George Soros, the billionaire who bankrolled Moveon.org, and Maurice Strong, a major backer of the United Nations and environmentalist causes, are considering pouring hundreds of millions into a Chinese state automaker with plans to begin dumping cheap exports on the U.S. market next year, WND has learned.
The "Chery" is a knockoff of the South Korean Spark, sold in the U.S. in partnership with General Motors. GM filed a lawsuit against Chery Automobile Co. for piracy of the car developed by its South Korean affiliate Daewoo.
The lawsuit, launched in the name of GM Daewoo Auto & Technology Co. Ltd, contends Chery's QQ copied the design of Daewoo's Matiz, while Chery claims it developed the QQ on its own. GM's investigation results showed the two vehicles "shared remarkably identical body structure, exterior design, interior design and key components."
Meanwhile, the Chery QQ sells in China for $3,600.Chery sold about 50,000 of these last year in China and is planning to begin exporting cars to the end of 2007. Some auto industry analysts suggest the low price on the Chery is the partly the result of the "borrowed" technology and design.
Until now, Chery has focused on exports to 10 other countries, including Iran, Iraq, Bangladesh, Cuba, Syria and Malaysia. But now, with the help of at least two prominent mega-investors ? Soros and Strong ? China is making big plans for a major push into the North American market.
The marketing genius behind the push is Malcolm Bricklin, best known for the failed 1980s effort to promote the Yugo in America. The list price on the Chery is expected to be around $20,000 in the U.S.
The plan is to sell 250,000 Cherys in the U.S. in the first year through 250 dealerships, with a target of 1 million by 2010.
Most Americans are familiar with the name Soros because of his involvement in U.S. presidential politics in 2004. Less familiar to them is Canadian Maurice Strong.
He served as secretary-general of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit conference. He also served as special adviser to the U.N. secretary-general on reform years before the oil-for-food scandal.
Strong made his fortune in oil and utilities, but is a self-described socialist. he once said that for humanity to survive, it may be necessary "for industrial civilization to collapse."
Strong has close connections with numerous influential leaders in business and government around the world ? including the United States ? and is considered a possibility to fill the post of secretary general of the U.N. when the position again becomes open. In his U.N. role, Strong has floated the idea of eliminating single-family houses, air conditioning and convenience foods as a way to conserve energy and save the environment.
He may be best known for his promotion of the Earth Charter, along with Mikhail Gorbachev. The document has been described as an effort to create a new "16 Commandments" to serve as the foundation for a new global religion.
Both Soros and Strong are known as major proponents of global government and rabid environmentalists ? ironic, perhaps, given Cherys' plans to export into the U.S. and elsewhere gas-guzzling SUVs among other smaller vehicles.
Soros spent $23 million in a failed attempt to prevent President Bush's re-election. During the presidential race, Soros told reporters if Bush were to be re-elected, he planned to go away to "some kind of monastery to reflect on what is wrong with us."
Daaamn! I ain't going anywhere near a Chinese car 
