Chery to take longer to ripen than Bricklin expected

Time to unmark your calendars. Chery, the opening salvo in what is likely to be a tidal wave of Chinese imports into the U.S., is running behind schedule. Visionary Vehicles chief Malcolm Bricklin is relenting on his bid to have cars in American dealerships by late 2007, and when the vehicles arrive, he doesn't expect them to sell as many as originally expected.

Bricklin had targeted 250,000 units in Chery USA's first year, but it will appear that hopefuls and critics  will need to wait until some time in 2008 before seeing how the whole thing pans out.

[Source: Bloomberg News]

(top tip, GP)