GM, Chery reach settlement
(Shenzhen Daily)
Updated: 2005-11-21 15:06

General Motors Corp. (GM) and its major South Korean subsidiary have reached an out-of-court settlement with China's Chery Automobile Company Limited in an intellectual property dispute over the design of small vehicle, the U.S. automaker said.

"GM Daewoo Auto and Technology Company (GMDAT), General Motors Corporation and Chery Automobile Company have reached a settlement agreement, which has resolved all disputes among GMDAT, GM and Chery. Hence all current lawsuits and related claims have been withdrawn," GM said in a statement.

Malcom Bricklin, Chery's American partner, said the agreement clears the way for a smoother introduction of the newly designed, Chinese-made vehicles in the United States, starting in 2007.

Chery has a new factory in Wuhu, China that is being primed to export vehicles to the United States, Bricklin has said.

"The only question that remains is what brand name Visionary Vehicles and Chery will choose for their line of automobiles that will be introduced in North America, since we have agreed not to use the Chery name here," Bricklin said.

GM had objected to the use of the Chery name because its to much like Chevrolet or Chevy, which has been GM's top selling brand for eight decades.

Bricklin has said that he would eventually like to sell as many as a 1 million Chinese-made vehicles annually in the United States.

GM noted in its statement disclosing the settlement that the Chinese Government had encouraged both sides to resolve the dispute, which began when a Daewoo executive defected to Chery. The defecting executive took with him the plans for a new, small van then under development in South Korea.

Chery has made a practice of hiring ethnic Chinese managers and executives with experience with automakers outside of China.