Chery local assembly in Kedah will be expanded with new energy models
In a recent meeting in China, Chery Vice President Of International Markets, Shawn Wu took time from his busy scheduled to share with us some interesting future developments for Chery in Malaysia.
Currently Chery Malaysia’s local assembly (CKD) capacity sits at 15,000 units a year. This is already being met with the surging demand for the two current models being assembled, which is the OMODA 5 and the TIGGO 8 Pro.
With the product expansion planned for 2024 to include JAECOO SUV models, Chery Malaysia will have to expand its investment in Malaysia with a larger factory footprint and high technology assembly equipment in the coming year.
Plus, right now the local assembled vehicles are using about 30 percent local content which will be increased to 40-45 percent in the near future. Chery is also looking to assemble their new electric vehicles like the OMODA 5 electric and also the Sterra super sedan that will rival Tesla electric cars and the BYD SEAL.
This move will have Chery competing directly with BYD, Hyundai, smart, KIA and even Tesla in the fast growing electric vehicle segment.
The Malaysian government currently provides a 100 percent tax incentive for full electric vehicles (zero tax) until the end of 2025. This has accelerated the sales of electric vehicles, especially luxury battery powered vehicles from BYD, Tesla, Volvo, Mercedes, BMW, Audi Porsche and even Lotus.
From January 2026, this tax free holiday will only continue ONLY for local assembled electric vehicles. Right now only the European car manufacturers have established Malaysian assembly. Volvo, Mercedes-Benz and BMW have facilities ready to assemble their electric vehicles from 2025 and plans are already in place for expansion and modernization.
Chery Malaysia does not want to be left behind and so their electric vehicle local assembly will be fast tracked to be ready by early 2025 to take advantage of the Malaysian vehicle import tax structure and provide Malaysians with high technology premium luxury EV’s like the Sterra EV, OMODA 5 EV and the EXEED 7.
