Qoros hinting at revitalizing image in Chinese market

Sun Xiaodong, Qoros sales chief

"Our goal is to make each of our dealers an online dealer," Sun said.

Sun is planning to open Qoros cafes in downtown areas to "integrate Qoros into customers' lives but not force our cars on them".

"I mean real cafes where they can learn about cars but not showrooms as other brands have built where they offer coffee to customers," Sun told China Daily in an earlier interview.

Sun said in the short term, Qoros will focus on the Chinese market but he added the brand would not, as some Chinese reports suggested, withdraw from the European market.

Internally, the automaker has also streamlined itself. Qoros said it has cut its staff by around 20 percent since the new management team headed by CEO Phil Murtaugh was put in place in February.

It was reported that Qoros offered salaries of three to five times the industry average to recruit experienced employees from other automakers in its early days.

The automaker denied recent Chinese reports that it will slash another one-fifth of its employees by the end of the year.

Qoros now has around 2,000 employees, including workers at its plant in Changshu, Jiangsu province.