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Update 7 4 2007 12 02 40 PM ET 2007-07-04T16 February 40.
BEIJING The next Made in China exports to the US cars.
Chrysler Group signed an agreement Wednesday with China's biggest automaker, Chery, to launch a low-cost production company that could export the first cars made in China to the United States.
The first cars will arrive in Latin America or Eastern Europe within a year and models should be exported to North America and Western Europe 2 1 2 years, said Chrysler CEO Tom LaSorda.
As part of the overall transformation of Chrysler Group, we find new ways to make vehicles to market faster, more efficiently and at lower cost, LaSorda said at a signing ceremony.
The alliance 10-year-old automotive supply Chery Co based in the Chinese city of Wuhu, an opportunity to realize his ambition longtime market entry U S.
Chinese automakers already export, mostly low-priced trucks and buses shipped to Africa and other developing markets, but analysts say they do not have the technology to meet US standards and safety and pollution Europeans themselves.
Chery CEO and Chairman Yin Tongyao said the deal will help Chery improve its skills as it tries to expand foreign sales of its own models.
Chery is still young, so we have to learn from Chrysler and improve our competitive advantage in the near future, he said, calling LaSorda my teacher in the automotive sector.
The first Chrysler-Chery export will be based on the compact A1 Chery and sold under the Dodge brand, LaSorda said.
A 1 Version 3 liters of A1 retails in China to 53.800 to 59.800 yuan US-7100 US 7900; 5.200 to 5.800 export prices have not been announced.
The companies will jointly develop future models, probably with Chrysler style on a Chery platform, LaSorda and.
LaSorda said he had no concerns about any US consumer convinced that cars made in China are safe at a time of warnings about seafood, tires and other products imported from China Chrysler will work closely with Chery to make cars meet US and European safety and emissions standards, he said.
The agreement follows the agreement of DaimlerChrysler AG in May to sell 80 1 percent of Chrysler losing money to private equity group Cerberus Capital Management U, freeing the parent company to focus on its truck and Mercedes luxury car lines.
major automakers experienced an aggressive expansion of production in China, which overtook Japan last year to become No. 2 in the global automotive market after the United States, but so far mostly focused satisfaction of the local red demand, which has made China a bright spot for US automakers amid lackluster sales at home.
Others have also announced plans export of cars made in China to the United States, but none has yet been on the market.
A Chinese automaker Changfeng Motor Co said in January it hoped to sell sport utility vehicles in the United States within two years, but gave no details Chery had a deal with American entrepreneur Malcolm Bricklin for sale cars in the US market, but that fell.
Honda Motor Co Japan exported Chinese subcompacts Jazz built in Europe since 2005.
Last year, Chery reported about 310 000 cars sales, with 40,000 of those exported His goal this year is 390,000 cars, including 70,000 units sold abroad.
The company assembles vehicles with partners in Iran, Malaysia, Russia, Ukraine, Brazil and Egypt He announced in March to open a factory in Uruguay _ the first in Latin America _ with an Argentine partner.
Total sales of Chinese cars rose 37 percent last year to 3 8 million, while total vehicle sales rose 25 percent to 7 1 2 million, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers LaSorda said Chrysler picked Chery after looking at potential partners in Europe and Asia.
We studied the world and found they were the best, he said.
Asked whether Chrysler was worried that the alliance might help Chery develop a competitor that might threaten its US partner, LaSorda told the Associated Press, No, we are not with us or without us, they will grow if the question is, you go with a winner.
The production of the company could reach several hundred thousand units a year, LaSorda said.
This is the beginning of a very long relationship between Chrysler and Chery, he said.
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