Whats the best Chinese mini city car?
What do you guys think,
- Chang’an Ben Ben
- Shuang Huan Little Noble
- Chery QQ 3
- Chery QQ 6
- Hai Fei Lobo (pictured, above)
- Changhe Ideal
- BYD Flyer
Any others? Does the Chery WOW count yet?
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What do you guys think,
Any others? Does the Chery WOW count yet?
China Retail Times
I vote for the Chery QQ3 even if it isn’t the strongest car ever built… At least we know they can do 160km/h if you really want to test your manhood and sanity.
The others lack the coolness factor of the QQ.
The Chery Wow doesn’t do anything for me, especially with what looks like a towel rail for a door handle?
Im thinking of a Little Noble 800c for hooning to school in the mornings in.
I spend at least 40 mins sitting in traffic every morning for a 7km journey. Sure I could take one of my bikes but its getting cold now and 36,000rmb is peanuts to be honest….
Got to be QQ3, foundation to the success of Chery. People’s little car, completely changed Chinese attitude towards mini car. Those SATANA/JETTA drivers must have dropped their jaws when QQ came out.
All the others are just followers…
Too vague of a question……..let’s be more specific:
Most POPULAR m/c (mini/city) car: Chery QQ3 (no contest)
BEST m/c car: Chery QQ6 (more on that)
COOLEST (most fashionable) m/c car: Little Noble
MOST OUT OF DATE m/c car: BYD Flyer
I think there is a difference between the BEST m/c car and the most POPULAR m/c car (the other two categories are more for fun). The QQ3 is THE sales leader for Chery and a benchmark car for the mini car market….but it’s not the BEST. It’s essentially a copy of the Spark (Chevy QQ/Chery Spark….I get confused) and it’s just a bit TOO tiny. The QQ6 (my choice for BEST m/c car) is a original design (maybe not the most beautiful looking car but VERY functional) and FULL of nice features. Things like LED tail lamps, a USB plug for your MP3 player, a HUGE amount of room when you fold the 60/40 split rear seats down, GREAT rear seat head AND leg room, a “stylish” interior (not TOO cheap looking), power windows on ALL 4 doors……no other car in this price range offers these kinds of features. The price has also just dropped – you can get the base model QQ611 for 38,600 rmb (with ABS, EBD and air bags only 43,600 rmb) – a GREAT BARGAIN. Get past the funky looks and enjoy the amazing roominess and versatility the QQ6 has. The Ben Ben comes close (and it IS a better looking car)…..I just think that the QQ6 offers the better VALUE of the two.
Little Noble has the MP3 plug in too, and its only 36k.
Surprised the Chery A1 didnt get mentioned. Thats the king as far as im concerned!
Lets be totally honest – there isnt a ‘best’ they are all BAD, and dangerous!!
Dog tucker is right! you can’t expect too much from a cheap car, specially in china where seem to be all the car have the same specs, and the same performance (not the best). So at this point I think the only think that separate the chinese brand is what they can offer in design, gadgets and price.
I would also go for Chery QQ3 but is a burlesque copy of the Chevy spark, design that was bought by Chevrolet when Daewoo motors bankrupted and the little noble it’s a pretty car just because it’s an even more burlesque and shameless copy of the smart. Now with the Chery QQ6, they tried to make something different “original” that deserve some credit.
The A1 IS great, Ashley – it’s just priced a little TOO high to be in the same market as the other cars (with the DVD/GPS screen the A1 is 60,000 rmb). The A1 (and the Xiali C1) deserve to be in another category – feau paux luxo mini/city cars!! Also, the A1 isn’t “fully” released yet (I still have not seen one on the streets in Nanning yet – just the one that’s still in the showroom), so I hadn’t really thought about it. It’s going to be interesting to see where the Chery WOW (S16) falls into all of this…..I still think that the S16 is the potential next-generation QQ3. Chevy has the new Spark coming out in 2008, and I DON’T think that Chery will copy the Spark design AGAIN!!
I’m sorry but I despise copies specially with cars. It’s a kind of loser philosophy that says: WHY THINK IN SOMETHING NEW, WHEN THE PEOPLE WHO CAN THINK HAVE DONE IT ALREADY. I don’t share that.
Dog tucker, Mundosanto,
Your opinions and comments are welcome, but try not to be so OVERLY negative in every comment.
Ashley, first of all I wish to congratulate and thank you for this great articles in this website, with all due respect but I think the target of this website and everyone here who visit this site and take the time to read and leave comments on this greats articles have something in common, we all LOVE and RESPECT cars and the cars industry in all the world. So everyone here have to agree that what happen here in china its a real SHAME and LACK OF RESPECT to the industry, designers and even more, consumers.
So if there is something overly negative here is not the comments we make, believe me we are very objective in our comments and everything we say here is real and true.
We have a saying in my country: “THE TRUE ALWAYS HURT”
Somebody have to say it… i hope we could do something to stop this shameless companies who make a living copying the effort of real designers and tech developers.
Thanks again for your articles!
“THE TRUE ALWAYS HURT” That is well said. But I don’t think these Chinese company are “shameless”, that is why once they reach a certain level they all seek their own marks in their designs. That is encouraging.
Lets face it.The entry level of today’s auto market is already so high, new comers like Chery or BYD/Geely with only 10 years (or even less)history would never get a chance to get going without “copying” some mature models. A baby just cannot win a fight with adult without cheating. But after they grow up and still cheat, then that is REAL CHEAT.
Besides, these cars are value for money, nice looking, ultra efficient means of transport for people without a lot of money. For me, that is all motoring is about.They made millions of ordinary people dreams come true when they can afford something which could never be imagined before when SATANA costed you RMB150,000 plus.
Im agree with you in some point, when you have such short history you need find your own path or stile and mostly you find thid stile using references, but one thing is use a reference or an influence and another totally different is a plain and straight copy.
The problem with the copy is that when you build a name based in cheap copies with of course a third of the quality of the original you create a really bad reputation that follow you for the rest of your life as a company.
I just feel pity, if you have the resources, the technology and the capacity to make cars, why not do it right then. I dont see korean or japanese copying cars. even the new cars coming from Iran, maybe they arent the best looking but at least they are not copy.
Jonny Boy, thans for your comment!
We have a saying in my country too.. “If you don’t have anything nice to say then don’t say anything”.
The car industry here is nowhere near mature. It is still in its infancy and like everything else here in China the general public doesn’t really care that its a copy or not(to a point). Copies are so available here in many industries but you can also buy some very high quality products as well from Chinese manufacturers.
Most of the buyers are first time drivers and have the opportunity and the cash to purchase their first car. If they are fortunate to be able to afford the best then they would surely buy it if its what they wanted. Most buyers are most likely to not have that much cash and are very happy to settle for something that looks similar and is within their price range. How many consumers in other countries can say their first car was a brand new one? I’m sure the percentage is much less than here. Chinese mini cars fulfill the lower end of the market in the same way Mercs, BMWs and Lexus’s do the top end.
It’s difficult for the Chinese to design their own vehicles well at this point for one major reason (IMHO)… they are not taught to be creative when they are at school. School teaches them how to memorise and pass exams, even an art class will have certain rules in which they need to follow to draw a painting (Chinese style of course).
After leaving school they may develop an artistic style but it will be different to westerners style as you can see with many local brands(not just cars). As such some of the pure Chinese designed cars look like they have been whacked with an ugly stick, at least to us anyway. Eventually as more designers come through we will see more Chinese designed cars but it could be 1-10 years away. Brilliance is leading the way by getting help to design their cars.. this alone is a good start.
The technology and materials to build safer cars is available and when the consumers start to demand more safety features in their vehicles then the manufacturers will no doubt get their A into G and build stronger cars. This will eventually happen over time as the industry develops and the central government tightens policy around vehicle safety and emissions. C-NCAP is a good start to that.
Ashley, sorry for babbling on a bit. I thought the topic was a good one for debate about the cars you mentioned
Go the QQ3
To mundosanto
you have some very valid points and I agree with you .And that is why Chery and other Chinese manufacturers are investing billions to shed off that low price low quality image that you just mentioned.
And ofcourse you do not see Japanese and Korean copying nowadays but how old are they now ? And can you say the same thing for the Japanese 40 years ago and the Korean 20 years ago ?
But you are gotta be given credit for saying the negative and point out the current drawbacks of the Chinese auto industry . But fortunately carmaker like Chery already recognises those weakness and doing works on it, from design with italian bertone, and I heard that they are working with the Japanese engineers to enhance the quality.
But what I don’t understand is that when someone look at Chinese cars regardless of the brands, they immediately say it’s a copy without even looking at it carefully, company like brilliance does not copy and some people called their cars copy, and the Chery’s A6 that was designed by Bertone, people call it a copy. I mean they are very prejudiced, even when people try doing something, they still don’t give them a chance.
I agree with you too, there are far too many China haters who like to have a “female dog” and a moan as soon as they look at Chinese cars. These people (you know who you are!!) probably come to China and expect the Chinese to kneel before them as if they some sort of god or alternatively think most of China is still a backwards place where shoddy deals are done on street corners and you have to bribe everyone to get something done and then it will get copied anyway…… We will never please these people and its a good thing most don’t come to China
.
Lucky Ashlee has his banning stick at the ready for many of this lot….
Chery and Brilliance probably realise they don’t have the talent in house(yet) to design good looking cars and so do what normal manufacturers have done for ages… recruit an outside firm to help. It not only gives them a base for the next generation models but also gives face to the vehicle itself for being designed in Europe and engineered in Japan. Depending where you live there can be some anti Japanese feelings but they know the cars from Japan are pretty good. (mostly)
Given 20 years Chery is likely to become a major international brand. They have a long way to go but are not afraid to risk it. Somehow I don’t see them failing though.
woxihuanpijiu I feel I bit of resentless in your first comment, I will let it go, You people have to understand that my point in this comments is to make you see that chinese industry can do much better than a cheap copy, even when I know what you say is true when you you talk about the lack of creativity that the chinese are raised with. I have seen mayor inventions coming out of this country, I think the problem beyond the lack of creativity is laziness and cheapness from the companies.
I know the chinese management style Im kind of a victim of that, open the company, copy as much you can and try to make as much money as you can as soon as possible, without taking care of the quality, the standards or even the reputation they build. And that happen not only in the car industry. I see that in every area.
But I think that is a subject for another blog or article. Sorry if I offended some souls with my comments. I just think China have everything to do much better.
by the way woxihuanpijiu, no hard feelings, you are right in many points and I agree with you!
mundosanto, same here, no hard feelings. I see where you are coming from too its just that recently there have been too many negative posts here about the same things (quality, safety, copying the west etc). Given the lack of information about the Chinese car industry available in English I just thought I should stand up and say something, it wasn’t directed at any individual in particular. Most people haven’t found this site yet which is good or every oddball would come out of the woodwork. You are welcome to your opinions as is everyone
. You might get the odd hassle but don’t worry too much about it.
Ashley just a general culture question… if here in china this cars are the called “mini city car”, in wich category you place cars such as Chevy Spark, Chevy Aveo, Peugeot 206, Citroen C2, Toyota Yaris, etc. And wich is the range of price for this cars.
I ask you because in most countries this kind of cars are the called “city car”. I mean most countries dont count with as many brands as china to build this kind of mini cars.
I’m not Ashley, but I think I can answer your question. First, the Chevy Spark would be in the same category as these other cars…..but since the posting asked about the best CHINESE mini city car, the Spark doesn’t qualify (designed by Daewoo originally, now built by GM in cooperation with Wuling in Liuzhou). Price of the Spark is 45-60,000 rmb depending on engine size and options.
The other cars you mentioned? They’re in the next category (compacts) whereas the “mini/city” cars are subcompacts. Prices range from 65,000 to 100,000 rmb for these cars depending on engine size and options (A LOT of other cars are also in this category here in China – it’s a crowded market for cars in this price range). Engine sizes are usually from 1.3 to 1.6L in size, and automatic transmissions are available in ALL the cars you asked about.
Thanks a lot joninchina very clear and well explained. I think this cathegory will be even more and more popular because of the lack of space in the cities, people dont want big cars anymore, the cities are way too crowded.
Mundosanto,
I wrote you a lengthy reply about how the Chinese have borrowed (or possibly vice versa) the word ‘kei car’ from the Japanese, except the Chinese call it ‘Wei Car’
Wei cars in China are not true Kei cars by Jap standards (i.e. tiny two seat Mitsubishi Shoguns) but there does seem to be a class where the Little Nobel is a Wei car but a Hafei Lobo is also a Kei Car but a Honda Fit is a small car.
I lost my original post when I rebooted my PC before pressing enter
Thanks a lot Ashley!
I don’t think you guys get it as far as where the car market is going in the future. It’s going into China. Period. I live in Chongqing, about 1 mile from the new Ford/Changan plant. They make 3 Fords and 3 or 4 Chanan cars. They have extensive plans and investment to ramp up for more Changan models. This Ford/Changan plant is super-modern, and ready to take on the world. It is a no-expenses-spared operation to become a major car manufacturing center in the future. Ford is closing plants in USA and opening them here, that’s a fact. Those that only bemoan poor Chinese cars need to understand that this is just the front end of what’s going to happen within 10 years, world-wide. The Japanese had poor quality cars in the 70s, then kicked our butts in the 80s and 90s. But you haven’t seen anything yet.
I hope you are right and the chinese star designing “kick ass” cars, I know they have everything they need to do it, just seen like nobody want to do the first step.