Chery Holding Group (hereinafter referred to as “Chery Group”) recently released the latest sales report for February 2021. Data shows that in February, Chery Group continued to maintain its “acceleration”, with 50,778 vehicles sold, up 144.9% year over year. Notably, Chery Automobile’s star products represented by the new generation of Chery Tiggo 8 and Chery Tiggo 5x continued to sell well in the European and South American markets. In February, 16,512 vehicles were exported, a 107.3% year-on-year increase.

As the earliest Chinese auto brand to explore the international market, Chery Automobile sees a continued growth in international sales in 2021. On the one hand, this stems from its long-term commitment to the globalization strategy; on the other hand, it is made possible by the continued diversification of Chery Automobile’s product portfolios for foreign markets, the tech-driven quality empowerment, and the further improvement of its brand image.

Star car models go global and “International Tiggo” enters the global market

Beginning in 2019, Chery Automobile has accelerated the launch of new products overseas in order to further expand the international market. Chery’s star car models headlined by Chery Arrizo 5, Chery Tiggo 5x, Chery Tiggo 7, and the new generation of Chery Tiggo 8 have successively “gone global”, enlarging the fan base in the global market with their strength. Taking the new generation of Chery Tiggo 8 as an example, it was launched in the Brazilian market last August and got an impressive monthly sales of more than 1,000 units in as little as four months. It was selected as the “Midsize SUV of the Year” by the renowned Brazilian website UOL after a victory over the Ford Territory and Jeep Compass.

In February 2021, Chery Automobile’s another global model, the Chery Tiggo 5x”, also went global from the Port of Shanghai, heading for overseas markets including Russia. Complement to Chery’s overseas product portfolios, it will also further boost Chery’s sales growth in overseas markets.

Technology-driven quality empowerment and high standards to establish hard power

The automobile industry is a technology intensive industry. To gain positive international recognition, Chinese auto brands must be anchored in technology and quality. Technically, Chery Automobile has insisted on independent innovation since its establishment in 1997, with 5%-7% of its sales revenue invested in research and development every year. In terms of key core technologies such as engines, Chery has already had the capabilities to compete directly with multinational auto manufacturers in the countries such as South Korea and Japan.

As for quality, Chery has established a globally unified standard Production Management System – Chery Production System (CPS), which effectively guarantees the quality of new products. At present, the 3MIS IPTV (incidents per thousand vehicles within 3 months) of Chery’s new products has led the pack among Chinese brands and exceeded the average level of some mainstream joint venture brands.

Proven technology and reliable quality enable Chery Automobile to gradually conquer the picky overseas consumers. Taking the Russian market as an example, Chery has currently sold more than 200,000 vehicles locally, and has been repeatedly honored as the “Most Popular Chinese Auto Brand” in Russia, claiming the top spot among Chinese car brands.

Deep dedication to local marketing, with further improved brand image

In addition to the continued expansion of overseas product portfolios and the empowerment of technology and quality, the fact that Chery’s overseas sales have soared is also directly linked to the sustained efforts to promote local development. Chery has always hoped to bring benefits to all parties by introducing vehicles to the market, but to share development results with its partners during its overseas development journey. For instance, Chery builds local facilities overseas to generate more job opportunities in local areas. At the same time, it has also brought some of Chery’s state-of-the-art technologies, manufacturing processes, and management methods, speeding up the development of local automobile manufacturing technology.

In addition, Chery has also fueled the enhancement of its brand image overseas through deep dedication to local marketing. Every time Chery stakes a claim in a foreign market, it will dive into local consumer behavior and habits, and launch corresponding marketing measures to fully integrate into the local social culture. In Chile, South America, and other regions where football is popular, Chery leverages sports marketing to make its brand image more popular. In February 2021, Club Deportivo Universidad Católica sponsored by Chery won the championship, adding another success to Chery’s global sports marketing efforts and further upgrading Chery’s brand image overseas.

At the same time, Chery is ramping up its global presence, including building a globally integrated R&D system and sales service system to support the localized operations of Chery products in mainstream global markets. Currently, Chery has established five major R&D bases, 10 overseas factories, 1,500-plus overseas dealers and service stations around the world, with a total overseas production capacity of 200,000 units per year. Looking into the future, Chery will further integrate global resources, and have global product development processes on board to further enhance Chery’s ability to compete in the global market.

Through deep dedication to overseas markets for 20 years, Chery Automobile has completed the fundamental transformation from initially “pure trade” to “brand output” today, from the “going global” of products to the “going in” of factories and culture and to the “going up” of the brand. Today, Chery Automobile products have been sold to more than 80 countries and regions around the world, with a cumulative export of over 1.7 million vehicles. In the international automobile arena, Chery Automobile, like mainstream multinational brands, has become a household name in many countries, and has been the first choice on ordinary people’s car purchase list.