By: Colin Windell
Chery South Africa will be kept busy next year with a number of new products launching across all of its brands – Chery, Omoda and Jaecoo – and all in line with a broader corporate expansion under the banner of ‘New Journey New Life’.
This corporate programme centres around responsible manufacturing and gearing for a greener environment along with the introduction of new and additional hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fully electric model derivatives for various markets around the world.
Tony Liu, Executive Deputy General Manager of Chery South Africa, says: “This is the first time Chery has been able to bring together customers and dealers from around the world to experience everything Chery is standing for and it is not just about the car, rather it is about the family and the environment and how we all fit into that.
“The first product under the Jaecoo nameplate will the be the J7 that launches in the first quarter of next year but there will be others and there are even more still under consideration.
“It is a really exciting time for us and our growing customer following in South Africa.”
Another model on the list is the Chery Arrizo 8 sedan, while items such as the fully electric and extremely high-tech Exceed Exlantix ES are on the back burner for the moment.
While that may be the case for the local market at present, Chery is investing heavily in alternative energy technology and has partnered with Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), a lithium-ion battery development and manufacturing company, to improve battery efficiency and reduce charging time.
According to Dr Gao Xinha, executive vice-president at Chery, the company was the first to adopt the concept of platform development for various model derivatives and has added a long list of ‘firsts’ to its arsenal since then.
“Safety is our faith,” he says “and our goal is build world class automobiles that meet and exceed the needs of our global customers. Low energy consumption is also part of our moral responsibility and the investment we are making in the development of new battery technology should see cars using 11.7 kwh/100 km and able to travel more than 900 kilometres on a single charge.”
Chery’s chairman, Yin Tongyue said the company is busy creating a new ecological value chain and that the “quality of our products is the lifeline of the company”.
“Since it was founded Chery has always adhered to a technology-driven strategy, creating a vehicle brand with international competitiveness and influence as its corporate vision.
“However, we need to stand in the shoes of our customers in order to become even more competitive in our global markets.”