Chinese automotive manufacturer Chery Automobile is developing compact vehicles to broaden its European market presence beyond its current SUV lineup, though development timelines remain uncertain, according to a senior company official.
As China’s top automotive exporter, Chery operates multiple brand divisions including its namesake brand plus Omoda and Jaecoo, which spearhead the company’s European expansion efforts.
The manufacturer introduced its Lepas brand in the previous year, featuring three SUV models in its current lineup. The latest addition, the L6, made its European debut this week at Milan Design Week.
According to Peter Matkin, Chery’s Head of Engineering, the company initially concentrated on SUVs because those are “what everybody’s asking for” in both Chinese and international markets where the company sells vehicles.
“Now my constant push … is that we’re missing 50% of the European market because all of our cars are 4.2, 4.3 meters (and) above, and we need to now compete in the below 4 meters,” Matkin explained to reporters following the vehicle presentation.
The engineering executive confirmed that Chery is developing new vehicle architecture capable of supporting compact cars under four meters in length for future release.
“We can’t do everything at once, but I can promise you that it will come very, very soon, very, very fast, I mean (we are) daily on this program,” Matkin stated, though he acknowledged uncertainty about specific launch dates. “We just started working on this now.”
The automaker currently produces vehicles in Europe via a joint venture at a former Nissan manufacturing facility in Spain and seeks to broaden its regional production through partnerships that would provide access to additional existing manufacturing plants.
