Two China car brands is enough for Singapore and the group behind the Chery and Hafei marques here says it will look towards Europe next if the opportunity to expand its business arises.

Last July, Vertex Automobile Pte Ltd launched Chery with its QQ supermini model. Vertex is owned by Lian Fong Credit Holdings, whose core business is the wholesale supply of eggs to Singapore supermarkets. Lian Fong is also active in the car trade, first by providing finance and insurance services and then by selling used cars and parallel imports.

For Hafei, Lian Fong partnered a Singapore businessman involved in property development. Last month, the joint venture called Hafei Automobile (Singapore) Pte Ltd unveiled the Lobo supermini and MinZ mini MPV and commercial vehicle. Both have four-cylinder 1.1-litre engines and the Lobo is the car on which the Naza Sutera is based, although the Malaysian-made model is not on the road yet despite its appearance here late last year.

But while most may think Chery and Hafei are in the same class, the international business development manager of the two companies says they are clearly different.

'Both brands share the same budget family market but Chery is even more budget,' says Alan Xiao Kai Lun. 'Hafei has a slightly more premium positioning because of its design and handling.'

He explains that the Lobo is more refined because it was designed by Pininfarina and tuned by Lotus, and it seems to appeal to young couples more.

'It has a better ride and it costs more because of the added design and engineering cues,' says Mr Xiao, who worked for a Chinese car manufacturer in Nanjing before taking up his position here.

The Lobo is priced at $35,999 with a five-speed manual gearbox (there is no automatic transmission available for now), while the 800cc QQ costs $32,999 for a manual and $34,999 for an automatic. The QQ holds the dubious honour of being Singapore's cheapest new car.

Mr Xiao says the Lobo competes against Korean models with similar displacement such as the Kia Picanto and Hyundai Getz, while the Chery range of models - including the A168 sedan and T11 sport-utility vehicle - are directly pitched against Geely, the second mainland brand to arrive in Singapore and which is represented by automotive and leisure player Group Exklusiv.

Chery appeals to 'those who want a car to go from point A to point B', says Mr Xiao. But both it and Hafei have similar buyer profiles in that customers are mainly first-time car owners.

Chery has sold a total of 600 units since it was launched last July and the target is to sell 1,500 units per year.

On the other hand, Hafei's annual target is 1,000 cars. So far, there have been 29 orders, with almost half for the Lobo. All three Hafei cars are currently undergoing homologation at the Land Transport Authority and deliveries are expected to begin in late June.