(buffalonews.com) BEIJING  The next Made-in-China export bound for the United States: cars.

Chrysler Group signed a deal Wednesday with China’s biggest automaker, Chery, to launch a low-cost production venture that could export the first Chinese-made cars to the United States.

The first cars will reach Latin America or Eastern Europe within a year and models should be exported to North America and Western Europe in 2z years, said Chrysler CEO Tom LaSorda.

“As part of the Chrysler Group’s global transformation, we are finding new ways to bring vehicles to market faster, more efficiently and with less cost,†LaSorda said at a signing ceremony.

The alliance offers 10-year-old Chery Automobile Co., based in the eastern Chinese city of Wuhu, an opportunity to realize its longtime ambition of entering the U.S. market.

Chinese automakers already export, mostly low-priced trucks and buses shipped to Africa and other developing markets. But analysts say they lack the technology to meet U.S. and European safety and pollution standards on their own.

Chery CEO and Chairman Yin Tongyao said the deal will help Chery improve its skills as it tries to expand foreign sales of its own models.

“Chery is still young, so we should learn from Chrysler and improve our own competitive edge in the near future,†he said, calling LaSorda “my teacher in the automotive business.†(more…)