After several months of negotiations and in the midst of Chrysler Group’s divorce with the Daimler Group, Chrysler and Chery Automobile Co finalized their agreement today in Beijing to jointly develop, produce and distribute small and sub-compact cars. Under the agreement, the Chery will manufacture the cars in China and the Chrysler Group will distribute them under the Jeep, Chrysler, and Dodge brands for North America, Europe and other major markets. Just before the boyz in white let the ink roll down the paper, Chrysler’s CEO Tom LaSorda said that the agreement with Chery will play a big role in the American car manufacture’s plan of doubling sales in the next three to five years. -Continued after the jump
According to LaSorda, exports of the Chinese made mini and sub-compact car will begin in Latin America and eastern Europe within 12 months while U.S. exports are expected to commence in mid-2009. However, the first model exported, a Dodge badged vehicle based on Chery's A-1 small car will not be exported to the U.S. or Europe.