Upstart Chinese automaker Chery is getting ready launch production of its first hybrid in October. The A5 hybrid sedan is targeted at the low end of the market. As such, it uses a less expensive mild hybrid system rather than a strong hybrid like the Prius. The A5's mild hybrid, which was developed with powertrain consultant Ricardo, provides a 15 percent improvement in fuel efficiency. Earlier this year, Chery built a 50-vehicle test fleet of A5 hybrids that was loaned to Olympic officials during the Beijing games. Chery has not revealed technical details of its system, or how much it plans to charge for the hybrid, but it's expected to run somewhere around $600-1,200 more than the conventional version.


[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]

British company Ricardo, know for its efforts in cleaning up powertrains, has decided to give a boost to its hybrid developments by hiring a new Group Director. The new appointee is Dr. Roger Thornton, who has more than 25 years of experience in power electronics based systems for transportation applications. Dr. Thorton joined Ricardo in 2006 as senior hybrids manager and was responsible for hybrid programs such as the recently announced Chery A5 BSG and ISG hybrids, a fifty-vehicle fleet of which was just used at the Beijing Olympics. With the help of Dr. Thornton, Ricardo expects to become a provider or even a partner for automakers that wish to develop or improve their hybrid vehicle product line-ups.

[Source: Ricardo]

For Chrysler, the future is looking green(er). Company vice chairman Tom LaSorda recently announced a bunch of new fuel-efficient offerings. In 2010, an unibody Jeep Grand Cherokee will be introduced that will be mated to a new V6 fuel efficient engine. The automaker plans to spend $1.8 billion to refit its Jefferson North (Detroit) Assembly Plant to produce this Grand Cherokee (2008 model pictured above) and other products off the same platform, which was initially co-developed with Mercedes. LaSorda also had confirmed a hybrid powertrain and a clean diesel for the Ram pickup truck. No news on the possible minivan hybrid.

Then there's the subcompact model that Chrysler is co-developing with Chery. LaSorda said that it is in the last phases of the design process and that Chery Automotive is making a number of engineering changes to the small car, which could be ready by the end of this year and on sale in 2009.



[Source: Automotive News (subs. req'd)]

Click above for more high-res shots of the Chery A5 hybrid

In April, it was revealed that Chinese carmaker Chery would be supplying some fifty vehicles for use during the Olympic games, including the company's first hybrid model. There are two such hybrid models, both based on the automaker's A5 sedan. The A5 BSG is a simpler design featuring a twelve volt Belt Starter-Generator attached to the standard model's 1.6-liter four cylinder engine. The BSG features stop/start capability and is said to offer up to a 10-percent fuel economy improvement in urban driving. The more advanced A5 ISG uses a smaller 1.3-liter engine along with a 12 kW, crankshaft-mounted 151-volt Integrated Starter-Generator system which is said to offer a 15-percent improvement in fuel consumption.

Pictures indicate that the larger battery pack of the A5 ISG model is located in the trunk and is attached to the back of the rear seat. These two hybrids were developed with the assistance of Ricardo and are expected to go on sale shortly after the Olympic Games are complete.


[Source: Ricardo via Carscoop]

As we reported the other day, Chrysler is working as hard as possible to get its gas-guzzling fleet more in line with consumer desires. These days, that means fuel efficiency, so it comes as little surprise that Dodge is renewing its efforts to get the Hornet small car up and running. Up until this point, it had been assumed that the Chrysler joint venture with Chinese automaker Chery would produce the Hornet, but it seems that the Chinese company may not be quite ready for prime time. Instead, Chrysler's recent tie-up with Nissan is now expected to result in the new Dodge vehicle.

Chrysler still has plans to introduce a budget line of vehicles with its Chinese counterpart. Dodge's upcoming Hornet, though, will not be an entry level model at all. The Hornet is expected to compete with upper level small cars such as the Mini, which has seen excellent sales as of late due to its fuel efficiency.

[Source: Automotive News Europe - sub. req'd]

The initial spawn of the agreement between Chrysler and Chery Motors has made its first tentative appearance. The Dodge Breeze is nothing more than a rebadged version of the Chery A1 but it has apparently turned up on a Chinese forum. The Breeze is not expected to come to the U.S. but will likely be sold in South and Central America. If and when a Chery-built car does make it to the American shores, it will likely be an all-new design developed with Chrysler engineering input.

[Source: CarScoop]

The ongoing saga of Chrysler's attempted partnership with Chery Automotive of China may finally be close to a resolution. According to business publication Information Times, a final deal for a joint venture may be near. The American and Chinese companies would each have a fifty percent stake in the manufacturing venture at a new plant with a capacity for 250,000 cars a year. The venture is expected to produce rebadged versions of the Chery A1 (pictured above) and A3 mini cars with Chrysler putting up cash for the deal and Chery providing land and technology. It's not clear if these cars will be offered in the U.S. market but if they are, then Chrysler will be taking a different approach to the low end market from Ford. Ford will be marketing the new Fiesta as a stylish, well-equipped small car that's expected to be profitable for the company. The Chery-based cars would likely be sold at a much lower price and they probably won't be considered a premium small car.

[Source: Gasgoo]

Chery A-1: 5-door hatchback. China. $7,340

The A-1 looks like a competent subcompact and rumors are that it's going to be sold under the Dodge brand in places like Mexico. Nevertheless, it is Chery's partnership with Austrian company AVL that will be bringing the technology to make this car meet the Euro IV standards, something the environment should appreciate. You know, if it were a sentient being that could appreciate things.

The A-1 is powered by a 1.3-liter, 4-cyl, 83 HP engine. There are some official pics in the gallery below and you can find more shots of the newest model by our colleages at Autoblog in Chinese here.


Ready to move on? Return to the list of the cheapest cars in the world.

After the introduction of the Tata Nano, lots of people began wondering what is going to happen when a lot of people in developing countries have enough money to afford a cheap car. While Tata tried to alleviate concerns of the Nano-boom by saying that the Nano is cleaner than most motorbikes that are running on Indian roads right now, the truth is that low-cost motoring helps developing the car industry - and pollution. If you need examples, take a look at stories like of the Fiat 500 (the old one) in Italy, the VW Beetle in Germany; the Citroën 2CV or the Renault 4CV in France or, dare I say, the Ford Model T in the U.S.

So, what might the future of cheap driving look like? Forbes went around the world and found the ten cheapest cars on the market and we've gathered up information on each of these in the links below. Although it may be bad news to have more cars sending more exhaust gases to the atmosphere, at least current technologies (when implemented) make new cars better and cleaner than cars of past decades.

So, are the cars on this list good to the world or a threat to the environment?

What follows is a list of the 10 least expensive cars in the world, ranked from most expensive to least expensive. Alternatively, you can jump straight to the car of your choice by clicking one of the thumbnails below.

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For once a Chinese automaker has built a new car that isn't a clone of something from another company and isn't hideously ugly. The Chery S16 first appeared as a concept at the 2005 Shanghai Motor Show and now appears headed toward production. What appears to be production unit remains pretty faithful to the concept. The design isn't bad for a small car although a few elements do draw on other cars. The C-pillar looks like the D-pillar area of the Chevy Equinox while the lights front and rear borrow from the VW Beetle. Unfortunately, while Chery does appear to have made progress in design, they still seem to have a long way to go when it comes to actually bolting all the parts together. So far there is no indication of what kind of drive-train the S16 will have or if it will be exported.

Related:

• Chery has huge plans for hybrids in 2008 and beyond

[Source: The Hollywood Extra]

During a recent international renewable energy forum in Beijing, Liu Zhijia, Assistant General Manager of Chery, said by 2010 half of Chery's vehicles will be hybrids and half of those hybrids will run on clean fuels. Here is exactly what he said:

New energy is a driving force for the sustainable development of auto industry, by 2010 more than fifty percent vehicles produced by Chery will be equipped with hybrid systems, and half of those vehicles will be powered by new energy.

Yin Tongyao, Chery's chief executive has said Chery "will reach annual sales of 1 million autos by 2010." That would translate to annual sales of 500,000 hybrids a year from Chery. For comparison, the total U.S sales for hybrids for 2006 was 254,545. Will Chinese hybrids flood the U.S market? Not right away. Chery does not intend to enter the US market for four years.

At the forum, Liu also said the hybrid development plan will have three phases. The first step has mild hybrid sedans starting production in 2008 which means that overall emissions from Chery vehicles will be reduced between 10 and 30 percent. The second phase is the development and mass production of full hybrids and electric/alcohol vehicles by 2010. That's when Chery expects half of its sales to come from hybrids. The final phase is the development of fuel cells cars by 2015.

The Chinese vice-minister for science and technology, Cao Jianlin, was also at the forum and he said the government will provide funding and tax breaks as part of a government plan to encourage green technology. Chinese auto makers Shanghai Automotive and FAW has also shown interest in hybrid technology. The future of Chinese hybrids looks bright.

[Source: Heliq]

Chrysler was the first Western automaker to set up shop in China a quarter century ago and now they may well be the first to bring Chinese made cars to the US market. As expected, today in Beijing Chrysler CEO Tom LaSorda and Chery Automobile Co. Chairman and President Yin Tongyue finalized the deal to develop and distribute Chery-built small cars globally.

The companies will identify Chery vehicles to sell and re-engineer them to actually meet safety standards and other regulations. They will also work together on developing vehicles based on future Chery platforms. No word on when we will actually see any vehicles stateside, but hopefully they will do better than the Brilliance BS6 in crash testing before they arrive. The Chrysler press release is after the jump.

Related:

• Chrysler-Chery alliance to be finalized in Beijing tomorrow

[Source: Chrysler]

Dodge's angry, honey-I-shrunk-the-truck Scion-killer is apparently a go. And, despite some reservations, Chrysler has commissioned Chery to build it as part of Chrysler's three-year, $3 billion product renewal plan.

It's of course too early to tell what exactly the production model will have in store, but the concept sported a 170 hp supercharged four-cylinder, putting it placing it just below a GTI in size and performance. I don't know about everyone else, but this is a concept that I think would be a perfect addition to the already quite competitive B-segment just the way it is. Wishful thinking, I know, and maybe even irrelevant thinking, since the car will probably be sold exclusively over the pond. Unless you think Chrysler and its three new heads are smart... hmmm....

[Source: AutoBlog]

Micro cars are the hot new(ish) segment across the pond right now, and any mass-market car company that isn't in on the business should be. Recall that Chrysler is having talks with Chinese automaker Chery to collaborate on a new car for said segment, focusing on the Hornet concept as a particular possibility (wouldn't that be nice?). However, especially considering the sale of Chrysler to Cerberus, an alliance is now not looking like a very good idea, says James B. Treece, the Asia Editor of Automotive News.

Treece says that reasons for this include Chery potentially taking all kinds of resources from Chrysler (such as capital invested in new projects and dealer resources, advisers on assembly methods, safety regulations and quality standards, and of course, time), then turning around and screwing Chrysler by becoming a competitor. Neither Chrysler nor the other domestic automakers needs another competitor.

Chery is likely to make higher demands on a partnership anyway as part of their haggling negotiations now that Chrysler has changed hands. It would be best at this point to just cut ties and let the Chinese automaker figure out the U.S. market on their own. Read the Automotive News article (subscription required) by clicking the 'Read' link.

[Source: Automotive News]

Small cars often come in handy, especially when writing the initial check to purchase it and when pulling up next to the gas pump. For obvious reasons, the smaller the car and the smaller the engine, the less it costs and the less gas it uses. Anyway, Chrysler has been after a small B-Class car of their own for a while now, and appeared to have a deal in hand with the Chinese carmaker Chery for a car in that segment, namely, the Dodge Hornet. We have brought you quite a few news stories since then regarding that deal, which seems odd, considering that a deal had apparently been struck already... but, it seems that Chery might think that the deal is off based on the new owner of the Chrysler group. According to this story on Autoblog, Chery wants to renegotiate the deal with Cerberus, the new owner. I guess we'll just need to keep an eye on this one for now and hope that the vehicle gets built at some point.

Previously on AutoblogGreen:

• Chrysler VP talks about Chery and the Hornet
• Dodge Hornet, Chery S12, the QQ, and more updates on the Chery/DCX allianace
• DCX board approves small car partnership with Chery

[Source: Autoblog]