We chatted with Chery South Africa’s executive deputy general manager about the Chinese brand’s local activities, how it returned to our market and product plans for Chery, Omoda and the new brand, Jaecoo. Also, could Chery build cars in SA?
From humble beginnings, Chery is now a global player in the global automotive space, with more than 88 000 employees, 10 000 of whom work in Research and Development (R&D) alone.
In this wide-ranging interview, Chery South Africa executive deputy general manager Tony Liu speaks to Ciro De Siena about Chery’s past and future in our market, how the company accelerated its R&D programme, the size of the company globally, product plans (including bringing Jaecoo- and more Omoda models to Mzansi), plus the company’s local return as a proper subsidiary of Chery Global.
Chery had a difficult start in South Africa with a distributor that had no real affiliation to the brand and although the products were sold at an exceptionally low price point, the cars were inferior to what was available on the market at the time.
Fast forward just over a decade and Chery is now a top 10 brand in South Africa, offering an array of vehicles that are a world apart from the offerings from the previous era.
See also: Chery showcases rapid progress in technology
Ciro and Tony also discuss whether Chery will ever build cars in South Africa and the exciting arrival of the Tiggo 8 Pro PHEV plug-in hybrid, which has a truly exceptional claimed range.
Ciro also asks about Jaecoo pricing and while there are no details as yet available, Tony Liu does discuss where Jaecoo will fit into Chery’s broader offering in South Africa.
