It’s not Christmas yet, but Die Hard’s John McClane will have you screaming, “Yippee ki yay motherf*ckers” with this newest Chinese brand to enter the Philippines. Yes, folks, get ready to remember yet another brand as “Yibin Kaiyi” (shortened as Kaiyi) is in the country under the distribution of Fortune Electricars Philippines.
Established in 2014 Kaiyi is the brand formerly known as “Cowin.” And yes, it’s another subsidiary of Chery. Wikipedia says Cowin started its life in the business of “low cost models with the goal of attracting young buyers.”
Today, however, Kaiyi as the auto industry knows it, isn’t completely owned by Chery. It’s owned by the city government of Yibin with an 81.5 percent stake with 0.5 percent went to a company called Sichuan Yibin Pushi. The remaining 18 percent is still held by Chery.
Now that we have the history lesson out of the way, let’s talk cars.
Kaiyi Philippines is bringing four models first. It starts out with the E5 (P 958,000) packs a 1.5-liter turbocharged engine in a compact sedan body. Next up, the X3 Pro (P 968,000) which is a sub-compact SUV with stuff like a touchscreen infotainment system. Then, there’s the E-Qute 04 which has two variants—the 300-km range version (P 868,000) and the 410-km range version (P 958,000). It’s touted as the longest-range EV under a million bucks locally. Finally, there’s the X7 PHEV (P 1,499,999) a, you guessed it, a 7-seater PHEV SUV with a combined range of 1,200 kilometers.
Currently, Kaiyi Auto has two showrooms: Carkitz Parañaque, located at 89 Ninoy Aquino Avenue, Parañaque City and Kaiyi Auto Bulacan, located at the Focus City Center Building, Narra Road, Tambubong, Bocaue, Bulacan.
Crowded market getting more brands, matira matibay, eventually some will closed shops.
ReplyDeleteThis looks great. More brands are comin in.
ReplyDeleteSo that's why the X3 Pro looks just like the Tiggo Cross... How many more Chery sub-brands are there and do we really need all of them here?
ReplyDeleteBased on Wikipedia? Around 12 hahaha.
DeleteI like the design!
DeleteSadly, only the top 5 Sino brands will survive in PH. Those with deep pockets will have a better chance of staying afloat with less than 1%. Lastly, those buyers looking for cheap deals (w/o due diligence may end up holding a paper weight on wheels in the end)
ReplyDeleteThese chinese brands are seemingly endless.. they keep on coming. On one side its good for both competition and consumers..
ReplyDeleteThe pink one is such a cutie, perfect for girlie girls like me. That shade of pink is chef's kiss.
ReplyDeleteCarkitz is a former Hyundai (Dingdong Dantes used to be a business partner of that Hyundai dealership),Chevrolet and MG dealership owned by the Tiengs of SOLAR Group..They've sold their dealership building to Carkitz
ReplyDelete