Tehran, Iran, December 4
By Mehdi Sepahvand – Trend:
Chery, the luxury brand of the Chinese-made MVM, is going to introduce two new models in the Iranian market in a few months, according to Chery’s Head of Branding Edward Singleton.
Many companies such as Peugeot, Citroen, and Volkswagen are going to start manufacturing in Iran, but that is not such a concern for us because they are not going to be offering the credit that we offer with our cars, Singleton told Trend December 3.
“With Chery there is a five-year warranty and for many car manufacturers five years is a big statement especially in Iran where the conditions are harsh and you got snow and mountains and everything else… so that’s really taking us ahead of the market,” he said.
“Also there is our sale policy. People can pay 70 million rials (about $2,000) and walk away with a car. You can’t do that with any other premium brand.”
He acknowledged that historically Iranians have not been happy with Chinese cars, but said as times went on people began to trust Chinese cars.
“Sales grew very well. 5 or 6 thousand cars a month is really incredible growth. Ten years ago when we were just selling the 110, the tiny car, now there are so many models. We are really taking hold of the market.”
“MVM produces over 60,000 cars a year. Chery is the premium brand. We are breaking away from MVM and pushing ourselves as a luxury brand. We got over 250,000 cars in the Iranian market so we have already a very good hold of the market.