Chery Eastar MPV

Above about Chery Eastar MPV.

Chinese carmaker Chery Automobile Co. Ltd. is starting to export its Malaysia-assembled Eastar 2.0L MPV to Thailand and Indonesia, Malaysian media reported yesterday.

Chery Alado Automobile Sdn Bhd, Chery Auto's Malaysian subsidiary formed with local partner Alado Corporation Sdn Bhd, is starting delivering 50 units each to Thailand and Indonesia. Chery expects this figure to reach 500 units by the end of 2010, said paultan.org.

Next export targets are Singapore and Brunei in 2011. The Eastar is put together at Oriental Assemblers in Johor alongside the Tiggo SUV. The locally produced Chery Eastar 2.0L made its debut in Malaysia last month.

The Eastar 2.0L MPV's 2.0-litre ACTECO engine was jointly developed by Chery and AVL of Austria, producing 134 bhp and 180 Nm. Paired to a four-speed automatic, this twin-cam unit will retire the dated 2.4-litre Mitsubishi 4G64 engine.

The well received Eastar has helped Chery Auto achieve good sales in Malaysia lately. Chery sold more than 1,800 vehicles in this southeastern Asian market last year, up 170 percent, and sales target for this year is more than 5,000 units.

Chery Alado plans to introduce three new Chery models this year, including a compact car, to achieve that target. This could possibly include the more modern looking Chery A1 and A3 or the Chery QQ6.