How did the slogan 'Chery Chery, queue up for repairs' come about?
3 Answers
Chery used 20% of its registered capital to purchase part of SAIC's sales channels (4S stores), but for some reasons, SAIC was unwilling to let Chery continue using its resources. Since Chery lacked its own sales channels and SAIC's 4S stores refused to provide after-sales services for Chery vehicles, many Chery car owners had to queue up for repairs at the few Chery 4S stores when their vehicles encountered issues, leading to the origin of this saying. Below is an extended introduction: Brand Introduction: During an inspection of the European automotive industry in January 1995, Chery Automobile Co., Ltd. learned that a Ford engine production line in the UK was for sale. Leaders from Wuhu, Anhui, seized this opportunity to initiate the project. Due to national policy restrictions on passenger car projects, the initiative had to be conducted secretly. Thus, the project was internally codenamed 'Project 951' (i.e., Anhui's top project during the Ninth Five-Year Plan period) and publicly referred to as 'Anhui Automotive Components Industrial Company (Preparatory Office)', maintaining a low profile externally.
Early Chery models like the Flag Cloud and Wind Cloud indeed had quite a few minor issues. Back in 2003 when I was an apprentice at an auto repair shop, rainy days would see a line of QQ cars queued up outside to fix leaking circuits. Once I overheard two owners joking, 'Buying Chery is all about affordability, and queuing for repairs is just paying tuition.' This phrase somehow became a popular saying later. At that time, the quality of domestic cars wasn't great overall, but Chery was selling like hotcakes with huge sales volumes. Repair shops were understaffed, making queues a common sight. However, after 2005, the company really focused on improving quality, and now those repair queues are long gone.
It originally started as a playful joke in car forums. Over a decade ago, domestic car forums were particularly lively, with many car owners sharing their experiences. At that time, a post went viral—the author mentioned encountering a window lift malfunction just two months after buying a new car and went to the 4S store only to find over a dozen cars of the same model queuing up for parts replacement. The phrase 'Chery Chery, queue up for repairs' from that post was widely shared. This kind of teasing was essentially good-natured, much like how we say 'A century-old Ford ruined by Changan.' Nowadays, this slogan has become a testament to Chery's remarkable turnaround, with its export volume even topping the list among domestic car brands this year.
