2022 is the year Chery is expanding beyond just left-hand-drive (LHD) markets and will be arriving to a few right-hand-drive (RHD) markets including South Africa, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Aside from those markets, Chery has just recently announced its plans to re-enter the Thai market.
LHD unit shown
In a statement, Chery has said that it “has always been committed to the development of the right-hand drive market. Thailand, as the leading market in the right-hand drive region, will also become one of the countries that Chery will focus on entering with the highest quality products.”
Chery has been keeping mum on what exactly these “highest quality products” are but we’re not going to give them the benefit of the doubt. Today’s Chery is vastly different from the one that was offered from five years ago with better quality, tech, and design like the Chery Omoda 5.
The Chinese carmaker was once sold in Thailand too but it was only for a very brief while with the QQ and Tiggo being offered as the cheapest cars in their respective segments in the Kingdom. However, poor sales and woeful reliability would prevent it from achieving success.
Can Chery achieve the same success as Haval in Thailand?
These days though, Thais no longer perceive Chinese cars as cheap and nasty alternatives to established rivals as the sales charts show. With the success of MG and Haval in the Kingdom, perhaps Chery would like to take the opportunity to reap some of the benefits.
Suffice to say, Chery has been a hit not just in China where it’s a more trusted brand than Geely, rather its popularity is seen in Russia, the Middle East, and Latin America where it topped sales charts and won a few accolades.
The Chinese carmaker began its comeback into RHD markets with the South African market back in November 2021 when it launched the X50-rivalling Chery Tiggo 4 Pro. Following that, Chery could make its Southeast Asian debut at the Indonesia International Motor Show (IIMS) to be held in February 2022.
Besides Indonesia, Chery is also planning to return to Malaysia in the third quarter (Q3) of 2022. Aside its range of Tiggo SUVs, the Anhui-based carmaker is also planning to bring in the adorable Chery eQ1 which is likely to be the cheapest EV on sale here.
Traded advertising for a career that fits his passion for cars. Enjoys spotting cars during his free time and has a soft spot for Japanese Kei cars but drives a thirsty manual sedan.
