Omoda and Jaecoo are now their own brands under Chery’s purview.
The Chinese market is full of brands most Malaysians have never heard of. Now Chery themselves are adding a couple of new names to the roster with a new Jaecoo brand and Omoda spun off as its own sub-brand.
You might be wondering why the need for additional brands when the Chery brand itself is still not completely established in many markets. Well, Chery as a group is looking at the bigger picture and market trends. For battery electric vehicles, the industry has seen a 16% rise in 2022 of which 93% of sales were from new EV makers and not established legacy car brands. For the new energy vehicle market, which consists of various types of hybrids as well as EVs, projects that a new segment of buyers is emerging.
From 2010 to 2030, Chery says that there are two expanding segments with money to spare for the kinds of vehicles they are looking to sell. The first is the ‘Fashion Elite’ and the second is the slightly less affluent lifestyle/health & sustainability-oriented customers.
The Omoda brand will be targeted at customers who are dynamic, avantgarde, and fashion-centric. The Jaecoo brand will be targeted at customers who are focused, efficient and stylish. To us, the distinguishing factor is really in the design philosophy of the products.
Omoda vehicles take on a sportier and fluid shape. It started with the Chery Omoda 5 which has already sold 300,000 units worldwide with an equal split between left-hand drive and right-hand drive models.
Jaecoo models take on a more angular and masculine look. We saw one Jaecoo model on display – the Jaecoo 7 which had a large grille with vertical slats and rectangular light housings. Door handles are flush against the body.
The focus of these two brands may not be Malaysia. We spoke to some Russian representatives of the Chery brand who say that Omoda has already been sold as a separate brand from Chery in their market to great success. It’s also becoming apparent that the Jaecoo brand will be have new independent showrooms rolling out across the country soon.
Besides introducing Omoda and Jaecoo to their international markets, Chery also teased their own upcoming series of premium electric vehilces under the EXCEED brand. The series of electric vehicles will be parked under the EXLANTIX name, but it’s unclear if this is a name of a separate brand or just a range of products. Chery says their premium EVs will have up to 700km of range on a single charge, have energy consumption of 12kWh/100km. Plus, ultra fast charging which will recover 150km in 5 minutes.
Besides those details, very little specifications or model names were shared.
