'We definitely don't want to miss': How Chinese carmaker Chery thinks it has the edge over some of the more established competition on the market

Being a relatively new brand, such as Chinese newcomer Chery, comes with advantages according to the company's Global Vice President of Design, Steve Eum.

Chery launched in Australia in 2023 with its bold-looking Omoda 5, which turned heads with its heavily chromed grille, coupe-like silhouette and dynamic lighting as well as a host of other eye-opening features inside and out.

Eum said Chery’s lack of a long heritage compared to other legacy makers gives it the ability to be edgy and agile with its design.

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“There’s some companies, certain German, European companies that have very long heritage so they have to stick to their family brand values, family look, which can play to its advantage, but can also play to its disadvantage,” said Eum.

He said the brand’s Omoda and Tiggo models were designed in Shanghai but the intent was always to export them overseas so they were designed to cater to international tastes.

“[The design] has become quite successful, almost more so than inside of China.” said Eum.

He said there was no one design that would appeal to everyone and the idea of a truly global car was a falsehood.

“We like to focus a little bit more on each demographic. Even within Europe, Spain is much different from say Germany. And here [in Australia] as well it’s much different than let’s say from the US market,” said Eum.

But the pressure to succeed is immense as a vehicle that is received poorly can set the company’s global ambitions back years, so research of markets and demographics is very necessary.

“We definitely don’t want to miss, which leads to loss of time, loss of revenue ultimately and we have to make up for that in the next cycle with a facelift.”

Eum said the era of electric cars all looking very similar might be over, too.

“Yes EVs are kind of looking the same, but right now, I think in terms of the energy technology there is a certain limit to it so we have to try optimise by aerodynamics,” said Eum.

“So that’s why you see vehicles with no grilles — as flush as possible to make that air move efficiently as possible, so that car has that extra mileage we all want.

“We are governed a lot by regulations, we have to have safety and we have to have certain visual plans.”

Eum said the increasingly modular nature of electric cars will free up designers to start penning some more original designs.

The key to this is the modularity of safety system integration that means the design doesn’t have to fit the safety tech but the other way around. 

Chery currently has a small presence in Australia but in China it is a behemoth with several sub brands including the off-road focused Jetour and the luxe Jaecoo. The latter is launching here in the coming months.

This mass of vehicles of the same size across multiple brands can cause some design friction, but Eum said the company has a committee process to help the cars stand out from each other.

It isn’t always an easy, though.

“It is difficult because it is highly competitive. And if there is one good idea, I always say good design is good design, somebody will always try and grab it. And of course even in-house we do get it with all the sub brands,” he said.

“Design is a very small community and I think there is a certain, almost physiological syncing that happens. One person thinks this is a good idea, somebody else is thinking the same thing.

“You know so you get into this situation where we come out with two of the same design features let’s just say and, which brand is going to grab it first?

“I think that the leadership such as myself have to make that decision,” he said.