5th China carmaker set to debut hereBy Christopher Tan - April 26, 2007
The Straits Times
Less than a year after Chery became the first China carmaker to enter the Singapore market, a fifth has joined the fray.
Hafei Automobile, from ChinaÂ’s north-eastern industrial city of Harbin, will launch two 1.1-litre models this weekend: the Lobo and the Minz.
The Lobo is a hatchback while the Minz will be sold as a six-seater multi-purpose vehicle or a goods van.
They will be distributed from a Kampong Ubi showroom by Hafei Automobile (Singapore), partly owned by Lian Fong Credit ?the group which introduced the Chery nine months ago.
A Singapore Hafei Automobile spokesman said the Lobo is likely to be priced at around $38,000 ?some $5,000 more than the Chery QQ, which will retain the title of SingaporeÂ’s cheapest car. The price of the Minz has not been fixed yet, but the spokesman indicated that it too will be costlier than the Chery.
The cheapest non-China car on the market here is the Perodua Kelisa - a small hatchback going for $35,700.
The Chinese invasion began in July last year, with CheryÂ’s debut. Geely followed in November, and Soyat and Dongfeng in January.
The Straits Times understands that two more Chinese brands are due here this year.
The Geelys are sold by entrepreneur Peter KweeÂ’s Group Exklusiv, which also represents Soyat and Dongfeng.
Although Hafei is set for this weekendÂ’s launch, its cars and those of Soyat and Dongfeng have not yet passed a Land Transport Authority inspection,
without which they cannot be sold here. Both Chery and Geely have gone through the test and are chalking up good sales ?largely because they are the cheapest cars in town.
Today, there are more than 500 Cherys and 150 Geelys on SingaporeÂ’s roads.
In the first three months of this year, buyers here drove away with 230 Cherys and 121 Geelys. In the same period, 153 Peroduas, 711 Chevrolets and 1,062 Kias were sold all slightly costlier.
While the China car makes have made an encouraging debut, they have had their share of customer complaints.
The most serious to date appears to be from finance and administrative assistant Koh Bee Leng, 30, who bought a $26,300 off-peak Geely CK in mid-February. Two days later, the battery indicator lamp lit up, prompting Ms Koh to send it for checks.
No problem was found, but two weeks later the car would not start. It was towed to the workshop and the battery was replaced.
However, the air-conditioner then sprang a leak and stopped working. It was repaired, but “was not cold a week later"
It was back to the workshop once again when a window jammed. Ms Koh collected her car last Thursday, but by Sunday, “the battery light started blinking again"
Mr Nicholas Ng, general manager for Mr KweeÂ’s Geely business, said Ms KohÂ’s case is an isolated one and that the company has made good to the customer.
The Consumers Association of Singapore said it has not received any complaints about China cars.
