Chery News

We’ve now reached the halfway point of 2025 and new vehicle sales are a little cooler than they were last year.According to VFACTS, a total of 608,811 new vehicles have been sold in the first six months of 2025, which is down 3.7 per cent year-on-year.The following is a breakdown of the brands that have experienced the biggest amount of sales growth or decline in the first half of 2025.We’ve only included mainstream and select premium brands in this story, because while niche luxury brands like Rolls-Royce and Bentley may have experienced a large change in sales growth or decline, they come from a much lower base.This Chinese brand has been surging up the sales charts ever since returning to Australian shores in 2023.Chery’s biggest seller by far this year has been the cut-price Tiggo 4 Pro (7996 sales YTD). Its crown of the cheapest SUV in Australia was recently snatched by the Indian-made Mahindra XUV 3XO.The Chery Tiggo 8 Pro Max was the Chinese carmaker’s model with the biggest growth in sales (1386 sales YTD, up 507.9 per cent), though it’s worth noting this car only launched locally in May 2024.China’s BYD experienced the second highest sales growth in Australia. In fact, in June it was the fifth best-selling brand.BYD’s best-seller was the popular Shark 6 plug-in hybrid (PHEV) ute (10,424 sales). It was actually the fourth best-selling ute in June, behind the Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux and Isuzu D-Max.Another BYD model that has experienced a huge surge in sales is the Sealion 6 PHEV (4375 sales YTD, up 807.7 per cent), though this car only launched in May 2024.Mini’s sales growth comes from a considerably lower base than Chery and BYD, but its year-to-date sales are still up 80.4 per cent year-on-year.The Mini Countryman is one of the biggest reasons for the brand’s sales growth. A total of 1135 examples were sold in the first six months of 2025, which is up 155.1 per cent year-on-year.From an overall year-to-date sales volume perspective, however, the Mini Cooper did outsell the Countryman, with 1181 examples sold. This is up 52.2 per cent year-on-year.Cupra has slowly but steadily been increasing its sales in Australia since it launched in 2022.The Formentor SUV has been the brand’s best-seller since it arrived, with 909 examples sold in the first half of 2025. This is up 50.0 per cent year-on-year.The Born hatchback is another model on the rise for the brand, with 309 examples sold in the first half of 2025. This is up 19.3 per cent year-on-year.Polestar has a low sales base compared to rival brands in Australia, but it has picked up in the first half of 2025.The recently introduced Polestar 4 is currently the brand’s best-seller with 676 examples sold so far this year.However, only 396 examples of the Polestar 2 were sold in the first half of 2025, which is down 58.3 per cent year-on-year. Only 30 examples of the Polestar 3 were also sold over the same period.Even though the Tesla Model Y was the third best-selling car in June, it didn’t make up for the sales slump the US electric vehicle (EV) brand has been experiencing so far this year.A total of 10,431 examples of the Model Y were sold in the first six months of 2025, which is down 16.7 per cent year-on-year. This is despite the fact it launched in a new-generation guise a few months ago.Sales for the Model 3 also took a nosedive with 3175 examples sold so far this year. This is down 65.0 per cent year-on-year.The French brand doesn’t have a massive sales base in Australia to begin with, but it shrunk further in the first six months of 2025. This is despite the fact it has shaken up its product offerings and introduced more hybrids.Sales for virtually all Peugeots were down year-to-date compared to the same point last year, except for the 408 liftback. A total of 58 have been sold, which is up 48.7 per cent year-on-year.Overlooking the Peugeot 508 (2 sales YTD, down 94.6 per cent) which has been axed locally, the model that took the biggest hit in sales volume was the 2008 (111 sales, down 61.1 per cent).This Korean brand formerly known as SsangYong has been going through its second rebrand in two years and it has clearly taken a hit to its sales so far in 2025.KGM’s current best-seller has been the Musso dual-cab ute for a considerable amount of time now, however only 1131 examples were sold in the first half of 2025, which is down 44.2 per cent year-on-year.The model that saw the sharpest downturn in sales is the Korando. Only 79 examples have been sold year-to-date, which is down 71.0 per cent year-on-year.Without taking the Fiat Professional commercial vehicle brand into consideration, this Italian brand only sells small hatchbacks.A total of 207 examples of the Fiat 500 and Abarth counterparts were sold in the first half of 2025. This is down 28.6 per cent year-on-year.While sales for the regular Fiat brand are slowing, sales for the Fiat Ducato (sold under Fiat Professional) have been booming. A total of 708 examples were sold in the first half of 2025, which is up 32.8 per cent year-on-year.Local sales for the Czech brand have been sliding for a few years now, but there are new and refreshed products in the pipeline which will potentially pump up the sales numbers in the coming months.Sales for Skoda’s best-seller, the Kodiaq SUV, have remained steady in the first half of 2025 despite just launching in new-generation guise. A total of 688 examples were sold, which is down 2.4 per cent year-on-year.All Skoda models experienced a downturn in sales in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period last year. The model with the biggest decline is the Scala hatchback (76 examples YTD, down 67.7 per cent).

A Chinese technology company backed by carmaker Chery has begun production of its first batch of high-density solid-state batteries.

Chinese carmaker Jaecoo has confirmed its J5 small SUV will go on sale in the United Kingdom paving the way for the small SUV’s entrance to Australia.The J5 looks very much like the J7 mid-sized SUV only smaller, measuring 4.3m in length, and rivalling the Kia Seltos, Mitsubishi ASX and Mazda CX-30.The J5 will debut in the UK with a 1.6-litre turbo-petrol engine and seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.In the UK the five-seater SUV will go on sale in two trim levels: the Pure and the Luxury.Coming standard on the Pure will be a six-speaker stereo, power adjustable front seats and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Stepping up to the Luxury will add a panoramic sunroof, heated and ventilated front seats and wireless phone charging.Jaecoo is the luxury-focussed sub-brand of Chery and currently has two SUVs on sale in Australia - the mid-sized J7 and the J8 large SUV.The J5 will definitely be making its way to Australia as well, but as to when this will happen is unknown. Recently Jaecoo Australia’s Chief Commercial Officer, Roy Munoz, confirmed the J5 is headed to Australia to CarsGuide, but didn't reveal timing.Pricing for the J5 hasn't been announced in the UK nor Australia, but buyers can be certain it will be less than the J7 and the J8.As a guide the J7 starts at $34,990 drive-away and the entry grade J8 is $49,990.Jaecoo doesn't have any electric vehicles on sale currently in Australia with both the J7 and J8 using petrol engines, but the J7 is also available with plug-in hybrid power.Jaecoo is a very new brand to Australia having only arrived in May this year and follows its parent company Chery, which launched its vehicles here in 2023.Currently Chery has several models on sale in Australia including the petrol powered C5 small SUV and its E5 electric twin, while there’s three hybrid SUVs also available: the small Tiggo 4, the mid-sized Tiggo 7 and the large Tiggo 8. 

I’ve spent a fair bit of time around new electric cars in the last couple of years and there’s a trend I’m sure you’ve noticed if you’re paying even half the amount of attention I am.

One of the most common questions I get asked as a motoring journalist is ‘what’s the worst car you’ve driven?’  To be honest, it’s not a hard question to answer because I was one of the unfortunate few to have driven the original Chery J1 hatchback.

Chery adds to its list of most affordable models in Australia with the Tiggo 4 Hybrid.

Chinese cars aren’t just about being the budget option anymore, and their ability to act fast, take risks and disregard the status quo is an existential threat to some of the world’s biggest manufacturers in Australia.I’ve increasingly had these thoughts as I’ve been driving ambitious new Chinese cars week-to-week against new offerings from their more established European, Japanese, and Korean rivals.It’s not as though these new offerings aren’t riddled with issues, some of them mundane and others extremely frustrating as you can read about in our recent reviews of cars like the Leapmotor C10, Geely EX-5, and Jaecoo J8. But outside the pricing and sheer speed to market, it’s the complete lack of fear to try something new which is making them stand out even in the most congested market segments.My favourite recent examples include Zeekr’s wild 009 performance people mover and the smaller but absurdly modular Mix, as well as the 7X electric mid-size SUV.There’s XPeng’s range of cars, from the surprisingly tidy G6, which has already arrived in Australia, alongside the soon-to-arrive G9 large SUV and Mona M03 sedan.Most recently there’s the wild GWM Tank 700, a $100k-plus twin-turbo V6 plug-in hybrid off-road monster clearly designed to rival some of the biggest names in the industry like G-Wagen, Defender and LandCruiser.That’s not to mention BYD’s mould-breaking Shark 6 plug-in hybrid ute, which has single-handedly upended the predominantly diesel segment and suddenly made heroes of the post-Falcon and Commodore era like the HiLux and D-Max look relatively antiquated.These new Chinese options have a lot in common. They have ambitious futuristic designs, feature-laden cabins with clever software features (albeit not all of them good) and a complete disregard for established industry norms.Performance people mover? Any other manufacturer would say a resounding ‘no’ to that, but Zeekr and XPeng both reckon they can simply create the hype for one out of thin air.Even just the concept of people movers in general. Toyota’s local division constantly dismisses the idea of bringing its luxurious Alphard to our market, despite the fact that it consistently ranks as Australia’s most popular grey import and sold in numbers orders of magnitude greater than the now-discontinued and diesel-only Granvia, which the brand offered as an also-ran alternative thanks to its parts commonality with the HiAce.Yet soon Australia will be again flooded with people mover offerings from the likes of BYD’s Denza brand as well as Xpeng and Zeekr, an existential threat to the Kia Carnival, which has remained largely unchallenged for the last few years.Even the entire concept of a Chinese semi-luxury brand like Jaecoo or Zeekr would have been scoffed at a handful of years ago, yet here they are, and not with one or two models, but fully-fledged line-ups.You can go even more granular than that. Recently I had a new Suzuki Swift ‘hybrid’ as a long-termer. It’s a sweet little car and technically ticks a lot of boxes for the intended buyer. The issue? It goes into battle against the new MG3.There’s a few problems with this. Firstly, the Suzuki feels like a facelift of the previous car, rather than a new-generation as claimed, and secondly, it’s not a ‘real hybrid’ in the sense that there’s no electric motor large enough to independently drive the wheels.In comparison, the MG launches with a clean-sheet, screen-centric interior (for better or worse), and an interesting dedicated hybrid transmission system with plenty of electric driving potential. Again, the MG is far from perfect, but it’s the relative ambition on show which could make or break a sale.Another example I drove recently was the Audi Q6 e-tron. It’s a great luxury mid-size electric SUV. The problem is, Volkswagen Group made a big song and dance about its brand-new PPE platform as though it was going to revolutionize the space, and the problem is the end product is just good when it needs to be stellar.In comparison, the Zeekr 7X I drove at the end of 2024 in China completely outgunned my expectations. It’s a similar offering; a ground-up new mid-size luxury electric SUV, but it brings a surprisingly plush interior (in some aspects, nicer than the Audi), with very clever software features, a coherent and innovative design and solid motor and battery specs.Zeekr was so confident we’d be impressed by it, they brought a current BMW X5 for us to test it against, and, to put it simply, the 7X felt much more a product of today. Plus it looks set to cost closer to $75k than the $100k of the base Q6.Now I'll stop at this point to add the caveat that just because these new offerings are ambitious - whether it's their design, price, market segment, or features - they're not always objectively better vehicles.The point is: at both ends of the price spectrum now, Chinese brands are putting the pressure on and tempting buyers away at a time where traditional brands can't afford to lose their audience.You don’t even need to take my word for it. It’s clear as day in the latest VFACTs figures for new car registrations in Australia.At the low end of the market, the squeeze is undeniable. The once-dominating Suzuki is down 19.8 per cent this year as it faces particular pressure from both MG and Chery, and cult hero SsangYong from Korea is taking a big hit as GWM and JAC muscle in on the territory of its humble Musso ute, the brand’s sales also dropping 27.6 per cent year-on-year.Even Mitsubishi is struggling to keep up, its affordable ASX now discontinued and new competition particularly fierce in the same segments as its core Triton ute and Outlander mid-sizer.BYD’s surge to the front of the EV charts has the once-dominant Tesla on the ropes for the first time, and it’s clear that some niche parts of the market are struggling to deal with the new car landscape, with Volvo down 21 per cent year-on-year and Jeep down 20.8 per cent.Granted it’s hard to attribute new Chinese players purely to these issues, with some ageing product no doubt to blame, but it’s worth pondering whether the lost volume will ever be recovered with so much competition tempting buyers away.Some traditional players are fairing better than others. Toyota is stable thanks to a steady stream of refreshed versions of its popular range of hybrids (although a question mark hangs above its ageing HiLux), while Kia and Hyundai take a different path, leaning into offering a diverse range of hybrids and electric cars with their own ambitious design allure.None of this will last. Despite a new range of ambitious products, even the once trailblazing MG is feeling a bit of heat, down 12.7 per cent this year as it tries to outgrow its cheap and cheerful phase, the mantle of which has been taken up by Chery.No doubt the same fate could await its contemporaries, as even more Chinese brands have designs on the Australian market - widely seen as a microcosm of other markets like the US and Europe - a perfect testbed for global expansion plans.Eventually the dust will settle, but how many automakers - new or old - will survive an increasingly intense race to 2030 seems impossible to tell.

Chery sticks it to its key Chinese rivals with ultra-affordable plug-in hybrid versions of its two mid-size SUVs

Geely is latest to issue warning about the unsustainable state of global car market joining GWM and even the Chinese government in concerns about price-cuts and oversupply.

Chery has just launched a new electric micro hatchback in China that goes up against the BYD Seagull and Leapmotor T03.