Qoros

Premium brand set up by Chery in 2007, originally with a majority stake in favour of the Chinese car maker, and later a 50–50 JV between it and Israel Corp. The name is meant to sound like chorus. Original investment in Qoros was US$1,500 million, with its first model, the 3, going on sale in 2013, and achieving five stars in Euro NCAP. A second model, the Qoros 5, appeared in 2015. By 2017, Qoros had given up on European exports. With Chery in financial difficulties in 2017, Baoneng Investment Group took a 51 per cent stake in 2018, and increased its stake in 2019. However, the domestic sales’ network remained patchy and the company sold fewer and fewer cars as it headed to the end of the decade. By 2020, it had sold fewer than 3,000 units per annum, and its domestic market share dipped from 0·2 to 0·01 per cent. A larger crossover, the Qoros 7, failed to reignite interest in 2020. The company fell behind on wages and suppliers began withholding their components. By 2022, Baoneng announced it would exit car manufacture, and in 2023 it announced it would open support service centres.

From Autocade