Confused or not at how Chery International will soon dominate our automotive landscape
Well, the segment rivals are watching, not silently and wondering what will be their next move as Chery International is moving their ‘chess pieces’ around the RM101,000 to RM199,900 price segment.
Yes, they have more than a dozen SUV’s on the chessboard for 2024-2025 and about 4 Crossovers ready to take on the ‘queen’ and ‘king’!
Let’s make this simple. Here is a Chinese automotive giant that made a humble re-entry into Malaysia in June 2023 with an ultra stylish compact SUV, the OMODA 5. Official launch was a month later in early July 2023 at a selling price of just RM108,800.
Then in early December 2023, Chery teased their sub-brand JAECOO. This was the J7 and its launch came in July 2024 at a hard to ignore price of RM138,800.
Even more shocking was the bold 10-year/1,000,000-km engine warranty for bookings made before 21st July. If you booked after 21st July, you get an impressive 7-year/150,000 km vehicle warranty. This J7 shared the same 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder as to be found in the Chery Tiggo 7. This produced 194 hp and 290 Nm of torque and was mated in both trims to a Getrag seven-speed wet dual-clutch.
Then just 3 weeks ago another Chery sub-brand was introduced after 12 months of teasing the market in Malaysia. This was Jetour brand and their DASHING SUV.
Meanwhile, at last years Beijing Auto Show we met the Chery cute 4×4 brand, iCAR. This a direct rival to the popular Suzuki Jimny and iCAR has an electric powertrain. This G-Class look-alike measures 4220mm long, 1915mm wide and 1845mm tall on a 2730mm wheelbase.
It has an approach angle of 43 degrees, a departure angle of 41 degrees and a ground clearance of 212mm.
Equipped with both single-motor rear-wheel drive and dual-motor all-wheel drive configurations with battery packs sourced from CATL, it delivers a range of up to 500km and 400km respectively.
Now, in April 2025, we get news that Chery has launched a brand new sub-brand and it is called LEPAS and there are 3 models ready. The L8 and there will be a smaller L6 and even smaller L4. Just like Tiggo 8 and Tiggo 7 and soon to arrive in Malaysia, Tiggo 4.
Interestingly, the story does not end here. Now the OMODA nameplate will be carried by premium Chery SUV’s and it started with the JAECOO OMODA C9 which was launched in December 2024 from RM169k to RM189k.
So, get ready for almost 12 new vehicles (all of them SUV and also Crossover) from the Chery automotive group which will be priced between RM101k and RM199k.
