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[dropcap]I[/dropcap] haven’t written about Qoros since last July and before that, it was almost a year ago that I covered the Chinese/Israeli start-up. I like to keep an eye on their work because there are quite a few Saab people working for the company.
Today sees some surprising and pleasant news, with Qoros not only the best car in their class in EuroNCAP’s 2013 tests, they also had the best car over all, amongst all classes.
That means they did better than companies like Volvo and plenty of other established European marques, many of whom are traditionally renowned for their safety record over a long period of time. (see comments for explanation on deletion)
That’s pretty impressive.
The car involved was the Qoros 3, which is now on sale in China and has recently entered its first European market, in Slovakia.
Qoros will be showing a new vehicle at the Geneva Motor Show in March, with pundits saying it’s likely be either a 3 Hatch to complement the sedan or a production version of the 3 wagon shown in concept form last year. My money’s on the hatch.
Photos of the wagon have already circulated from when it was tested in Germany and the rear doesn’t match the teaser photos sent out by Qoros last week.
Here’s the teaser, top, and the wagon seen in German testing, below.
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Qoros is off to a good start. I don’t know if their product is for me but their launch has shown – by far – the best Chinese brand new product to be offered in Western markets. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when they expand their push into other European countries.
Earlier this year, a new Chinese car company called Qoros made their international debut at the Geneva Motor Show. Qoros have already picked up a number of staff members from Saab and as hinted at Geneva, they’ve also picked up a bit of technology that was intended for Saab as well.
The second conversation mentioned the first company I’ve heard of that will use eAAM’s electric rear drive system – the one that would have debuted in Saab’s Phoenix-based 900.
The company is Qoros, a Chinese-based but very much Europe-focused branch of Chery…..
The development of advanced engineering innovations is a core strategic activity for Qoros and the Cross Hybrid Concept features an innovative hybrid drive system. Intelligent control software ensures seamless transition between petrol-engined front-wheel drive, electric motor rear-wheel drive, and an all-wheel drive mode employing both power units together.
They didn’t mention it by name back then, but it sounded all too familiar to a Saab fan.
Today, eAAM have confirmed the hunch with a press release:
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DETROIT, MICHIGAN- July 9, 2013 – A commitment to the advancement of hybrid and electric driveline systems has secured AAM a new driveline systems contract featuring e-AAMTM technology, with Qoros Auto Co., Ltd. (Qoros).
Qoros, an automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Shanghai, China and a joint venture between Chery Automobile Co., Ltd. and Israel Corporation, will feature e-AAMTM technology on a future model year Qoros vehicle. This vehicle will be produced in China for both the Chinese and European automotive markets.
e-AAMTM hybrid and electric driveline systems consist of an electric drive unit, power box unit with an electric drive control module and a proprietary control strategy and software designed for traction and hybrid controls functionality. e-AAMTM technology provides a cost efficient solution with market leading power density, a high degree of modularity and a full scope of controls and software designed to provide significant benefits to consumers. These features include better fuel efficiency, reduced CO2 emissions and improved safety, ride and handling performance.
“We are extremely pleased to initiate a partnership with Qoros,” said AAM President & Chief Executive Officer, David C. Dauch. “Our investment in driveline systems for hybrid and electric vehicles has allowed us to develop an innovative patent-protected product portfolio, enabling AAM to play a leading role in this important new driveline product segment.”
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Next thing you know, they’ll be calling it the 9-3 or 900!
Kudos to Qoros for recognising some good tech when they see it. It’ll be interesting to see the reviews when an eAAM car is eventually released.
I don’t know if this is a good thing or a bad thing. At this point it’s just a thing.
But it’s a thing that’s hitting me every time I see it – the Qoros logo looks like a thought bubble. Actually, it’s more like a quote from a science-fiction comic book.
Qoros is a Chinese car company launching specifically with an eye outside Chinese markets. Qoros’ parent company is Chery, a company that makes cars for China as well as selling in a few markets overseas. Qoros is significant in terms of Chinese-owned car companies because while they’ll also sell in China, it’s the first Chinese car company I’ve noticed being launched specifically with Western markets as their focus.
The Qoros name should be familiar to regular readers here because I’ve mentioned it several times before. A few weeks ago on February 5, I mentioned the fact that Qoros will quite possibly be the first car company to launch a vehicle using eAAM’s electric drive system, the one that Saab was supposed to use in the Phoenix-based 9-3 replacement. RedJ has done a nice article on that on SaabsUnited today. Qoros’ press release for Geneva doesn’t use the name eAAM anywhere, however the system described follows the same principles and Qoros representatives mentioned to members of the English press that it was the same system at a recent media event.
The vehicle linked to the eAAM system is the Qoros 3 Cross Hybrid Concept (see photo in gallery, below). For Geneva, it’s a concept car only. There’s no launch date mentioned but Qoros do hope to launch a new vehicle every six months after the basic Qoros 3 Sedan launch later this year.
(As an aside…….. Qoros’ possible use of eAAM’s technology makes their cars very interesting. It’s potentially a genuine innovation worthy of piquing the interest of a Saab fan. Whether Qoros can become a new Saab is a question worth some consideration, but it’s going to take a lot more than just some fancy partial electric drive system to do that. It’s a foot in the door, nonetheless.)
The other reason I’ve mentioned Qoros a few times is because there are quite a few former Saab people working in Qoros’ PR department.
Who knows? There might be Saab people in other parts of Qoros, too.
Given that I’m connected with a few people from Qoros on Facebook, I see Qoros press releases when they come out and I get to see their vehicles, and the Qoros badge, several times a week. The thought bubble thing has nagged at me since I first saw it, hence this post today.
That it’s memorable and modern is a good thing. Hyundai’s stylised ‘H’ logo drives me bonkers. But does the talking Q potentially trivialise what’s supposed to be a serious tilt at the European market? Can they capitalise on this to benefit the company? Maybe I’m just trivialising it because it sticks in my brain and I’m a trivial bastard sometimes?
I think they can us it for good, however. As always, it’ll depend on the product. If they can prove to be an innovative company and introduce other technologies that make owning their cars a better experience, the unstated implication of a thinking/talking about it could well be a good thing.
At the moment, it remains purely as just a thing. We’ll have to wait and see if Qoros can make it a thing worth talking about.
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Below….. the Qoros 3 Sedan (prduction car for launch late in 2013), the Qoros 3 Cross Hybrid Concept and the Qoros 3 Estate Concept.
