China’s Chery won’t rush more brands to Australia

Chery is ready to launch its Jaecoo SUV brand Down Under in early 2025, however the Chinese carmaker has no plans to launch any further brands over the subsequent 12 months.

In comparison with Chery, Jaecoo is geared towards more upmarket, go-anywhere SUVs, and the boxy J7 will arrive in Australia through the first quarter of 2025. It’ll be followed by two other vehicles.

Jaecoo might be the primary Chery sub-brand launched in Australia, although the Omoda nameplate is used as a sub-brand in other export markets.

Chery also has the separate Jetour and Exeed brands in markets reminiscent of China.

Nevertheless, Chery Australia managing director Lucas Harris says that there’s no rush to expand the local offering beyond Chery and Jaecoo branded models.

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“For the foreseeable future we’re going to have Chery, and Jaecoo is coming in Q1 next yr. That’s enough for us at this stage, we’d like to offer those brands some air and room to breathe in order that they can do what they should do,” Mr Harris told CarExpert.

When it comes to brand placement, Chery’s namesake brand sits below Jetour and the more premium Exeed, each of which were established within the mid-2010s and sell vehicles not only in China but in addition in various Middle Eastern and Latin American markets.

By the top of this yr, 4 Chery model ranges might be available in Australia, all SUVs: the Tiggo 4 Pro, Omoda 5 (including the upcoming electric E5), Tiggo 7 Pro and Tiggo 8 Pro Max.

While Jetour also specialises in SUVs, Exeed manufactures the Sterra ES luxury sedan alongside its line of larger family vehicles.

Asked if there was a willingness to supply Australian customers a vehicle reminiscent of the Sterra ES, Mr Harris reiterated that Chery is concentrated on its SUV model lines for now.

“SUVs are where quite a bit brands live in the mean time and I don’t see it being much different for us,” Mr Harris said.

“I wouldn’t say that we’re not interested. It’s more about timing. We’ve got quite a lot of models, six plus three from Jaecoo next yr, so I believe we’d like to give attention to getting those models established and dealing nicely, ensuring that our dealers are well oiled and running really efficiently, and we’re doing a very good job of taking care of customers.

“I believe that’s probably enough models to do this with. Once we get good at that, then we’ll start what other models we are able to bring.”

Chery is ready to tick off a milestone in Australia by kicking off deliveries of the Omoda E5, the carmaker’s first electric vehicle (EV) to be sold Down Under. It’s also launching the Tiggo 4 Pro small SUV later this yr, rounding out the lineup.

Mr Zhang Guibing, executive vp of Chery global, previously told CarExpert of plans so as to add Exeed to the combination in Australia.

“We’ll even have another different brands [in Australia], reminiscent of Jaecoo or Exeed, some different brands [with] different customer targets,” Mr Zhang said in August.