Chery to Launch New Brand in Europe and Target Assembly on the Blue Continent in 2024

JAKARTA - Chery will reportedly introduce its newest brand to the European market in the next two years and plans to immediately start assembly on the blue continent in 2024.

This announcement came from Managing Director of Chery Europe, Jochen Tueting, who revealed that the company is currently accelerating the launch of the Omoda and Jaecoo brands in the European market, including countries such as Germany, England, Spain and France.

"We are very focused on these two brands in the growing SUV segment, with the hope of increasing sales quickly," said Tueting as reported by Reuters, Monday, October 2.

He also revealed that by the end of 2025, China's Chery will introduce three SUV models from each brand, including electric (EV), gas and hybrid models, which will be available for the European market.

In addition, Chery also plans to launch the Exlantix brand which will focus exclusively on electric cars (EVs) in early 2025. Earlier this year, Chery partnered with Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group to develop an electric car (EV) platform for the brand.

Although the European Commission has opened an investigation into potential punitive tariffs to protect EU automakers against imports of more affordable Chinese electric vehicles thought to benefit from state subsidies, Tueting said Chery was not concerned by the probe. He emphasized that if their brand's performance meets expectations, they could consider setting up an assembly plant in Europe in 2024.

"When the market gives confidence that we can sell in the right volumes, that will be an indication that we should have local production," explains Tueting.

After exploring Asian markets, the Chery Omoda 5 with a conventional engine (ICE) will make its debut in Spain, while the electric car (EV) version will be available in Germany from April next year. This compact SUV will be offered at a competitive price, around 30,000 euros or the equivalent of IDR 488.1 million.

Chery Omoda 5 was previously present in Indonesia with four different variants, including Z, RZ, GT and EV. The Z and RZ variants offer two engine options: a 1,600 cc TGDI engine with 194 hp of power and 290 Nm of torque, and a 1,500 cc TCI engine with 155 hp of power and 230 Nm of torque. The price of the Chery Omoda 5 currently ranges from IDR 329 million for the Z variant to IDR 399 million for the RZ variant.

Recently, Chery also launched the highest variant of the conventional engine (ICE) version of the Omoda 5, namely the GT, with prices starting from IDR 448.8 million for the FWD variant and IDR 488.8 million for the AWD variant.

Meanwhile, the official price for the electric car (EV) version of the Chery Omoda 5 has not been announced, but customers can pre-book for IDR 10 million