Double trouble for Australia's cheapest car

The $10,990 Chery J1 hatch was issued with a nationwide recall last week – and then collided with safety authority ANCAP after the distributor wrongly claimed the modifications would improve the car’s star rating.

Continuing a trend of early recalls for Chinese-made vehicles in Australia, the Chery J1 is being called back to dealers for a potential seat safety issue. All 702 cars imported since February this year, including those in dealer stock as well as customer hands, must have rectification work.

According to the Federal Government website recalls.gov.au: "Under certain operating conditions, the integrity of the seat frame structure may be compromised. There is an internal non-conformity of both front seat backrests. Owners are advised to contact their dealership for removal of both front seats from the vehicle and replacement of the backrest assembly on each seat. Both front seats will be re-fitted to the vehicle using the new mounting bolts as per recommendations."

Less than 24 hours later, the distributors of the Chery J1 received a second swipe when the company wrongly claimed the modifications brought about by the recall would "almost certainly" elevate the car from a three-star to a four-star ANCAP safety rating.

A statement from ANCAP chairman Lauchlan McIntosh said:

"We were surprised to hear [the distributors of Chery] … comment in the media that the modifications would now see the Chery J1 almost certainly get a four-star rating if crash tested again. These comments are clearly incorrect, as the modifications would not impact the overall crash test result, and [Chery] staff should be aware of this."

"The Chery J1 performed poorly in the crash tests - the passenger compartment lost structural integrity in the frontal impact test, providing limited protection from serious chest injury for the driver."

ANCAP tested the Chery in May 2011 and awarded it a “marginal” three-star rating. The Chery J1 scored 5.233 out of 16 in the offset crash test. The passenger compartment lost structural integrity. Protection from serious chest injury was poor for the driver.

In the side impact crash test "there was a high risk of a life-threatening chest injury for the driver", ANCAP’s website says.

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