China's ‘game changer’ electric cars: Chery could shake up the small car market to with new QQ range to battle BYD Atto 1, Geely EX2, Kia Picanto and Suzuki Swift

Chery is going to shake up stale and uninteresting competitors in Australia.

Chery Australia Chief Operating Officer Lucas Harris has revealed some of the cars on his wish list for Down Under, and the fast-rising Chinese brand has some of the biggest names in the business in its sights.

“I think having a very small and then a small hatchback would be a game changer,” said Harris.

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“I think there’s a huge amount of potential in those segments, and at the moment I think those segments are a little bit stale and not that interesting.

“So if we could bring something like the QQ, I think it’d be a huge amount of opportunity,” he said.

That opens the door to two new cheap small cars from Chery’s city-focused QQ range.

The very small hatch could refer to the QQ Domi, which was revealed last year.

2026 Chery QQ Domi

It is a pint-sized electric hatchback measuring just 3.7m long and 1.7m wide, which is just bigger than a Kia Picanto but smaller than a Suzuki Swift.

It’s nearest EV competitor would be the larger BYD Atto 1, which is called Seagull in other markets.

In China it launched at the equivalent of about $13,000. Chinese cars are usually 20 per cent more expensive here than the home market, which would mean it could lob in at about $16,000.

That would make it not only Australia’s cheapest electric car, but the cheapest car overall.

It has modest numbers to match its low price tag, with a single electric motor making 40kW and 110Nm sent to the front wheels.

A little 28.5kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery, which is about the same size as found in plug-in hybrids, delivers a claimed driving range of up to 305km, according to the very generous China Light-duty Test Cycle (CLTC).

Next up would likely be the bigger QQ3, which just opened for preorders in China.

It measures 4195mm long ,1811mm wide and 1573mm tall, which puts it in the same ballpark as the Geely EX2 and slightly smaller than the BYD Dolphin.

Power comes from a single rear-mounted electric motor making either 58kW or 90kW, which drives the rear wheels.

At its core is a LFP battery that provides a driving range between 280km and 401km, depending on the grade. That is calculated via the lenient CLTC testing regime, so expect much less in the real world.

It would likely be priced sub-$30,000 if it arrives Down Under.

Chery also has one of the biggest names in the business in its flights, with the Toyota Camry officially put on notice.

“And we also have some really great medium and large sedans in other markets — left-hand drive — which I think that sort of size in between medium and large sedans is a real opportunity in Australia as well,” said Harris.

“There’s only really one serious competitor, and they don’t have much competition. They kind of own the whole market. So I think there is certainly a lot of opportunity there as well.”

Chery will need to play in a lot more segments over the next few years if it wants to crack the top 10 and future top five sellers list in Australia.