Chery CEO Yin Tongyue’s Plans for European Partnerships
Last year, Chery CEO Yin Tongyue revealed that two premium marques in Europe were interested in using Chery platforms. One of these brands turned out to be Chery’s joint-venture partner JLR, which has announced the revival of the Freelander brand in China using Chery’s T1X platform, shared with Chery brands Omoda and Jaecoo.
Another premium brand that is likely to collaborate with Chery is Ineos. Renault Group CEO Luca de Meo also expressed interest in the iCaur V23 during a visit to Chery’s hometown of Wuhu earlier this year.
The iCar brand, which had to be renamed iCaur for export purposes to avoid a legal conflict with Apple, has been a success in China, especially after the launch of the V23 model. The brand now aims to replicate this success globally by planning to open 2000 showrooms in 100 countries within three years.
Chery is actively seeking partnerships with European car manufacturers. In Spain, the company has partnered with local brand EV Motors to sell its Tiggo SUV range under the revived Spanish marque Ebro. Similarly, in Italy, the same cars are branded under the local DR brand.
Both collaborations involve local assembly, with Ebro’s cars being partially built in kits and finished at Nissan’s former Barcelona plant. Ineos is speculated to repurpose its former Smart car facility in Hambach, France, to assemble the Fusilier model from iCaur kits imported from China. By assembling the cars in Europe, Ineos may be able to bypass the EU’s increased tariffs on China-built EVs, as long as they can demonstrate sufficient local value addition.
