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| The large Tiggo 8 SUV shows how far Chery has come since its launch of a Toyota-based Tiggo in SA in 2007. |
Chinese vehicle builder Chery is in the process of appointing 30 dealers to launch Chery South Africa as a wholly owned subsidiary later this year.
Tony Liu, Executive Deputy General Manager of Chery South Africa, said the South African office holds a very special significance for the company.
“The country welcomed our vehicles with open arms in 2007, and we have been supporting our customer base of over 15 000 owners with parts and servicing ever since. Now we have the opportunity to enter the market directly, with a national network of dedicated Chery dealers and our completely new range of vehicles,” Liu said in a statement.
While South Africans may remember the rather average Chery J2, the cheep and cheerful QQ or the surprisingly good Tiggo (a third-generation Toyota RAV4 clone) and the lesser-spotted Quantum-lookalike P10 minibus, the brand did not meet sales targets through its multi-franchise dealers back in 2013.
Brett Soso, then MD of Chery South Africa, had hoped sales of Chery’s Toyota-based platforms would grow in 2013 by between 10% and 15% on 2012 numbers.
Instead, sales dropped eight percent in 2013’s growing market, and Soso told the shareholders Bidvest and Imperial (now Motus) this was because Chery had not been introducing new models often enough. Liu will not be making the same mistake. Chery has grown from a Toyota cloner into one of China’s top vehicle exporters with proprietary engines and platforms built with high tensile steel.
Liu said the first Chery vehicles are already being tested on SA roads to go on sale later this year, while the company is also growing its parts storage and distribution capabilities beyond that which it used to service its existing car parc.
“By entering the market directly, customers will be able to experience the best that Chery has to offer, both in customer service and in our next-generation of products.
“If our experience in other global markets is anything to go by, then customers will be blown away,” Liu said.
No longer cloning old Toyotas
He said Chery’s latest range of cars and SUVs “will surprise even the most avid car fan”.
Back in 2008, South Africa was a bigger market for Chery than Australia, largely due to the brand’s low prices for Mzansi’s very price sensitive buyers.
Liu said South Africa remains a very important market for Chery.
He said he knows that local buyers have high expectations “and we want to meet and exceed them”.
Once Chery SA has established a firm foothold in South Africa, the company will “use the expertise in the country and its import position as a springboard into the rest of the continent,” Liu said.
