Chery QQ3 is the cheapest car in S. Africa

The Chinese-made Chery QQ3, an 800cc minicar, has been launched in South Africa and is now the country’s cheapest car.

The entry-level version will will sell for just under R60 000 (US$1= R7.85), the only car in SA to do so. The last time a new vehicle in SA was available for this price was in 2001.

The next cheapest vehicle, the popular Chevrolet Spark, costs R66 500

The Chery QQ3 has four doors, four seats and, a claimed fuel consumption of around 5litres/100km.There are also two 1.1-litre versions of the QQ3, costing R73 900 and R79 900 respectively.

McCarthy Ltd CEO Brand Pretorius and other McCarthy spokesmen at the launch emphasised that the Chery vehicles being brought to SA by McCarthy had undergone harsh testing in China and at the Gerotek facility outside Pretoria.

The little QQ3 comes in two models, the entry-level TE and the more luxurious TX (which sells for R65 900). McCarthy and Chery are also bringing in a 2-litre sedan, the J5, in TX and TE specification, for R139 900 and R149 900, and a compact sport-utility vehicle, the Tiggo, which costs R159 900 for the TX and R169 900 for the top-of-the-range TXE, which includes leather seats, a six-disc CD/radio and electric sunroof.

Although Chery is not claiming to compete with the best in terms of quality, they have achieved cheapest-in-class ratings for the QQ3, the J5 and the Tiggo. All of the vehicles will carry three-year, 100 000km guarantees, with 15 000km service intervals. All are driven through the front wheels and have five-speed gearboxes.

The baby QQ3, which has so clearly grabbed the title of SA’s cheapest car, is likely to attract the most limelight. McCarthy spokesmen insisted it had not been stripped of features and it does boast power steering. But you have to go up to the R65 900 model for electric windows and alloy wheels, And buyers will have to look at the 1.1-litre QQ3 TXE to find anti-lock braking and airbags for both front occupants.

Pretorius said McCarthy had been campaigning for years for more affordable cars so that people at the lower end of the economic spectrum could afford their own wheels. This is reminiscent of the stated aim by India’s Tata, which produces the world’s cheapest car, the Nano, with the aim of giving four-wheel mobility to families which, until now, have been able to afford scooters and mopeds, at best.

So perhaps the QQ3 will find a market among the huddled masses at taxi ranks.

McCarthy is hoping to sell around 300 vehicles a month across the three-model range but says this is a conservative estimate.

Chery already has assembly lines in Russia, Ukraine, Indonesia and Egypt and has hinted that it could invest in SA in this way if sales and export potential justified it.

By 2010 it plans to be producing a million cars a years, half of which will be exported.