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Chery forcasts 40% rise in exports
(AP)
Updated: 2007-04-20 20:46 Chery and DaimlerChrysler AG announced an agreement last year for the Chinese company to manufacture small vehicles for sale worldwide under the Chrysler, Dodge or Jeep brand names. Chery's lineup under its own brand name ranges from the two-door A1 roadster to the Tiggo SUV. The small A3 sedan and midsize A6 unveiled Friday are due to go on sale this year, the company said. This year's sales target is 390,000 vehicles, with 70,000 exported, Qin said. But he said some Chery managers are forecasting sales of up to 500,000 vehicles, with as many as 100,000 exported. Half of Chery's exports last year went to Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union, with Russian sales rising 600 percent to about 6,000 vehicles, Qin said. Southeast Asia, Iran and other Middle Eastern countries also are key markets. Chery was displaying a hybrid gasoline-electric version of its A5 sedan that Qin said would be ready for sale in two to three years. The company also was showing an electric car powered by a hydrogen fuel cell and others that can run on natural gas, ethanol, bio-diesel and other alternative fuels, but Qin said there were no immediate plans to market them. Cleaner vehicles are a key theme at the Shanghai show, where many of the international and Chinese automakers are showing electric and other alternative cars. Referring to Chery's fuel cell sedan, Qin said, "We are showing this car to say to everybody, Chery cares about the environment." (For more biz stories, please visit Industries)
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