Chery A1 - an objective review

[Fatswift]

Hi everyone,

 

With China cars becoming more and more popular here, the quality and performance has also increased.

 

Er... that statement alone.. is not objective, nor does it make any sense leh. How can you related something being popular, with quality and performance?

 

 

As for my personal opinion, the china made cars have a long way to go before they can reach average acceptable standard. I define average acceptable standard with the industry small to mid size sedans, Honda Civic/Accords and Toyota Corolla/Altis/Vios.

 

LONG way to go before they can get anywhere near these marques.

 

 

But I do comment them on a good start. Look at Proton... getting better and better, just need time and the companies passion for making GOOD CARS, and not just about making MONEY, thats all.

[Calford]

well, most new auto company did that and have to go through that stage, eg proton and hyundai. only now they start to have they own design.

[Beavc]

Giving time is one thing....but the price you pay for the A1 is appalling...even my wife's opel (1.6) & my auto car (2.0) does better FC than the A1, easily 11-12...

 

I think the reviewer is just been nice else next time no one will lend cars to them for review....in any case as some other forumer has pointed...there are better options for that price and if i really want to buy a Chinese car i think T11 better...seen one of another forumer's T11 not too shabby for a Chinese SUV (bearable in terms of styling at least not like the retro looking 168)

 

if i were the reviewer, i won't stoop so low as to suck up to china car dealer so as to get a china car to review.

 

give me an aging jap van to review anyday

 

 

hahaha ripple effect lah...whack so hard next time no one let him review car how?

[Calford]

I dont think this model A1 is copy from any other car,

they have been working hard and putting effort on it,

if chery is so bad, chery will close by now, and will not able to sell their cars to more than 50 countries.

Please read more and more wider before saying unjustified comments on China cars. Be civilize Give them chance and time to grow.

[Calford]

This topic should discuss about Chery A1 - an objective review. Not to bash people up.

[Bearbear1494]

If a 11 years old company (Chery) can produce a car that can match Jap quality, the world will shakes! The Chief Engineer of Toyota will be very very very very stress.....

 

Once upon a time, Japanese-made components were deemed as the lowest quality stuff made in the modern world. That was, of course way back in time till the late 60's, before the Japanese finally got their act together & to date have produced some of the world's most impressive products.

 

I'm not saying that China WILL go down the same path eventually, but that there is a CHANCE that things will improve. Of course, by then the Japanese (and the Koreans for that matter) may have surpassed current standards & usher in a new benchmarking era for quality. We'll just have to wait & see.

[Bearbear1494]

we cant all b so biased criticising tat china cars r so fuel inefficient. it could b a typo error by the reporter? who knows? or its jus an estimate value, not given by the manufacturer.

the price they are selling now is $39,999, not $42,999, so below the 40k mark, which, to me is very reasonable. jus compare to the huge profit that honda is making for all their cars!!! but people jus pay n dun complain!

remember, if u compare with picanto, u cant jus compare the prices only. look into the specs of both cars:

 

A1 - Picanto

$39,999 / $42,000

1.3 Litre / 1.1 Litre

2 airbags / not even 1?

14" alloy rims / i m not sure do they have alloy rims as standard?

power side mirrors / manualy adjusted

4 power windows factory fitted / 2 front power windows

front fog light / optional i think

rear fog light / none

headlight leveling device / none

dash meter dimmer / none

60/40 rear split fold seats / maybe have (not sure)

transponder keys with immobiliser / normal remote alarm keys

global closing windows / none

etc

etc

etc

 

so u see, china cars do reli put in effort, trying to penetrate into new market getting market share by giving higher specs at lowest possible prices.

give them a chance. try it b4 condemning it.

 

cheers

 

I agree that the A1 has better specs compared to a base model Picanto. But from the higher pricetag that the A1 demands, I would naturally expect to have such bells & whistles as standard, or even dealer freebies. Now, the main thing separating the A1 from the rest of the budget super-minis is of course reliability, quality of fittings as well as resale value. All of which currently don't come close to the competition.

 

Reliability is unproven as it's a new model, but if the QQ is anything to go by, expect some amount of downtime. Most probably more downtime than a lemon Picanto, to resolve issues with fittings & other minor problems.

 

Quality, fit & finish is still more akin to Hyundais of yore. Uneven panel gaps, loose fittings & the feel of the plastics used are indications that although this model is a improved one, Chery has still some distance to cover. A Picanto feels better built by comparision.

 

Resale value? You know as well as I do that you'll get a better price from a used Hyundai or Picanto, or even a Kelisa, than from a Chery. The Chinese cars are just not there yet to make most local buyers want one.

 

So, given the above arguments, I believe that the current pricetag of the A1 will not help the marketing. Knock off a few thousand bucks more, keep the current equipment list & perhaps it'll be more value for money.

[Silver_blade]

my fren,

left komoco liao

well, i used to feel the same way as u in the early days, in the 80s-90s, as technology was slow n backward then. but even a 4-5 star crash test car also dun mean safe. my favourite example to quote is princess diana died in a s-class with at least 8-10 airbags n i supposed was bullet-proof too? :)

so it all depends on the driver!!!

cheers

Cannot take princes Diana's case as an example. 1st the car was travelling at insane speed which will smashed any car. 2) The back passengers were not belted up.

 

Objectively, if you were to put a car with 5 star rating and one with 1 start rating, traveling at the same speed and hit the same object...those in the former will have a better chance of surviving than those in the latter.

[Silver_blade]

I feel the A1 is too ex to make any sense to get one. For china cars to be attractve...they have to be sold quite a lot cheaper to kor/jap car in their respective class.

[Kenkht]

I see a lot of comments like "give China made cars a chance to catch up, Japanese made cars also played catchup to conti cars 20 years ago" etc etc. This is like saying a new mobile phone company should produce a phone that weighs a ton and look like a brick and have to carry a suitcase size transmitter or whatnot and selling it next to a slick small mobile phones we have today. Which one do you think we'll buy?

 

I mean we have all progressed!! It's like we used to wear diapers, does it mean we go back to wearing diapers again? (Ermmm ...maybe some of you still do..)

 

Car technology is the same, everyone has progressed, moved on. Those stuck in the past producing crap car should be stuck in the past. Not in the now.

 

Sorry if offend. But since China came into the world market, we started getting crap quality in all our daily products from food to electronics. I mean China food used to be good, but now it is downright dangerous in some of them. Life is about improvement but this is ridiculous, we're moving backwards because of C.

(Not a China bashing but a low quality China product bashing Now let's get back to cars..he he )

Edited March 4, 2008 by Kenkht

[Driftking]

Yes it seems like one of the main set backs for this car would be the price.

[Contax]

well, most new auto company did that and have to go through that stage, eg proton and hyundai. only now they start to have they own design.

 

you got a point....

[Beavc]

If a 11 years old company (Chery) can produce a car that can match Jap quality, the world will shakes! The Chief Engineer of Toyota will be very very very very stress.....

 

Once upon a time, Japanese-made components were deemed as the lowest quality stuff made in the modern world. That was, of course way back in time till the late 60's, before the Japanese finally got their act together & to date have produced some of the world's most impressive products.

 

I'm not saying that China WILL go down the same path eventually, but that there is a CHANCE that things will improve. Of course, by then the Japanese (and the Koreans for that matter) may have surpassed current standards & usher in a new benchmarking era for quality. We'll just have to wait & see.

 

The Chinese and the Japs cannot be compared this way. To be honest, there are differences in culture and behaviour...Chinese more into get rich fast kind of stuff kill a few pple no problem attitude, etc, Japanese discipline and are hardworking,etc....

 

The Chinese will not get there if all this don't change...

[Viviobluerex]

Chery so expensive? I'll take the Kelisa anytime, and cheaper too.

Kelisa anytime safer than PRC Cars. Good Choice.

[Qr25vet]

FC of 9km/L...thats the like FC of an E46 BMW M3

[Pisces69]

Please just don't focus on ONE line with bad comments. The rest of the review has so much praises for the A1.

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After a couple of years maybe u do a "review" again & see.

 

Probably most of the cars have already been scrapped due to too many problems & too expensive to maintain.

 

Unfortunately I feel things that come out of China only made to look good to impress the buyers. Quality is absolutely They only think short term(Hit & run ). Make the $$$ quick & retire.

[Enzomatrix]

cos it can smoke cars ma even a M3 so fc also like m3

[Pisces69]

any idea when the chery coupe will arrive? saw a couple when i was at my china office..looks gd. i believe chery is very similar to hyundai when they 1st arrived at this tiny island. alot of skepticisms in the begining but look at hyundai now.. i've been to the showroom to view the T11 and crossover and i was impressed.

===========================

 

The Koreans & the Chinese have very different mentalities. The Koreans r similar to the Japs. The Chinese r well like, the Chinese.