Chery M14 to become the Chery A3CC, complete with 2.0T

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The Brilliance Coupe was one of the first truly desirable Chinese coupes to launch, it had a decent amount of poke from its 1.8 turbo engine but it looks like the long overdue Chery M14 is coming along to rain on its parade. The M14 is going to be renamed the Chery A3CC, and will be the sister sports model to the already outstanding looking Chery A3.

As with the A3 series, the A3CC was also designed by the famed Pininfarina of Italy. The real reasoning for employing an established design company such as Pininfarina is that Chery plan on selling this car in the European and North American markets where the aesthetic design of a car is paramount. The Chinese coupe market is also a small niche that has not yet been entered, but to enter it fully then Chery had to get the car just right, it had to be fast enough to satisfy the speed requirements, and it had to handle, and above all else it had to be comfortable enough to drive on a daily basis. These factors were probably quite difficult for Chery to achieve, but the biggest issue was the folding solid roof. The folding roof issue lead Chery to delay the project for a whole year, and finally in early 2008 they had the break through that they had been waiting for, and by autumn 2008 the first production test vehicle came off the production line.

In 2009 Chery produced three groups of M14 test cars, each group was made up of 5 cars that were sent out to test a different series of roads. M14 was always a code name but during the testing phase Chery came up with the name ‘A3CC’. The A3CC was aiming for a mid 2010 launch, but due to the roof issue the launch has been delayed to the end of 2010, but with winter not being a great time to launch a soft top car its likely the A3CC will be delayed yet again until early 2011.

The A3CC is a front engined front wheel drive car, which makes up the basic elements of most fun little cars. The exterior of the A3CC is quite striking, and will no doubt be popular where ever it launches. Engines for the A3CC are expected to be a the choice of a naturally aspirated 2.0 and a turbo charged 2.0 model, both will have the options of a 6 speed manual and a 5 speed automatic gearbox. Eventual pricing is rumored to be set at 150,000rmb to 160,000rmb, but it is likely that it will be closer to 200,000rmb due to the roof technology and the novelty of such a vehicle. When the Brilliance Coupe launched the flagship model cost 170,000rmb, so it is likely that the A3CC will be priced higher.