Shanghai, August 24 (Gasgoo.com) Chery Auto, a Chinese carmaker well-known for its low-end cars such as the QQ series, remains highly confident of its entry in the mid- to high-end car market in the country, although only 5,000 units of its Riich M1 have been sold in the past four months, said Beijing Times today.
As a follow-up to its 1.3-liter Riich M1 luxury model, Chery Auto launched the 1.0-liter Riich M1 model on August 16, priced between 38,800 yuan ($5,680) and 53,800 yuan. Sources also said that the 1.3-liter automatic M1 will be released later this year.
Chery Auto has about 100 dealerships currently for its Riich brand, and the number will increase to 150 by the end of this year, when another two all-new models Riich G5 and Riich X1 will also go on sale in the domestic market.
Both the Chery and Riich brands of Chery Auto cover the minicar, sedan and SUV series, but they have different market orientation: Chery is for the mass market, while Riich is for the mid- to high-end market, just like the difference between General Motors' Chevrolet (Chevy) and Buick brands.
The company has not excluded the possibility that the Chery and Riich brand will share the same platform and technology in the future, although their styling features and core elements will remain distinctive.
The Chery brand includes QQ, Fulwin, Cowin (Qiyun), Tiggo, and A series, and the Riich brand will focus on the G series (sedans) in addition to the M series (minicars), X series (SUVs) and Z series (race cars).
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