Be careful with your marketing stunts around national destinations. This should be the message of Chery Automobile’s recent attempt to measure itself against Land Rover, an attempt that went tragically wrong.
In 2018, Land Rover and Chinese racing driver Ho-Pin Tung drove a Range Rover Sport up the 999 steps that make up the “Stairway to Heaven” climbing China’s Tiananmen Mountain. It was a dazzling stunt, as climbing a ladder at a slope of between 45-60 degrees is no easy task, and it sure would have left an impression for any acrophobics out there.
A screenshot of an attempt gone wrong.
Credit: YouTube
Cherry certainly remembered this. The brand – which is actually a long-time ally with Jaguar Land Rover and will also be acquiring the Freelander brand from the British marque next year – has a new electric SUV called the Fulvin X3L and has decided that it too is made of the right stuff. The SUV, which is priced between $16,500-$22,000 in China, has a whole host of off-roading features including a plug-in hybrid powertrain, boxy looks and the ability to turn a tank.
Like Land Rover, Chery’s effort was to highlight just how capable the FullVene X3L is when the going gets tough. But unfortunately, one of the security lines of the SUV somehow got detached. It became entangled with a wheel, causing Fulvin to slide backwards, breaking part of the guardrail in the process.
According to Carnews China, Cherry said in a statement that there was “insufficient estimation of potential risks and detailed controls in place” for the exercise, and expressed deep regret for the damage it caused and promised to bear the costs to put everything right.