked change of pace for the much-maligned aesthetic of the Chinese manufacturer, with comfort, design and build quality appearing to approach that of small sedan rivals such as the Kia Cerato.
“This is a very tidy little car… compared to what we’ve seen from these guys,” said Cotterill. “Panel gaps, fit and finish – they’ve come a long way.
“What we’ve had before has typically been the latest iteration of their older platforms – we’re now just starting to see some of the newer ones. We look at this and think ‘they’ve made the investment’.”
When asked about pricing for the J4, Cotterill said: “As it stands, if the currency was like it is today, it would need to be under $17K to work. But that can vary a lot.”
The J3 hatch is currently priced at $14,990 drive-away, making it about $5000 cheaper than most mainstream small hatchbacks.
In addition to ESC, both the 2013 model year J3 and J11 will be fitted with upgraded four-cylinder petrol engines featuring variable valve timing – in the J3’s case a more powerful 93kW 1.6-litre unit matched to five-speed manual and, for the first time, continuously variable automatic transmissions.
Ateco is also believed to be interested in the Beta 5 concept car, which was unveiled at the Shanghai motor show in April and is expected to morph into a replacement for the J11 by 2015.
We drove the updated J3 this week and will post a first drive shortly.
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