Five Chinese auto brands, which have become household names in China for
their popular low-cost sedan cars, showed off their ten newest models in a
European debut in Antwerp yesterday.
The show of the five brands, namely Hafei, Changfeng, Dongnan, Xiali and
Changhe, were sponsored by Cardoen group, a Belgian car dealer specialized in
selling a wide ranges of brands in the West European market.
Cardoen plans to have the cars on a rotating tour in ten separate business
halls in Belgium and the Netherlands, three days for every hall. The company
estimates that over 500 visitors will come to see or have a test drive for
themselves each day.
However, these cars cannot be driven out onto European expressways because
they have not yet gone through the testing and qualification procedures required
by the European Union.
"We are in the process of doing that," said Tony Nai, Cardoen's chief
representative for the Chinese market.
Nai said the company would collect opinions and complaints from visitors of
these cars, and then send them back to China.
"They will make necessary alterations and improvements of the cars in
accordance with these opinions," he said.
Nai said Cardoen hopes that these cars could be sold in the European market
"as late as 2008".
This was the third time for Chinese auto companies to make a presence of
their products in the European market. The first time was in July 2005 when 200
Landwind SUVs were sold in Belgium. Two months later, three Chinese domestic
brands made a joint show at a car expo in Frankfurt of
Germany.