01
Origins
Kaiyi — Chery's value offshoot, relocated to Yibin under mixed state-and-private ownership — aimed its Showjet of 2020 at the small-crossover youth segment: sharp-creased styling, turbocharged small-displacement options and aggressive pricing in the sub-compact SUV class where China's first-time buyers concentrate. The brand strategy leaned on Chery's proven platforms while chasing lower cost structures inland. Against the segment's ferocious competition the Showjet competed on specification-per-yuan and dealer reach into smaller cities. Its significance is ecological rather than individual: one of the countless products through which China's second-tier brands contested the entry market — and a marker of how deep the country's appetite for new marques briefly ran. Most such products vanish unremarked; the Showjet's persistence is its own small verdict.
Cowin Showjet 009 · Jengtingchen · CC BY-SA 4.0
