THE first quarter of the coming year will herald the arrival of at least three more Chinese makes.
The first is Great Wall, distributed by Dynasty Automobiles, a subsidiary of the Alpine Group, which currently sells Chevrolets here.
Great Wall is headquartered in Baoding, a city just south of Beijing. The company is one of the largest privately owned carmakers in China and is listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange.
Next, there is Chongqing-based Chang'an Automotive. Also known as Chana, the state-owned company is a licensed manufacturer for Suzuki. Chana will be distributed by TTS Chana Automobiles, a subsidiary of the Teo Tian Seng group, which also sells Fiats.
Finally, multi-Chinese brand agent Group Exklusiv has another make under its umbrella. Called Zoete and also based in Chongqing, it will join Exklusiv's current Sino line-up of Geely, Dongfeng and Soyat.
The other Chinese cars present here include Hafei and Chery, which was the first from the mainland to arrive in July last year.
The new additions are expected to be a boon to bargain hunters, as they will be competitively priced too.
For instance, the Great Wall Hover 2.4 - a crossover based on the chassis of Toyota's 4Runner, the body of Isuzu's Axiom and powered by a Mitsubishi-derived engine - is expected to be priced around $60,000.
The Great Wall Peri, which looks uncannily like a Fiat Panda hatchback, is due to arrive in the second half of next year.
It will be followed by a 2-litre MPV called Cowry.
Dynasty expects to start slow, with only about five Hovers leaving its showroom in Novena a month. It expects the Peri to sell better.
TTS Chana is a tad more bullish. Its first car will be a 1.3-litre hatchback called Benni, a car it is hoping to price below $40,000 (manual version). It expects to sell 60 to 70 units a month once the automatic version arrives around May.
In June, it will be joined by 1.5- and 1.6-litre versions. A 2-litre seven-seater called Joice should arrive by August. The Chana showroom will be in Ubi, next to the Perodua unit.
There will also be a commercial vehicle line-up, which will be handled by a TTS Chana dealer.
Car buyers looking for a compact SUV in the vein of Perodua's Kembara will find it in the Zoete. The compact 1.6-litre manual is expected to be available from as early as February. Exklusiv says it should retail at around $40,000.
Exklusiv has made no secret of its ambition to bring in more Chinese cars. Life! understands it is working on more than five new franchises now. Chairman Peter Kwee has said he is targeting annual sales of 5,000 cars in two years' time.
