April 2, Chery Holding Group (hereinafter referred to as “Chery Group”) released the latest monthly sales and first-quarter sales data for 2024. Data shows that in March 2024, Chery Group’s sales were 181,585 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 45.3%; the cumulative sales in the first quarter were 529,604 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 60.3%.
Chery Holding was established in 2010 and has business sectors such as automobiles, shipbuilding, finance, and tourism. Currently, the passenger vehicle business sector of Chery Holding is mainly composed of brands such as Chery Automobiles, EXEED Starway, JETOUR, Chery Jaguar, and Chery Land Rover, and its products cover entry-level to luxury-level products. Among them, Chery Automobiles is the most important source of sales of Chery Holding Group.
Data shows that Chery Automobile’s sales in March were 116,927 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 40.7%; the cumulative sales from January to March were 350,314 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 57.6%. As the main source of passenger vehicle sales under Chery Group, Chery Automobile’s products cover small SUVs, compact SUVs, and mid-sized SUVs, covering almost all the main model fields in the market. Among them, the Tiggo series and Arrizo series are the main sales models of Chery Automobiles. Retail sales show that in February 2024, the top three models in Chery Automobile’s sales are Tiggo 8, Arrizo 8, and Tiggo 7, with sales of 8,296 vehicles, 7,160 vehicles, and 3,652 vehicles respectively. Tiggo 9, EXPLORE 06, and Arrizo 5 are followed, with sales of 2,530 vehicles, 2,138 vehicles, and 1,775 vehicles respectively, and the sales of other models are all less than 1,300 vehicles.
The sales of the Starway brand in March were 6,653 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 3%; the sales from January to March were 23,493 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 44.4%. As Chery’s high-end brand, Starway Automobile is Chery’s third attempt to impact the high-end market. The two brands, Ruiqi and Kuanzhi, which were launched earlier, both failed. However, as a brand that is supposed to lead Chery to high-end, its performance in the auto market is not ideal.
Taking the sales in 2023 as an example, retail data shows that the cumulative sales of Starway Automobiles in 2023 were 58,309 vehicles, of which the highest-selling model was Starway Yaoguang, with 24,939 vehicles, and the monthly sales were only about 2,000 vehicles; Starway Lingyun and Starway LanYue followed, with sales of 15,208 vehicles and 10,286 vehicles respectively. From the cumulative sales of the whole year of the model, there is no popular model in Starway Automobiles yet, and the development of Starway Automobiles’ brand upwards still has a long way to go.
The sales of the JETOUR brand in March were 35,503 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 82%; the cumulative sales from January to March were 107,476 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 106.9%. JETOUR Automobiles is a vehicle product sequence launched by Chery Holding Group in January 2018. It once belonged to Karry Automobiles. It adopts a high-config and low-price model strategy at the beginning of its launch and quickly relies on Chery’s channel side for layout.
As early as 2021, JETOUR Automobiles proposed the goal of achieving one million vehicle sales in 2026, and this year will achieve a sales target of 500,000 vehicles and enter the first camp of Chinese brands. According to the first-quarter data, the completion rate is 21.50%. From the current sales analysis, it is still quite difficult for JETOUR Automobiles to achieve the annual sales target as scheduled.
At present, the models on sale under Jetour include Jetour Dasheng, X90 Zilong, X90 PLUS, X90, New X70S, X70 Zhuge, X70 PLUS, X70, X70M, X70 Coupe, X70S, X95 Chief Edition, X95 Supreme Edition, X70S-EV and Jetour Traveller. Retail data shows that in February, the sales of Jetour X70, Jetour Traveller, and Jetour X90 were 7,828 vehicles, 4,974 vehicles, and 2,889 vehicles respectively.
In terms of new energy vehicles, the first product of iCAR, the first new energy vehicle brand under Chery Automobile – iCAR 03, has sold 5,487 vehicles in three months since its launch. It is understood that iCAR 03 is positioned as a hard-core pure electric SUV and is built on the i-MS multi-cube new energy architecture. Power-wise, it offers single/dual-motor versions for selection. Among them, the maximum power of the single-motor version is 135 kilowatts (184 horsepower), and the maximum power of the dual-motor four-wheel drive version reaches 205 kilowatts (279 horsepower). The car was launched on February 28 and a total of 6 models were launched, with a price range of 109,800-169,800 yuan. As a new product, the sales in the first month of its launch reached about 5,500 vehicles, which is not bad overall.
Previously, Yin Tongyue, the Party Secretary and Chairman of Chery Holding Group, said: “In 2024, Chery’s ranking in the new energy industry will not be so polite! In terms of new energy and intelligent connected vehicles, we are ready, and now we want to come from behind!” Currently, Chery Group is accelerating the transformation to new energy, and its Chery, EXEED, Jetour, and iCAR four brands are all accelerating the new energy transformation. Whether Chery can come from behind, let’s wait and see.
Taken together, whether it is Chery Automobile, EXEED Automobile or Jetour Automobile, all achieved a good increase in March this year. Since 2024, Chery Group has launched a number of new cars. Among them, on March 11, the EXEED Yaoguang C-DM was launched, with a total of 5 models, with a price range of 159,800-225,800 yuan. The power is equipped with a hybrid system composed of a 1.5TGDI hybrid dedicated engine and a motor. The WLTC pure electric cruising range is 160km, and the comprehensive cruising range exceeds 1,343km; on March 20, the Jetour X90 PRO was launched, with a total of 5 models, with a price range of 127,900-169,900 yuan. The power is equipped with a 1.6T and 2.0T engine, and the whole system is standard with a wet dual-clutch transmission; on March 30, the Chery Fengyun A8 Yuanyang Edition was launched, with a total of 3 models, with a price range of 109,900-129,900 yuan. The power is equipped with a plug-in hybrid power system composed of the fifth-generation ACTECO 1.5TGDI engine and an electric motor. The CLTC pure electric cruising range is 127km, and the comprehensive cruising range is more than 1,400km. As for how much the sales of a number of new cars can boost the sales of Chery Group after their launch, it remains to be seen.
In addition to launching a number of new cars, after the four brands under Chery Group, Chery, EXEED, Jetour, and iCAR, jointly announced on March 1 to launch the “10 billion yuan subsidy replacement” policy, on April 1, Chery brand “10 billion yuan subsidy replacement” was further renewed, with limited-time designated models offering full exemption of purchase tax, and the highest trade-in of old cars up to 30,000 yuan and other policies.
In addition, according to media reports, Chery will release a new new energy vehicle brand in the third quarter of this year, and the brand name may be “Beyond Yourself”. The first model will also be launched at the end of the year. Insiders revealed that the first model is codenamed T1GC, positioned as a hybrid compact SUV, and the subsequent new brand will be responsible for the design, R&D, and marketing of the O&J Division of Chery. However, as of the time of publication, Chery has not responded to this news.
