Chengdu Auto Show's Hottest Stand: Chery Tells a "Global Car" Story

Under the calm surface of this year's Chengdu Auto Show, there are underlying currents.

Among them, it must be mentioned that Chery, with the theme of "Chinese Automotive Global Champion", brought 38 models from five major brands: Chery, Exeed, Jetour, iCAR, and Zongheng to Hall 5. Among them, the "Beauty Twin Stars" Fengyun A9 and Fengyun T7 appeared on stage together. The global quality family sedan new benchmark Arrizo 7 made its global debut, and Chery's new QQ3 Modern Edition opened the first user experience.

On one side of the stand was a whole "Technology Wall". Chery built a "Tech Eco Island" themed stand in the center of Hall 5. Through physical disassembly, immersive experiments, and interactive participation, those obscure technical parameters were transformed into visible, tangible, and perceptible experiences. In the Rhino Battery zone, the audience can not only see the battery raw materials intuitively, but safety experience lanes were also set up on-site, including battery puncture, cell extrusion followed by water immersion, etc., allowing the audience to perceive the safety limits of the battery under extreme operating conditions on-site. The Kunpeng Power Zone displayed powertrains such as Kunpeng Tianqing, variable flux motors, axial flux dual motors, and more.

From battery raw materials to solid-state batteries, from electric drive systems to AI chassis, Chery laid out the entire technology chain before the audience.

Even more worth mentioning is the Ruixiang Life Eco Zone, filled with Chery coffee from all over the world—coffee cups in five languages: Chinese, English, Spanish, Thai, and Indonesian. One cup of coffee, five languages, a small detail, but it is the most vivid footnote to Chery's globalization.

The Ruixiang Life Eco Zone is centered around "Home", planning five major theme areas: Trend Modification Streets, Smart Control Zones, Life Markets, Wild Interest Camps, and Comfortable Pods. 418 ecological products cover all scenarios from modification kits to outdoor camping, from smart homes to pet life... turning the "Human · Vehicle · Home" ecology from a slogan into a perceptible, tangible real-world scene.

This is not the first time Chery has "booked the entire hall" at a large auto show, but in 2026 when the industry is generally declining, it has a completely different weight. More importantly, Chery is not just displaying products, nor just exhibiting the ecosystem, but under the theme of "Global Champion", it completed an identity declaration from "Chinese Car" to "Global Car".

This also proves: The globalization of Chinese automakers is not about telling stories, it's about making products. It means not only winning in the Chinese market but also winning respect in the global market.

1."Native Global Car" behind, is Chery accumulated 23-year system strength

Why does Chery dare to take "Chinese Auto Global Champion" as the theme of the Chengdu Auto Show? The answer is hidden in those "Global Cars" on the stand.

For a long time, the overseas path of Chinese automakers has mostly been "Domestic R&D, Domestic Launch, Then Modify for Export", making adaptive adjustments to products developed for the Chinese market and then pushing them overseas. Li Xueyong, Executive Vice President of Chery Automobile Co., Ltd., clearly denied this path at the show site: "A real global car is not developed domestically and then modified for export, but anchored globally from the start of R&D."

Fengyun T7 is exactly the landing sample of this concept. As the first native global model of Chery's Intelligent Electricity Era, it was developed for the global market from the first day of product definition.

What does this mean? A car must face European highways, Middle East high temperatures, Southeast Asia high humidity, and Nordic severe cold simultaneously, satisfying European large-size seating space, Southeast Asia users' driving habits, and parking and operating preferences in different countries.

To this end, Chery pre-researched global regulations two years in advance, designed according to the 2026 E-NCAP standard; invested in 81 exclusive durability cars for synchronized road tests, with the whole vehicle cumulative test mileage exceeding 6 million kilometers; covered more than 100 kinds of extreme road conditions including the EU, Australia/New Zealand, Middle East, South Africa, etc.; conducted user research in 15 typical countries and wrote 80+ local habit adaptations into initial parameters.

Currently, Fengyun T7 has been listed in South Africa and Thailand first, landed in the Chinese and Indonesian markets in August, entered the EU in September, and will be listed in the UK, Malaysia, Australia, etc. in October. In other words, the new cars bought by Chinese consumers and those bought by European, Southeast Asian, and Oceanian users are the same "Global Car".

At the product power level, Fengyun T7 is equipped with a 65.05kWh Rhino battery, CLTC range of 600km, combined with wide temperature range heat pump air conditioning and high-voltage PTC system, actual test range can reach 667km. In terms of safety, it has Rock body + 9 airbags + master-level tuned chassis; intelligence uses Cockpit-Drive Integrated 8775 chip + Lingxi Smart Cockpit 2.0 + Falcon 500 Driver Assistance System. Pre-sale price from 109,900 to 129,900 RMB, pre-sale 9 days orders broke 16,787 units.

The Fengyun A9L ULTRA 4WD version that appeared on the same stage is positioned as a C-class flagship, equipped with an electric speed-control spoiler, front double-wishbone + rear five-link suspension, powered by a Snow Leopard 4WD system and Falcon 700 driver assistance. The high-strength steel and aluminum ratio of the body reaches 88%, also adopting a combination of 9 airbags and Rhino Battery.

In addition, the new benchmark for global quality family sedans, Arrizo 7, also made its global debut. The new car anchors the 100,000-level family sedan market, drawing inspiration from the movement and stillness changes of water, forming a unique "Dynamic Water" design language, providing C-DM Super Energy Electric Hybrid and ICE Kunpeng Fuel versions as two power options, downgrading the global car standards to the mainstream price band, making "Global Car" no longer exclusive to the high-end market.

Chery's all-new QQ3 Modern Edition, designed by a German Red Dot Design Award-winning team, also made its debut. It integrates the Neo Retro design concept, merging classic elements from a hundred years of automotive industry with technology of the Intelligent Electricity Era. It is reported that the new QQ3 has sold over 10,000 units continuously for four months after listing, and overseas sales exceeded 10,000 units in the first month of listing. The QQ series has even won the favor of over 1.6 million users globally.

Behind good global products lies the globalization capability of the technical system.

So far, Chery has obtained five-star safety certification from global markets such as China, Europe, Australia, ASEAN for 71 car models, ranking first among Chinese brands in the number of five-star safety models. From June to August this year, Chery won the first place among independent brands in all five core research areas of J.D. Power - New Car Quality (IQS), Product Appeal (APEAL), Purchase Experience (PXI), After-sales Service (CSI), and Vehicle Reliability (VDS), becoming the only automaker in the industry this year to achieve "Five Grand Slam".

Therefore, behind the "Native Global Car" is Chery's 23-year accumulated system strength, as well as the determination, patience, and courage to deepen the overseas market. I think, this is the most worthy place for the industry to learn and think about.

2.From "Going Out" to "Going Up", what did Chery do right?

Against the background of product power being recognized by global consumers, one month ago, Chery just obtained a report card sufficient to rewrite the narrative of China's automotive industry.

In the first half of 2026, Chery Group's global sales share reached 4.1%, tied with US Ford for ninth place globally, and for the first time ranked among the top ten global automaker sales. BYD, Geely, and Chery, three Chinese automakers, entered the top ten global sales list for the first time simultaneously.

From January to July this year, Chery's cumulative exports have reached 1.146 million units, a year-on-year increase of 71.2%. Only in July, Chery's single-month exports reached 202,533 units, a year-on-year increase of 70.1%, becoming the first automaker in China to break 200,000 units in a single month of exports. In conversion, on average, one "Made by Chery" vehicle heads towards the world every 16 seconds.

Chery's global users also cumulatively broke 20.16 million by the end of July, among which overseas users exceeded 6.99 million, accounting for about 35%. In other words, for every 3 Chery owners, 1 is from overseas.

In the European market, Chery's expansion came particularly rapidly. In the first half of this year, Chery's cumulative sales in 24 European countries reached 174,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 212%; among which, new energy models were 86,000 units, surging 385% year-on-year, accounting for nearly half.

In the Spanish market, Chery's underlings OMODA & JAECOO brands since entering the market in 2024, cumulative sales have exceeded 50,000 units, only selling 19,802 units in the first half of 2026. In the UK market, Chery has held the second place on the monthly sales total list for three consecutive months since March. In Australia, Chery has maintained positive sales growth for 22 consecutive months. In May 2026, Chery officially entered the Canadian market.

This means that Chery is not only present in most parts of the world, but is also accelerating into the highest regulatory markets with the strictest global standards, becoming a down-to-earth global automaker.

But Chery's globalization is far more than just selling cars.

In 2024, Chery cooperated with Spanish EV MOTORS to restart the former Nissan factory in Barcelona, producing EBRO brand models. The factory's resumption of operations directly created over 1,000 local jobs. On April 8, 2026, Chery officially inaugurated its European Operations Center in Barcelona, Spain, establishing a Spanish Research Institute simultaneously. In June 2026, the joint venture factory M1 production line officially went into production.

Nowadays, Chery is not simply exporting complete vehicles, but has achieved localized implementation of industry, talent, and supply chain.

On August 20, the semi-annual report released by Chery shows: Chery Automotive achieved revenue of 143.280 billion yuan in the first half of the year, among which overseas market revenue was 98.968 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 51%, accounting for about 69% of total revenue. The net profit margin in the first half of the year reached 6.3%, while the average profit margin of the national complete vehicle manufacturing link was only about 1.5% during the same period.

Behind this report card is Chery's 23-year accumulated system capability of going overseas: from "Product Overseas" to "System Overseas", from complete vehicle exports to localized manufacturing. Therefore, Chery Chairman Yin Tongyue dared to make a public statement at the Fengyun A9 launch event: "After 20 million units, we no longer participate in 'involution', we no longer only pursue sales, but we pursue brand upward, pursue value greater creation, pursue more technology breakthroughs, pursue greater customer satisfaction improvements."

Not competing on price but competing on quality, this is Chery's clear judgment as a leading private automaker. In the first half of the year, Chery actively "squeezed out the water" in the domestic market, reducing shipment by 150,000 units; R&D expenses reached 6.672 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 28.3%. While most automakers were still struggling in the quagmire of "trading price for volume", Chery has already been the first to complete the strategic switch from "Scale Priority" to "Scale + Quality".

Conclusion

From the first "Fengyun" vehicle rolling off the line in 1999 to the global cumulative sales breaking 20 million units in 2026, Chery took a full 27 years to complete the transformation from "China's First Export Car" to "Chinese Automaker with the Highest Globalization Content".

This year, with more and more Chinese automakers focusing on the overseas market, hidden worries are also emerging. Because, if the domestic "trading price for volume" thinking is simply copied to overseas, then the reputation of "Chinese Cars" that car people built up with hard work in a generation may be destroyed within a few short years.

And this is exactly where Chery's globalization methodology is most worthy of the industry to ponder deeply. For more than 20 years, Chery has walked through 130 countries and regions, experienced the ups and downs of various markets, and witnessed the long climb of Made in China from "cheap" to "reliable". It knows better than anyone: the overseas market is not afraid of your price being high, it is afraid of your value not being worth it; it is not afraid of your novelty, it is afraid of your instability. A quality accident may take five years to win back trust; an irresponsible low-price dumping may label the entire Chinese brand in a certain market, making it difficult to turn over.

Yin Tongyue said "no more involution", not that there is no competition, but to change the way of competition - not competing on price, competing on quality; not competing on short-term scale, competing on long-term reputation; not taking that domestic strategy out, but using global standards to require oneself. This is the cornerstone for Chinese cars to stand firm in the overseas market, and it is the necessary path for Chinese brands from "Going Out" to "Going Up".