If these spy pictures of Chery Easter Cross are anything to go by, the Indian auto industry is looking at an impending Chinese invasion!
Having said that, it's not going to be the first Chinese car to be on sale in India, the Premier Rio runs away with that title.
And this is not the first time a Chery is spotted testing in our terrain, already their Tiggo SUV, QQ mini car and A1 hatchback had been tested here.
ICML is looking at an assortment of Chinese cars to extend their portfolio in India. The Easter Cross seven seater is being tested here by ICML and a Rhino was the support car carrying some test equipment and instruments. This was brought to our notice by Mayur Kabra who was in Jaisalmer recently.
If you remember, ICML was also testing the Great Wall motors' Haval H5 SUV in January this year.
The Easter Cross testing here is a RHD model and is heavily wired to acquire test data. The Chinese model is powered by a 2.0 litre petrol motor which is irrelevant to India. So we suspect that the test mule might have the ICML's 2.0 litre 120 bhp CRD-Fi diesel engine under the hood, which is also found in their recently launched Extreme MPV.
The car has dual tone beige interior with faux wood finish for the dashboard and the steering. The instrument console is located at the centre of the dashboard.
However, ICML has a Herculean task ahead with respect to setting up wide sales and service network and convincing customers with its Chinese product.
