Chery defends enormous brand expansion in Australia, says some won’t chase big sales

Chery has defended the number of brands it's bringing to Australia, saying some will target small groups of buyers and operate with more limited dealer networks than its more mainstream marques.

The group’s existing and announced Australian plans now cover nine names: Chery, Omoda, Jaecoo, Jetour, iCaur, Lepas, Exlantix, Luxeed, and Freelander. That count treats Omoda and Jaecoo separately, although they operate together here under the Omoda Jaecoo business.

Speaking to Australian media, including CarExpert, in Wuhu, Chery International president Zhang Guibing identified Chery and Omoda Jaecoo as the main brands, with different expectations for some of the others.

“Some other brands, I think they are mainly not for big volumes,” Mr Zhang said. "We won't develop every brand in the same way."

"Different brands have different positions. For some, we are concerned about volume. Some may just make a very small customer group happy."

He said the size of the customer group would influence how each brand was developed, including the number of dealers appointed, and also said he had asked teams to study different dealer limits for each brand.

“Also now I’m asking them to study different brands. Should be limited different quantity of the dealer side.”

There are already different network plans taking shape locally. Freelander is targeting around 25 dealers for its 2027 launch, while Lepas aims to have 40 outlets operating by the end of 2026.

Mr Zhang also addressed whether Chery’s brands would take sales from one another, given their overlapping SUV lineups.

Asked whether he wanted the brands to compete to improve what they offered, he replied:

“Basically, they need to compete each other.”

Mr Zhang pointed to similarities between vehicles from Chery and competitors including BYD, Geely, and GWM, and said the distinction would increasingly come from the brand.

“But the big difference in the future is the brand image. How from the emotion side, from heart side, the people feeling, oh this brand is different," he said.

"Different customer groups have different tastes. Of course, each group's size is also different," he added.

The potential overlap extends to models already announced for Australia. The Lepas L6 plug-in hybrid will enter the same mid-size SUV market as the Chery Tiggo 7 Super Hybrid and Jaecoo J7 plug-in hybrid. Jetour’s T1 and T2 will add more mid-size SUVs to the group’s local offering.

Mr Zhang said customer groups would differ, though some could overlap, and pointed to pricing as another way of separating brands such as iCaur and Lepas from Chery and Omoda Jaecoo.

“Generally, we try to make the customer groups different. Of course, some may overlap. But the prices are also very different. For example, iCaur and later Lepas will have prices a little further away from Chery or Omoda," he said.

He also described giving individual brand teams more authority over their products and marketing. The intention was for those teams to understand the customers they were trying to reach, rather than have every decision made centrally.

Mr Zhang said his own involvement could be counterproductive when he didn't belong to a brand’s target customer group.

“So if sometimes I make too many decisions, it’s wrong," he said.

Separate brands can still share infrastructure. Lepas will use back-end systems already established for other Chery brands, with some existing dealerships also able to act as service agents. Freelander also expects to use Chery’s parts and vehicle distribution infrastructure.

The expansion includes more than different takes on the same SUV. Exlantix plans to launch an ES GT shooting brake alongside its new ET SUV, while Luxeed will start with the LLounge people mover before adding the Stormax electric SUV.

The nine names in Chery’s current and announced Australian plans are:

Mr Zhang also said the group’s global brand portfolio didn't automatically have to be replicated in Australia. Chery International vice-president Chen Chunqing separately said brands would be introduced one by one according to their suitability for the market.

"We have different brands. Do all the brands have to go to Australia? No, I don't think so," said Mr Zhang.

However, Chery has few brands left beyond those it has confirmed for Australia: just Rely and Karry, both light-commercial vehicle brands operating in China, plus Soueast, which is closely associated with Jetour.

Other marques such as Aiqar and Exeed are simply alternate names for other brands in its portfolio.

MORE: Everything Chery • Freelander • iCaur • Jetour • Lepas • Omoda Jaecoo