Fiat, Chinese automaker intend to partner

Chery's A1

(Credit: Chery Automobile)

A Chery red Fiat may soon be available to the Red consumer.

Fiat Automobiles and Chery Automobile, a Chinese automaker, have signed a "memorandum of understanding" to partner on a joint venture to sell and produce Fiat and Chery cars in China, according to a report from Forbes.

Among the cars planned for production and sale are Fiat's Alfa Romeo, as well as Chery's own brand of cars.

Production, if the partnership is completed, should begin as soon as 2009, with 175,000 cars a year planned to roll out of Chery's Wuhu auto production facility in Anhui Province, China.

Fiat said its goal is to sell 300,000 cars in China by 2010, but that figure does not represent Alfa Romeos exclusively. The company said Fiat and Alfa brand cars would be included in the Chinese deal.

Fiat reintroduced the Fiat 500 in July, a subcompact car built as an homage to Fiat's 1957 original model. The car also happens to resemble Chery's A1.

This is not the first western automaker to partner with Chery. In early July, the Chinese automaker signed an agreement with the Chrysler Group, DaimlerChrysler's U.S. subsidiary, to develop several of its subcompact models for the U.S. market. Ford is also a distributor of Chery cars in Saudi Arabia.

Fiat's Alfa Romeo 8C

(Credit: Fiat)

Fiat's Fiat 500

(Credit: Fiat)