Chinese cars rank No.2 on Chilean market

Chinese manufactured cars took 12.7 percent of the Chilean market share in 2011, ranking second among its competitors, according to data published by the National Automotive Association of Chile on Monday.

Technological progress, competitive prices and reliable quality are the main factors that led to the better sales of Chinese cars on the Chilean market, newspaper El Mercurio said.

Ramiro Urenda, general manager of Derco, a company which represents some Chinese carmakers like Great Wall, Geely, Changan and Jac, said that the technological progress of some Chinese trademarks was really "impressive."

General manager of Great Wall, Thibaud Aymeric, vowed to "break some myths," noting that in 2007 people thought those cars were cheap, with unreliable quality and copied designs. "Perhaps we could demonstrate we had first-level products," he said.

"The competitive prices of the Chinese autos and the kind of equipment are many times better than their competitors," said Marcial Larenas, commercial manager for the Chinese automaker Chery in Chile.

In 2012, the goal for the Chinese automakers is to reach a market share of 18 percent.