China is laying plans at this very moment to begin shipment of passenger vehicles to the North American market by mid 2007. Chinese automobile manufacturer, Chery, yes read that again… the company sounds strangely like Chevy, is looking at bringing not just one, but a whole fleet of low cost production vehicles to our shores. Proposed prices will astound you and could potentially bring the U.S. auto market to its knees. Don’t think for even one moment that Japanese and Korean automakers will be immune from this flood of low cost cars. Chery vehicles have been designed – some say stolen – from current Asian models and will compete directly against the likes of Toyota, Honda, Nissan, and Hyundai. China’s long awaited war with the US – at one time expected to begin with a Red Army attack on Taiwan — may be fought on an economic front instead.

Chery, a state-owned car producer formed in China’s eastern Anhui Province, is currently building a number of cars in China including the QQ – a compact car strangely similar to the Daewoo Spark [GM' Korean division], as well as several sedans and a compact SUV. Indeed, recent charges made by Toyota, GM, and Honda have all alleged that Chery mimicked or outright stole designs from at least one of each automaker’s vehicles including the Honda CR-V. For the record, the Toyota case was rejected, Honda is still attempting to work out a solution with their case, and GM recently dropped its suit after the Chinese automaker agreed not to sell their cars in the US under the Chery name which GM has stated is too close to the Chevy name. Chinese courts have also ruled that the Daewoo Spark design was not registered in China, so GM dropped its suit.

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