Evidence of the reluctance to purchase Chinese cars by low-income consumers in the Brazilian market

In this paper, our objective is to explain why Brazilian low-income consumers are reluctant to buy Chinese cars by using the path dependence analysis approach, and the country effect considering social, instrumental, and emotional facts. For this, Chery Motors is the object of study of this research. The sample was selected by judgment and homogenous. Data collection took place through focus group interviews and were analysed by content analysis. Findings were that, the country effect is an important factor, as Chinese brands are seen as of low-quality and as of low status, and by introducing cheap cars Chery breaks with the dominant pattern in Brazil, whose preference is either for premium cars or those perceived as of high quality, by being the first to be launched by automakers settled in Brazil. The main finding of this research is that a firm will fail if it starts on a different path from the main players.