(From left) Chery International president Zhang Guibing, Chery Automobile Co Ltd chairman Yin Tongyue, Malaysian Football League and Road to Gold Programme coordinator Datuk Stuart Ramalingam and Chery International executive vice president Chen Chun Qing posing with the newly launched Chery Tiggo 7 Pro. — YAP CHEE HONG/ The Star
IN a strategic move to capture a larger share of the competitive Malaysian automotive market, Chery, a prominent Chinese car manufacturer, aims to expand its operations and enhance its vehicle lineup locally.
Known for its innovative designs and affordable pricing, Chery aims to challenge established players and cater to the diverse needs of local consumers.
As the automotive landscape in Malaysia continues to evolve, Chery hopes to usher in a new era of increased competition and consumer choice, promising advanced features and cutting- edge technology at competitive prices.
Expanding global presence
Chery International president Zhang Guibing highlights the company’s significant enhancement in global presence thanks to its efforts in research and development (R&D), technology advancement and global outlook.
“Since our inception, we have allocated almost 80% of our investments and efforts on R&D for technology,” he says.
“If there are budget shortages elsewhere, we always ensure that the R&D side is always supported with funds for continuous innovation.
“Even in China, everyone knows Chery as being a driving force on the technology side of things because of our continued extensive efforts.”
Zhang adds that another key strategy in the company’s progressive expansion is its emphasis on global integration, rather than focusing solely on Chinese markets.
“Generally, we are only based in China. But, we try to make use of and incorporate global influences into our strategies, to look at our business from a global point of view.
“This is why we are not just made up of Chinese employees, but employ many different people from different backgrounds and countries, to create a diverse international team. These employees have considerable experience in the automotive industry and contribute many good ideas to help us grow globally.”
He stresses the importance of this approach for success in numerous automotive markets worldwide, enabling Chery to cater its offerings and services based on specific standards and requirements.
“We have to understand that our vehicles go to many other markets and we need to do things differently for each one to fulfil country standards and make our customers happy,” says Zhang.
'We have to understand that our vehicles go to many other markets and we need to do things differently for each one to fulfil country standards and make our customers happy,' says Zhang. — YAP CHEE HONG/The Star
Prioritising local stakeholders and customers
Chery’s approach to entering Asean markets, particularly in Malaysia, involves a deep understanding of local preferences and strategic partnerships.
Zhang says that customer- centricity is integral to Chery’s strategy, as each market is different and requires tailored approaches to cater to different market demands.
“In the Asean region, you will find that the customer demands are very different in each country. In the past, we faced issues handling these differences, as we didn’t tailor our offerings appropriately and were not able to identify which vehicle models would be popular in each country, which resulted in our company suffering losses.
“Now, because of our developments in R&D, we have made big changes and conducted extensive research by engaging in open dialogue with customers to find out what they really wanted.
“Step by step, we discovered that this approach proved to be instrumental in driving the acceptance of our vehicles.”
Based on this research, Chery identified that SUVs were always a popular choice in South-East Asian countries, which is why the company has rolled out the Chery Omoda 5, Chery Omoda E5, Chery Tiggo 8 Pro and the recently launched Chery Tiggo 7 Pro.
Chery also places a significant emphasis on its relationships with local partners and entities, ensuring mutual profitability and satisfaction.
“Aside from figuring out what our customers want and how to make them happy, we also aim to ensure that our local partners are happy as well,” says Zhang.
“We need to be concerned about their businesses and profit margins. If our partners are able to make good profits, they in turn could assist us in taking care of customer satisfaction. So, it works both ways.”
He adds that efforts are also made to collaborate with the Malaysian government, to support the local economy.
“When we come into a country, we have to also think about our contributions to the local societies and economy. This can be done in many ways, such as setting up factories or plants to provide job opportunities or even championing initiatives to protect the environment.”
One recent initiative involved collaborating with the Youth and Sports Ministry to sponsor Malaysian athletes for the upcoming Paris Olympic Games 2024.
(From left) Chery Malaysia president Leo Chen, Zhang, Yin, Datuk Stuart and Chen at the MoA ceremony between Chery Auto Malaysia and Youth and Sports Ministry, in conjunction with the upcoming Paris Olympic Games 2024 at Forest Valley Hall in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur on June 20. — YAP CHEE HONG/The Star
Future plans for Malaysia
Looking ahead, Chery has ambitious plans for Malaysia, as Zhang states that multiple projects are mooted in the pipeline to deepen integration into the Malaysian economy and society by establishing local production facilities and R&D centres.
“By localising our offerings and services, we can potentially reduce the costs of our vehicle lineups, which would be instrumental in providing convenience for local customers and in utilising Malaysia as a base for us to export to other countries,” he says.
He adds that, apart from the established local assembly plant, Chery hopes to set up an R&D centre in the country, and potentially make Malaysia its right-hand drive hub for the region.
Zhang says that Chery will also be modifying its vehicle lineup to suit the growing use of electric vehicles (EVs), hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV), when Malaysia catches up with the global EV revolution.
“The local government is guiding the adoption of new energy vehicles and we will be progressively launching new models to cater to this demand, and establish ourselves as pioneers in the Malaysian new energy vehicle market.”
Chery has been the leading Chinese car exporter for 21 consecutive years. In 2023, Chery exported 937,148 vehicles to over 80 countries, achieving a 101.1% year-on-year growth, with global sales totalling 1.88 million units. Since its launch in Malaysia in July 2023, Chery has sold over 11,000 vehicles.
