We tried to count the number of Chinese carmakers, and it turns out that there are approximately 70 brands. That’s not counting the foreign makes they’ve already bought like Volvo, or are currently trying to acquire like Saab, nor their numerous joint ventures with almost every big-, medium- or small-sized foreign automotive companies from Isuzu and Suzuki to Toyota and General Motors.

Even Alfa Romeo, which has cancelled its return to the U.S. more times than we care to remember, has plans to form a joint venture with local company Guangzhou Automobile.

Well, the list just got a little but bigger as on Monday Chery Automobile Co. and investment firm Israel Corp. announced a new joint venture that will lead to a new brand called Qoros.

At its helm is Chery official Guo Qian, who has assumed the position of CEO, and former VW executive Volker Steinwascher, who is Qoros’ vice chairman.

According to Steinwascher, the company aims to manufacture about 150,000-160,000 vehicles a year by 2015 or 2016, half of which will be sold in China and the rest exported to Europe.

He added that the newly formed carmaker is already developing three compact cars, which will be manufactured at the Changshu plant northwest of Shanghai.

“Qoros cars combine German design quality and craftsmanship with Japanese convenience and functionality”, said Steinwascher, explaining that the brand is employing engineers that have formerly worked for carmakers like BMW and VW.

It’s only natural for everyone to want a piece of the world’s biggest car market. Analysts like Yale Zhang, head of Shanghai consulting firm Automotive Foresight Co., note that the Chinese automotive industry has become overcrowded. And with many foreign carmakers getting ready to launch new brands in collaboration with their local partners, it’s bound to become even more.

Zhang adds that, despite breaking one sales record after another in the previous years, 2011 has marked a slowdown that, if continued, will pose some serious problems for many of those carmakers: ““If the market continued to grow sluggishly, posting low single-digit growth, for a few years straight, a shakeout would become inevitable.”

Story References: WSJ & Reuters

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