Alloy Wheels

Given the parlous state of the European car market, this would not seem a sensible moment to launch a new car brand. Yet, Qoros, a Chinese-Israeli joint venture, did exactly that at the Geneva motor show last week. Qoros’ primary target market is China. But more than 10 per cent of an annual volume of 150,000 cars that are set to roll off its production line in Changshu, China later this year are set to be exported to Europe.  This explains the stream of curious executives from rivals including Volkswagen, Toyota and Renault who came to the Qoros stand in Geneva to size up the young pretender and its first model, a sedan. Qoros is a 50-50 joint venture between China’s Chery Automobile and Israel Corporation, the industrial holding company controlled by Idan Ofer, Israel’s richest man with an estimated fortune of $5.6bn, according to Bloomberg. China, the world’s largest car market, is dominated by foreign brands and Chinese makes have in the past struggled to penetrate the European market because of concerns over quality. Qoros, which was founded in 2007, therefore put together an international team of well known western car executives to deliver western standards of safety and German-influenced design.