- Olga Kokorina
- Translated by Olga Apetenok
- Ru Fr Ar He
Chery QQ. Inspired by competitors
This small car reflects the whole history of the Chinese automotive industry as a whole: it has come a long way from a simple cheap copy to an original miniature electric car that meets all modern requirements. The Chery QQ is a subcompact 5-door hatchback with a length of less than 3 meters, produced by the Chinese car manufacturer Chery since 2003. By 2021, it has become a miniature 3-door electric car. According to the company, the subcompact QQ is ‘the most popular Chinese car in the world’, as its one millionth unit was released nearly 10 years ago. The model set three Guinness records, won more than 70 awards in China and around the world, and in its native country it remained the best-selling A-segment car for 9 years. And why? Because it is inspired by competitors…
First generation
It was produced from 2003 to 2015. The first generation Chery QQ was neither a novelty nor an original, it was a copy of the famous Korean model, the Daewoo Matiz, which even led to a dispute in China. Unfortunately, the crash test results were not encouraging, showing that the original is much safer than the Chinese product. With all this, the 5-door car has become incredibly popular due to its 4,000 dollars price tag. It must have been the cheapest car in the world at the time. It could be equipped with one of the engines: a 0.8-liter engine with a capacity of 51 hp or a 1.1-liter engine with a return of 52 or 67 hp. The city car was sold not only in China, but also in Iran, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam and South Africa.
Second generation
The second generation was made on the basis of the first with the slight modifications. The car was introduced at the 2013 Shanghai Motor Show with a 1.0-liter 3-cylinder gasoline engine, which was a modernization of the previous 0.8-liter engine. The car was also exported: for example, in South America, the QQ was equipped with a 1-liter flex-fuel engine. The small car also visited Europe: since 2015, Chery has been importing the sedan to Italy, where it was sold by DR Automobiles under the name DR Zero.
Already on September 1, 2013, the millionth Chery QQ car was released (including the first and second generations, the QQ6 sedan and the QQme hatchback). Inspired by this remarkable achievement, in November 2014, Chery launched the eQ, an all-electric version of its minicar. Priced from 59,800 yuan (~9,600 dollars), the eQ has become one of the cheapest electric vehicles in the country. The car featured an electric motor with a capacity of 57 hp and a lithium-ion battery with a driving range of 200 km.
Third generation
In August 2021, the manufacturer introduced the third generation Chery QQ: it is now a 3-door miniature electric car, which should take some of the buyers away from the super popular Wuling Mini EV 2020 and therefore… very similar to it. The car is really small: the length is only 2,980 mm, the width is 1,496 mm, but the height reaches 1,637 mm. The wheelbase is 1,960 mm. Half rings shine in the front and rear optics, small 12-inch wheels are underlined by arches. A charging connector is hidden under the emblem on the nose. There are six pleasing pastel body colors.
The new Chery QQ features an electric motor with a capacity of only 27 hp and a lithium-iron-phosphate battery, which has a capacity of 9.6 or 13.9 kWh. In the first case, the Chery QQ will travel 70 km on a single charge, in the second - 100 km. The car is simple: it is rear-wheel drive and its rear suspension is a continuous axle on springs. To sell the model, the automaker is offering iCar, a separate network of smal dealerships across China, a car subscription system, and an online app for owners (not just subscribers) that lets you manage some functions via Internet.
