Chery to launch two locally-made sedans in Taiwan

Shanghai, May 6 (Gasgoo.com) Chery Automobile Co., Ltd. has revealed that it would launch two sedan models, the Apola and Fresh, in Taiwan later this month, the Taiwan Economic News reported yesterday.

The two models will be locally assembled by Taiwan's Prince Motors Co. and marketed by a new subsidiary, Chery's vice president and director Zhou Biren recently told a Taiwanese reporter.

The Apola is a midsized sedan while the Fresh is a sub-compact equipped with a 1,300cc gasoline engine and automatic transmission. The Fresh will be priced at US$12,476 in Taiwan, making it the cheapest automatic-transmission car on the island.

Chery Auto will also sell a mini multi-purpose van (MPV) and a battery electric vehicle (BEV) in Taiwan after launching the 1,300cc Awin mini commercial van in the third quarter this year.

As the mainland Chinese automaker plans to start exporting cars to Southeast Asia by the end of this year, Chery will boost its quality image and the production scale of its Taiwan partner Prince Motor will also be upgraded.

With the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) to be signed soon between Taiwan and the mainland, both sides' auto partners will produce different models to achieve better economy of scale, Zhou added.