Israel Corp & China's Chery co. launch Qoros car brand

Israel Corp. is Israel's largest holding company, with interests mainly in chemicals, shipping and energy.
 
Israel Corporation and partner Chinese car-maker Chery Automobile Co. launched last week a new brand.
 
The 50-50 joint venture Qoros Automotive Co., introduced last Monday at Shanghai, intends to be one of the first Chinese car makers to meet stringent 2013 Euro auto safety standards, the companies said.
 
Israel Corp. is Israel's largest holding company, with interests mainly in chemicals, shipping and energy.
 
Israel Corp and Chery Automobile Co. have invested US$500 million in Qoros since they founded the company in 2007.
 
Qoros plans to introduce its first model, a compact sedan, in China and Western Europe in 2013, executives said. After that, plans call for a hatchback, an SUV and then an electric vehicle.
 
The name Qoros was a "new word meant to represent a company that stands for quality and works together like a chorus," the companies said in a statement.
 
Qoros is aiming high, intending to meet 2013 European 5-star quality levels of the NCAP, an agency that assesses car safety. To do so, it is working with Austria's Magna Steyr, a major independent automotive design firm, and has hired designer Gert Hildebrand, formerly of BMW Mini.
 
Other suppliers include major auto parts companies like TRW, Bosch and Valeo.
 
Qoros is building a factory in Changshu, an industrial city west of Shanghai, that will have an annual capacity of 150,000 vehicles, which could expand in the future to 300,000. It has a research and development center in Shanghai.