A logo in search of a market?
China-based Qoros Auto Company will debut a new compact or C-class sedan at next year’s Geneva Motor Show as part of what it claims will be a series of vehicles aimed at buyers in China, Europe and the Middle East.
This business plan, of course, is easily done by press release. However, the design, development, manufacturing and wholesaling of actual cars and light trucks sometimes is more difficult, occasionally thwarting even the best of established automakers.
The independent company said it has enlisted major global suppliers, including Magna Steyr, TRW, Continental, Bosch, Valeo, Microsoft and Iconmobile, to help develop yet another small vehicle line in an already saturated market. Europe, for example, has capacity to build 20 million vehicles in a market that has shrunk for five straight years to its current 12 million-unit level
Qoros is claiming a unique architecture that will allow for the quick rollout of a range of models and variants, including the introduction of hybrid and electric vehicles. New variants are expected to launch roughly every six months.
Qoros has financing from Chery Automobile and Israel Corporation, a holding company with an initial registered capital of RMB 3.4 billion, or roughly $544 million. It has design and R&D centers in Munich, Graz and Shanghai. The headquarters is based in Changshu, Jiangsu Province. A plant as well as with an initial annual production capacity of 150,000 vehicles and a maximum production capacity of 450,000 vehicles is under development.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
