Chery
The Omoda 5 from Chery in the video.
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Yet another new Chinese brand. We've seen so many and some are already gone. And the Chinese sales figures aren't that great here. Is Chery already selling in Germany or at least in Europe?
Yes, at least in Spain and since 2018 there has been a development center in Raunheim, west of Frankfurt Airport. 55 employees work there in 2024, which shows a certain determination.
Please do not underestimate the company. Although it was founded not before 1997, it has been exporting since around 2002 and now to around 80 countries. These all offered the opportunity to offer Chery cars
at a good price-performance ratio without any significant changes to the hardware.
In 2022, around 1.2 million cars were sold, and in 2023, almost 1.9 million. The export quota of 50 percent was reached for the first time. At the moment, there are 80 markets outside of China. The trend seems
to be continuing, although Russia has also played a part in this, as many previous providers have stayed away there.
But what is Chery bringing to Europe? First of all, there are two vehicles, the Omoda 5, a crossover for a clientele that prefers beautiful design, for example, and the Jaecoo 7 with a more beefy SUV character.
Basically, all relevant drive types are offered.
The Omoda 5 comes with a 1.6 liter combustion engine and dual clutch transmission as well as a pure electric car with 150 kW (204 hp) and 64 kWh. However, the charging power will still have room for
improvement at less than 100 kW. The base price in Spain is expected to be around €28,000/37,000.
Although both vehicles are based on the same platform, they differ in terms of their drivetrain, for example. They will both have front-wheel drive, but the Jaecoo will also be offered with all-wheel drive, and also as
a plug-in hybrid.
With this strategy, the Chinese are taking a very pragmatic approach to potential buyers. They don't see it as sensible to try to steer people who want to buy a combustion engine car towards a purely electric
car. Such a clientele is suspected to be very strong in Spain, for example.
Large exporters, especially those from Asia, believe that the combustion engine will remain around for much longer than some European companies. Chery is even planning a new product line of combustion
engines, while further development is considered to be almost complete e.g. in Germany.
Openness in almost all directions is typical for Chinese manufacturers. There are even plans for a gigafactory for batteries, which VW has just clearly rejected. At the same time, Chery has the largest crash
center in Asia. Toyota used to say that nothing is impossible, but today that seems to apply to China.
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