Autoblog

Qoros could finally be the Chinese brand to fear in the west

David Kiley — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sedan, China, Europe, Marketing/Advertising, MISC

Can Qoros Make A Difference Outside The Walls Of China?

I know of no sober industry executive who fears a Chinese entry into the US.

Qoros is a venture between the Israeli Israel Corp. and state-owned Chinese company Chery. Chery, up to now, has been known mostly for "appropriating" western designs and having an ill-fated, ridiculous and half-baked venture with Malcolm Bricklin to bring Chery vehicles to the United States a few years ago. Bricklin was an original distributor of Subaru and Yugo in the US. The only people to find any success in that venture were the lawyers.

But what gets my attention now with Qoros is that the company seems to be addressing the cultural mistakes and barriers that have bedeviled every other Chinese automaker with aspirations to be successful beyond China. It is using non-Chinese executives - people with legitimate experience in the Western auto industry - in the areas of design, engineering and distribution.

Heretofore, I have been bored silly watching Chinese automakers like Chery, Great Wall and BYD either come to the Detroit Auto Show with a car, or strike some preposterous distribution deal with the hacks and ne'er-do-wells of the western auto retailing space. It's been all for naught. These cars and ventures have been so inept and awful that I know of no sober industry executive who fears a Chinese entry into the US.

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Qoros could finally be the Chinese brand to fear in the west originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Qoros brand debuts, hits the ground running with 3 Sedan

Chris Paukert — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 03:30:00 EST

Filed under: Concept Cars, Hybrid, Sedan, Wagon, Geneva Motor Show, Crossover, Design/Style

Traditionally, it takes a decade or more for a new car to find its footing, but China's Qoros is doing its damnedest to run before it walks. Founded in 2007, Qoros is a joint-venture between Chery and Israel Corporation, a company best-known in automotive circles for helping to fund Better Place.

With an impressively sized display said to be modeled on the Silk Road, Qoros unveiled its production 3 Sedan, as well as its 3 Cross Hybrid concept and 3 Estate concept. We had the chance to sit in the 3 Sedan, and it looks and feels surprisingly accomplished considering its brief development time. In particular, the cabin has a pronounced Volkswagen aesthetic about it - so much so that we were half-tempted to ask whether Wolfsburg provided some of the switchgear and styling help. The interior is dominated by a unique eight-inch capacitive touchscreen system, whose functionality is divided into quadrants (where have we heard that before?), accessible with a two-finger swipe.

The Qoros 3 will be available at launch with either a naturally aspirated or turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine tied to either a manual gearbox or a dual-clutch transmission. Qoros also showed a pair of showcars, the Qoros 3 Estate Concept and Qoros 3 Cross Hybrid Concept. At a glance, both look like production-ready vehicles.

Qoros plans to launch later this year in its home market of China, pushing westward into Europe early next year. While there were originally plans for North American sales, Autoblog has learned that the combination of a mature market and economic malaise has proven to be enough to keep the company's US and Canadian ambitions at bay for the foreseeable future.

And what of the Chinese auto industry's traditional blind spot, quality? The company is touting its executives and engineers' histories at other, more established automakers as proof that it will build a robust product. What companies have their execs worked at? BMW, General Motors, Jaguar Land Rover, Saab and Volvo. Hmmm...

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Qoros brand debuts, hits the ground running with 3 Sedan originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 06 Mar 2013 03:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Qoros brand debuting in Geneva with 3 Sedan, two concepts

Jeffrey N. Ross — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Concept Cars, Sedan, Wagon, Geneva Motor Show, China, Europe, Crossover

There will be plenty of debuts at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show, but one of the more unique reveals will be for an entire car company. Chinese automaker Qoros will use the prominent auto show to introduce itself to the world by launching a new production-intent sedan as well as two "concepts" that appear to be production ready. Qoros was founded as a part of a joint venture between Chery Automobile and global holding company, Israel Corporation.

Unlike most Chinese-designed cars we've seen recently, this car is neither unsightly nor a blatant rip off of another automaker. There are some hints of maybe BMW and even a little Kia on the outside and some Volkswagen and Audi on the inside, but the overall design language is clean and unique. This includes the highly detailed exterior with the Qoros name inscribed into the headlights as well as the large eight-inch touch-screen infotainment and navigation display inside the car.

At 181 inches long and 72.4 inches wide, this sedan is just slightly longer and wider than a Ford Focus. Under the hood, there will be two engines available at launch with another two said to be coming later. The base engine will be a 1.6-liter four-cylinder producing 126 horsepower and 114 pound-feet of torque, and there's also a turbocharged version of the same engine putting out 156 hp and 154 lb-ft; two turbocharged and direct-injected engines (a 1.3-liter inline-three and a 1.6-liter inline-four) will come at a later date. Transmissions include a base six-speed manual or an optional six-speed dual clutch transmission; auto stop-start is also an option.

Looking down the road, the Qoros 3 Cross Hybrid Concept shows a potential crossover model for the brand using a Honda-like Integrated Starter Generator sandwiched between the engine and transmission, but there is also another motor offering power to the rear axle for use as all-wheel drive. Finally, there is the Qoros 3 Estate Concept showing off a likely station wagon model. Feel free to peruse the press blast below.

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Qoros brand debuting in Geneva with 3 Sedan, two concepts originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 17 Feb 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This is the Qoros GQ3

Jonathon Ramsey — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 09:15:00 EST

Filed under: Budget, Sedan, Geneva Motor Show, China, Europe, Chery, UK, MISC

We've been calling it the C11, but the new compact sedan from Qoros - the Sino-Israeli joint venture car company - has officially been dubbed GQ3. To be revealed at next year's Geneva Motor Show before going on sale in China in the second half of of 2013, the GQ3 is a C-segment sedan whose selling points are meant to be a spacious interior, lots of technology and five-star crash ratings on the Euro NCAP tests. If you're wondering about the name, each element signifies brand nomenclature: Qoros sedans will all begin with "G," the letter "Q" stands for the company and will feature in every car's name, and the number is the segment, "3" representing compacts.

Even though it's a compact car, the GQ3 is two inches wider than a Chrysler 200, and those wheel arches can swallow 19-inch rims. Beyond spaciousness, the interior's main attraction is the eight-inch touchscreen infotainment system utilizing in-house software, technology and graphics. It can recognize swipe gestures used on smartphones and is said to integrate all kinds of navigation, traffic, POI and social media features.

We've saved a discussion of the car's looks for last because, yes, it look like a lot of cars and it looks like it took a lot of cues from a lot of cars - but overwhelming blandness will have that effect. Nevertheless, it's not one of the blatant copy-and-paste jobs we've seen many times before, and if GQ3 can deliver on its three prime directives it will be a home run for Chery Automotive, the Chinese arm of the venture, and Chinese consumers. European deliveries of the GQ3 are expected to begin at the end of next year. The press release below has more details.

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This is the Qoros GQ3 originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 26 Dec 2012 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New Chinese carmaker Qoros set for 2013 Geneva Motor Show debut

Jonathon Ramsey — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 14:02:00 EST

Filed under: Sedan, Geneva Motor Show, China, Chery

Qoros, the Chinese carmaker that's a joint venture between Chery Automotive and Israel Corporation, has released a couple of teaser images of the small sedan it has planned for next year's Geneva Motor Show. Qoros, a play on the word "chorus," is already almost six years old, and unlike other start-ups we've watched over the years, appears to have spent that time working on a properly vetted automobile with the help of industry-standard suppliers.

Although the image above hints at three different vehicles, it's the C-segment sedan up front that will come first. The "elegantly proportioned" C11, a four-door planned for sale "to discerning young buyers in China and Europe" next year, was caught in camouflage this summer while testing in Europe. Designed by Gert Volker Hildebrand, who led the design for the return of Mini, it is said to have interior space above its class, "a strong focus on state-of-the-art technology," and "will be engineered to receive maximum ratings on Euro NCAP safety tests."

A 150,000-unit factory is currently being built, and once the C11 is launched Qoros envisions that the modular architecture supporting it will allow a new model to be introduced "almost every half year." That would explain the crossover-looking vehicles behind the sedan, and the hybrid and electric variants to be included among the range. There's a press release below with more information.

Continue reading New Chinese carmaker Qoros set for 2013 Geneva Motor Show debut

New Chinese carmaker Qoros set for 2013 Geneva Motor Show debut originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 11 Nov 2012 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What's a Qoros? Apparently this is...

Steven J. Ewing — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 15:29:00 EST

Filed under: Spy Photos, Sedan, China

... Qoros?

Let us explain. Qoros is a Chinese automaker co-owned by Chery and the Israeli Israel Corporation, reportedly working on bringing a handful of models to Europe. The company's vice chairman, former Volkswagen executive Volker Steinwascher, says that Qoros vehicles aim to "combine German design quality and craftsmanship with Japanese convenience and functionality."

The first of Qoros' products, the C11, has just been caught testing by our spy shooters in southern Europe. The car is said to be about the same size as a Volkswagen Jetta - fine, since that's the class of car it will be competing against. The sedan appears to use a rather conservative design scheme, though we'll wait for the zebra paper to be peeled away before making final judgments. What's more, former Mini designer Gert Hildebrand is understood to be leading the styling direction at Qoros, so at least this sedan shouldn't look as, shall we say, "patched together" as many other Chinese autos tend to do.

Power is expected to come from a 1.6-liter turbocharged inline-four sourced from Chery, mated to either a six-speed manual or a dual-clutch transmission.

After the launch of the C11 sedan, Qoros will reportedly launch a hatchback version, as well as a crossover and full-on utility vehicle. We'll definitely be keeping our eyes peeled.

What's a Qoros? Apparently this is... originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 05 Jul 2012 15:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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