Chery boosts investment in research and development

Chinese carmaker Chery has confirmed that it has increased its investment in new-vehicle research and development, hot on the heels of record global deliveries in April. 

In a release, the brand said it invested 2.85 billion yuan ($717m) into its R&D programmes, an increase of 25.44% versus the same period last year. This, according to the brand, underscores “Chery’s continued focus on long-term technological development”.

“While steadily improving its profitability, Chery continues to allocate resources toward technological innovation to drive high-quality development,” it added.

These R&D investments go well beyond the traditional ‘nuts and bolts’ of car manufacturing. Chery noted that it presented 31 “cutting-edge technological achievements” at the recent Beijing Auto Show, including its Rhino battery, the GAIA off-road platform, and a new continuously variable super hybrid system. 

The Beijing Auto Show also saw the brand confirm strategic partnerships with Bosch, CATL, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, and Volcengine. 

“These collaborations cover cutting-edge fields such as physical AI, intelligent driving, intelligent cockpits, cockpit-driving integration, robotics, 48V vehicle architectures, and renewable energy,” said the brand. 

Having briefly set up shop in New Zealand in the early 2000s, Chery returned to our market in 2024 via sub-brand Omoda. Later in the year, another of the marque’s sub-brands — Jaecoo — arrived. 

Last year saw Chery launch its core Chery brand in New Zealand, with the self-titled brand quickly becoming its most successful in New Zealand. Year-to-date, Chery is the country’s 12th most popular brand with 813 registrations, positioning itself between Honda and Nissan.

As demand for electrified vehicles has increased, Jaecoo has also seen wins this year. The marque’s first fully electric nameplate launched in New Zealand, the J5, was the country’s best-selling BEV in April. This helped the Jaecoo brand climb the charts, seeing it outsell Chery in the same month.

Globally, Chery delivered 251,400 new vehicles in April — a 25.2% year-on-year increase. Just over 100,000 of those vehicles were ‘new energy vehicles’, meaning they were either hybrids, plug-in hybrids, or pure EVs.