4 days ago
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Chinese car giant Chery will spin off Omoda models into their own brand, sold in different showrooms to Chery Tiggo cars – but the first Omoda model sold locally won't be included in the switch.
Chinese car giant is preparing to spin its Omoda range of SUVs into their own brand, after two years on local roads.
Yet the first Omoda-branded model sold in Australia – the Chery Omoda 5 small SUV – will drop the badge to become the Chery C5, and instead only future Omoda-badged models brought to local showrooms will embrace the new brand.
Omoda cars are set to be sold in distinct showrooms alongside Jaecoo vehicles – another new brand just launched by Chery – many of which will not sit next door to Chery franchises.
It will become yet another Chinese car brand on Australian roads – and give consumers only starting to familiarise themselves with the Chery badge another nameplate to learn.
Roy Munoz, Chief Commerical Officer for Chery Motor Australia and New Zealand, told Australian media the "local alignment strategy around Omoda and Jaecoo" will occur "in the second half of this year."
Not included in the switch will be the current Chery Omoda 5 SUV, which will be renamed the Chery C5 – and will remain a Chery product – rather than becoming the Omoda C5 as it is marketed overseas.
It's currently unclear what will happen to the Chery Omoda E5, which is an electric SUV based on the petrol Omoda 5.
New Omoda-branded vehicles will be positioned alongside Jaecoo vehicles in a range of dealerships that will be co-branded as Omoda Jaecoo.
Some Omoda Jaecoo dealerships will be part of existing Chery dealers, while others will be separate.
“We do have a mix of some Chery dealers, who are Omoda and Jaecoo dealers. But we also have some new dealers that have expressed their interest in the brand as well,” Munoz said.
Chery aims to offer between 30 and 40 dealers for Jaecoo and Omoda initially, with plans to grow that number – including into regional areas – in the future.
Chery says vehicles from its three brands – Chery, Omoda and Jaecoo – will offer different driving experiences.
“These cars have got a different character as well, when you drive them," Jaecoo executive director of engineering Peter Matkin said, when asked if Chery is confident in having three different car brands to market and sell in an increasingly-competitive Australian new-car market.
"The Chery is very much family oriented, it’s softer. If we move to Omoda, it’s more sporty. And then you move into Jaecoo, it’s definitely a higher, premium level than what you see in the other brands.
"And we’ve got even more, higher premium coming in the future," he said, acknowledging Chery has been China’s leading export brand for 21 years in a row.
"You’re right about the saturation of the [Australian] market, but all markets are like this. And when we look globally as we launch these brands, they’re all selling.
"It’s not normal for an OEM to do this, have so many different brands. It does seem a little bit strange. But for us, it works."
Sam Purcell has been writing about cars, four-wheel driving and camping since 2013, and obsessed with anything that goes brum-brum longer than he can remember. Sam joined the team at CarAdvice/Drive as the off-road Editor in 2018, after cutting his teeth at Unsealed 4X4 and Pat Callinan’s 4X4 Adventures. Off-road writer of the Year, Winner - Sam Purcell
