Bandar Seri Begawan - The recently launched China-made Geely CK 1.5 manual drive seems to have made a good impact on Bruneians. Ten out of 12 units of the first shipment have already been snapped up.
"This is due to its very affordable price. It allows more people to be able to afford a practical, brand new car," said John Too, senior sales and marketing manager of GHK Motors Sdn Bhd.
Costing less than $15,000, this car comes fully equipped with electric windows, airconditioning, a CD player, safety belt features, a remote control and an automatic security central locking system.
"The reason why this vehicle comes at such an affordable price is because production costs and labour in China is cheap," he said.
Instead of actually developing and manufacturing its own engine, the manufacturers bought Toyota Soluna engines fully approved by Toyota, he added. "For a 1.5 engine vehicle, the public can now pay a monthly bank repayment at just over $200, one of the lowest repayment amounts in the region."
The vehicle has also been distributed in Singapore, according to Daha Trading Sdn Bhd senior marketing manager James Chin.
"In Singapore, most of the cars go through a strict quality test before it is allowed to be sold in the market. People there look for quality and they have high expectations of vehicles," he said.
The sedan is made by China's Geely international, which was founded in 1986 by entrepreneur Li Shufu. The company is based in Huangyan, Luqiao Taizhou city, Zhjiang Province.
Initially set up as a maker of refrigerator parts, the firm went into car manufacturing in 1997, and they are currently in the midst of a global expansion, with plans to set up an assembly plant in the United States.-- Courtesy of The Brunei Times
CAUTION:
be careful of china cars, especially geely brand. my husband was posted to shanghai for work and while there we bought a geely car. it was quite cheap, about 60,000 chinese renminbi (about 12,000 singapore dollars). less than a year and before clocking 10,000km, the car needed extensive overhaul. we had to write it off as a VERY bad investment.
all of you should read the following articles:
http://www.caradvice.com.au/3612/chinese-cars-fail-in-europe/
"Chinese Cars Fail In Europe" in Australian CarAdvice.com.au dated 3 July 2007
http://money.cnn.com/2007/07/02/autos/jdpower_on_chinese_cars/index.htm?postversion=2007070315
"Chinese car makers face tough U.S. scrutiny" in CNNMoney.com dated 3 July 2007
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bw/2006-03/13/content_545084.htm
"Total recall" in China Daily dated 13 March 2006
http://www.chinacarforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2443
"Geely cars are Bad Quality: Please Comment" in Chinacarforums.com
Look at Post #1 dated 7 May 2007. He bought the Geely in singapore.
