Chery News

Chery has unveiled its first-ever ute model code-named ‘KP31’ which will be launched this year with a rare diesel plug-in hybrid (PHEV) set-up.

A new hope emerges for once-favourite car body styles in Australia.

Chery has unveiled its Rely R08 ute in the United Arab Emirates, with diesel and petrol set-up options. The car will start from around 63,000 dirham, which is roughly A$24,000, but there are significantly more expensive options in the range.The R08 was recently unveiled in China under Chery's Rely commercial vehicle marque, where it is already on sale.It is unlikely that Australia will get this ute from Chery, with the brand’s Australian Chief Operating Officer Lucas Harris confirming to CarsGuide last year a diesel plug-in hybrid is planned for Australian on a completely different platform.We can expect this ute to arrive in the second half of this year, and it likely to be based on the Rely P3X, which has the desired diesel PHEV set-up.The petrol variant of the R08 is fitted with a 2.4-litre turbo-petrol engine, which produces 118kW and 230Nm, and comes with a five-speed manual transmission. The more expensive diesel variant has a 2.3-litre turbocharged engine, producing 120kW and 420Nm and is available with six-speed manual or eight-speed automatic transmissions.Like many of its ute rivals, it will be built on a ladder-frame chassis, with up to a 1000kg payload. It measures up similarly to other dual-cab models at 5370mm in length, 1960mm in width and 18800mm in height, with a wheelbase of 3230mm. More premium trim levels of the Rely R08 are equipped with four-wheel drive, but the ute starts with 4x2 rear-wheel drive variants. Even an electric variant is available, but only in its Chinese home market.As standard, the Rely R08 comes with a four-speaker audio system, manual seat adjustment and rear parking sensors. The top-of-the-range ute has a 15.6-inch central touchscreen, wireless phone charger and a 360-degree camera.Stay tuned for more news on Chery's soon-to-arrive completely separate ute for the Australian market as it doubles down on its progress in 2025.

Will Chery go hybrid only?

Chinese behemoth Chery is at the forefront of futuristic, game-changing solid state batteries, and Australia could be inline to get the tech sooner rather than later.When asked whether solid state batteries would come to Australia, the answer was simple.“Why not”, said Peter Matkin, Chery's Director of Engineering.Chery Australia Chief Operating Officer Lucas Harris backed this up by stating, “Chery is the brand where you never say never.”Matkin said Chery covers all bandwidth with all the possible options, but the demand has to be there. Time will tell if Australia has that demand.Chery has claimed it will fit the futuristic cells — which are more energy dense and less prone to fire than conventional batteries — to some of its Exeed vehicles in China.Exeed is Chery’s tech and luxury focused sub-brand, which, if Harris gets his way, will land in Australia in the future.“I really like the Exeed product, and I think they make some, you know, really cool, really high end, actual luxury specification vehicles. If I could make a wish tomorrow and it would come true, that would probably be what I would ask for.”The first Exeed vehicle to score the new battery is the Liefend shooting brake, which is claimed to have an electric driving range of up to 1500km.This is due to the energy dense solid state batteries, which are claimed to store 600Wh per kg. That is about triple what an average electric vehicle can store now in its battery.The Exeed ES8 shooting brake is also in line for solid state power, with it claimed to have a driving range of more than 1000km.A timeline on when that technology could reach Australia in a Chery vehicle, or one of its sub brands, is hard to tell.Matkin said the technology is moving so fast and the Exeed brand is selling extremely well in China and other markets, which could push back the timeline, but he was confident it would come.“The technology will definitely pick up. They're already working on the solid state. So technology will come,” he said.

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.“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.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.

Chinese brand FAW has unveiled a new type of battery, which can achieve a driving range exceeding 1000km, according to reports.The battery has a capacity of 142kWh, and offers an energy density of 500Wh per kilogram. This is a new type of high-tech battery, differing from the traditional idea of solid-state, which is often viewed as the next big step.Chinese companies are continuing to develop their solid-state batteries, such as BYD and Chery that have recently announced projects.Chery claims its solid-state battery has an energy density of 600Wh per kilogram, but FAW’s efforts still represent a significant improvement on conventional alternatives.Traditional solid-state batteries do not use a liquid or gel electrolyte for the mechanical separator. Unlike solid-state, the mechanical separator in FAW's battery is made up of a slurry-like substance, combining solid and liquid components. This hybrid composition is able to provide the desired high energy density in comparison to common lithium-iron batteries, while also offering potential for cost-effective mass-production.The lithium-manganese battery developed by FAW features lithium manganese cells and solid electrolyte elements.While this battery has been mounted into an FAW car, there is no news on the battery's full-scale production future.FAW produce several electric models, and from the photo, it looks like the battery has been fitted to the Hongqi Tiangong 05 sedan launched in 2025.Solid-state batteries have commercial and manufacturing challenges in the pursuit of full-scale mass-production, which is why some car makers have ruled them out in the short and medium term.BYD and Chery have taken different approaches for the composition of its solid-state battery, but neither brand has committed to long-term mass-production of the technology.Chery has unveiled two cars featuring solid-state batteries, but they are both part of the brand’s premium Exeed branch, so it will not be offered in mainstream products. BYD will only produce solid-state vehicles in a small batch coming next year. FAW’s hybrid alternative could offer a route towards solid-state in the interim while the technology develops towards a more sustainable level. 

BYD is the latest brand to get in on the solid-state battery scene, with small-batch production to get underway in 2027, according to reports.This latest development puts BYD back in the race against Chinese rival Chery that has also recently announced solid-state technology. The Chery Exeed Liefeng shooting brake will feature a battery offering a potential driving range of 1500km, with an energy density of 600Wh per kilogram.This will launch after the Exeed ES8 shooting brake, which will be Chery’s first solid-state model, with a driving range of 1000km. We do not know which BYD vehicles will be fitted with this solid-state technology or its real-world potential yet.It is expected BYD’s technology will differ from Chery’s as it will use sulfide electrolytes as opposed to oxide-based chemistry. This different set-up could be a more practical route to commercial viability for solid-state technology as it is claimed to be easier to manufacture and provides benefits such as faster and safer energy transfer that could result in faster charging and lower fire risk. BYD’s solid-state powered vehicles will only be available in a small batch next year, which suggests there are no plans yet for the technology to enter full-scale production at this stage.Solid-state batteries have been gaining traction with car makers in China, but other big-name manufacturers in Europe and North America have been slower to get behind them. General Motors has highlighted its scepticism for solid-state, preferring investment in silicon graphite batteries, while Ford views it as a ‘possible future technology’.Mercedes-Benz unveiled a prototype solid-state powered version of its EQS sedan in September 2025, which travelled 1205km on a single charge. Full integration of this technology remains several years away, with full market integration unlikely to occur until the 2030s if it continues to gather steam in the EV space. 

High demand and the production volume to meet it has pushed two emerging challengers in the Australian new vehicle market to even greater heights in the first month of 2026.With 2025 new model additions including the Shark 6 ute, city-sized Atto 1 electric hatch and compact Atto 2 EV SUV, as well as the larger pure-electric Sealion 7 and plug-in hybrid Sealion 8 SUVs, BYD’s year-on-year sales for the month of January grew by a spectacular 640.9 per cent.In outright numbers, that’s 5001 units sold compared to 675 in the same month last year.In particular, the Sealion 7’s popularity has seemingly put the squeeze on several established medium SUV contenders like the Honda ZR-V (-15 per cent), Kia Sportage (-30.7 per cent), Nissan X-Trail (-34.2 per cent) and even the normally segment-leading Toyota RAV4 (-65.4 per cent), the latter two in run-out mode.Given the pure-electric Sealion 7’s size, specification and starting price ($54,990, before on-road costs), arguably its most direct competitor is the Tesla Model Y (from $58,900, BOC), the latter down 38.1 per cent in January, the BYD outselling it four to one (1171 units to 288).   At the same time, Chery more than doubled its January sales (+105.8 per cent), largely thanks to the ongoing success of its Tiggo 4 Pro, which comfortably led the small SUV category ahead of 2025 segment heavyweights like the Hyundai Kona, GWM Haval Jolion and MG ZS.With a starting price of $23,990, drive-away, it’s not hard to see why the Tiggo 4 Pro, easily the most affordable small SUV in the country, has made such an impact. Again, some long-standing players in this part of the market like the Mazda CX-30 (-3.9 per cent), Mitsubishi ASX (-90.9 per cent, in new model ramp-up) and Subaru Crosstrek (-22.8 per cent) took a backwards step, year-on-year.Another solid improver from China for January sales was GWM (+31.3 per cent), while other volume brands, LDV (-19.5 per cent) and MG (-16.5 per cent), declined. 

Ready or not, there is a new world order coming to the Australian new car market. The established order at the top of the sales charts is set to change dramatically in the near-future as local buyers continue to embrace the Chinese car brands.Like Japanese and Korean cars that came before, the initial backlash has given way to widespread acceptance and analysing the sales trends from recent years makes it clear that several of the leading Chinese brands are on the verge of cracking the top five in sales in 2026.But, as Newton’s Third Law of Motion tells us, for every action there is an equal or opposite reaction, which means brands that have been firmly ensconced in the top five on the sales charts will drop out.So, who will be the lucky Chinese brand to crack the upper echelon first? And which more established brand is most likely to drop out?For the first question there are two stand-out candidates and two more wild card options. GWM and BYD are the current leaders of the Chinese brands, finishing in seventh and eighth place on the 2025 sales charts. That’s a rise from 10th and 15th in ‘24, as GWM enjoyed a very healthy 23.4 per cent increase in sales last year, while BYD managed a staggering 156.2 per cent increase. But that wasn’t the biggest growing Chinese brand. That title belongs to Chery, which just missed out on a top 10 sales finish with 34,889 sales in 25, which was a massive 176.8 per cent growth on the previous year. And those figures don’t include the 3721 Omoda and Jaecoo sales. The final wild card is MG, which notched 41,298 sales in ‘25 but suffered a 18.4 per cent decline and fell from seventh to 10th on the charts. MG will need a dramatic turnaround but has installed new management specifically to address that problem.GWM and BYD are the clear-priced favourites to upset the order and put more pressure on the likes of Hyundai, Kia and Mazda in ‘26 and beyond. Both are investing in expanded line-ups, while GWM is going a step further and locally-tuning its new models to even further appeal to Australian customers.So who is the brand under the most threat of a sales ladder fall? Hyundai finished in fifth place in ‘25, but that was a clear improvement on ‘24, with the brand enjoying 7.7 per cent sales growth.Kia was next up, but was effectively neutral last year, reporting less than one per cent (0.4%) sales growth. Given this came despite the addition of the highly-anticipated Tasman ute, that’s not a positive result for the brand and puts more pressure on in ‘26.Mazda claimed third place, but suffered a 4.2 per cent sales decline, however, with sales over 90,000 units it can probably be considered fairly safe unless there is a dramatic change in the near-future.For either GWM or BYD to jump into the top five sellers they will need to add more than 25,000 sales. While that’s undoubtedly a huge jump, BYD actually attracted more than 31,000 new customers in 2025 - so it’s not impossible. Especially as it will add four models full-time this year - Atto 1, Atto 2, Sealion 5 and Sealion 8.So, while Toyota is likely to stay comfortably ahead of everyone else, the rest of the established order is up for grabs as Australian customers embrace these new brands and put pressure on the bigger names.