Chery Design And Technology
Since Chery launched in South Africa, the automaker has bolstered the budget-friendly car market with Chery design and technology of the highest calibre. This is largely due to the continued investment in research, development and innovation to deliver the vehicles we see today. They’ve upped the ante considerably with the latest Chery vehicles showing a sense of beauty, flair and quality many brands struggle with. To find out what makes Chery different now, we take a quick look at the company’s history and the difference in today’s Chery design and technology.
A Brief History of Chery
Chery Automobile Co. Ltd., more commonly known as Chery, is a car manufacturing company from China that has been exporting passenger vehicles since 2001. In 2003, Chery International Department and Chery Shanghai offices were established and renamed Chery International Company in 2004. Between then and 2007, they sold cars to various countries including Egypt, Russia, Ukraine, Singapore, Philippines, Italy and Chile.
South Africa was added to the list at the end of 2007 when Chery concluded an agreement with McCarthy to launch the Chery A5, QQ3 and Tiggo 3 in 2008. This helped them gain a foothold in South Africa which laid the foundation to further develop the brand in other African countries and European markets.
Between 2007 and 2017, they worked tirelessly to improve Chery design and technology by establishing joint ventures with several brands, including Fiat, Chrysler and Jaguar Land Rover. With a bigger global presence, they participated in several events showcasing many different vehicles with the Chery Tiggo among the top performers.
In fact, in 2009 Chery became the only Chinese-founded automaker that ranked among China’s top 200 exporters which is a clear indication of the progress made by Chery in terms of their design and technology.
Chery’s globalisation strategy has become the first passenger car company in China to export complete vehicles, CKD parts, engines, manufacturing technology and equipment across the world to more than 80 countries. With over 1.6 million in accumulative export volume – Chery is the biggest exporter of passenger vehicles in China for 17 consecutive years.
Chery’s Design Achievements
While the earlier Chery design and technology may have been associated with a budget-friendly approach much has changed over the years.
The idea behind Chery’s design concept is to combine the spirit and dynamic of flowing water in the body shape. It reflects the natural dynamics and appeal of the streamlined new generation 2.0 HDS (Hydro-Dynamic Surfacing) which focuses on catering to the younger market and forward-thinking people.
In March 2013, at the high-profile 83rd Geneva International Motor Show, the Chery TX concept car won over the judges with its advanced design and perfect modelling. It outperformed a host of European, American and Japanese concept cars taking home the award for “Best Concept Car of the Year“.
In 2016, Chile’s renowned car magazine MT nominated the Chery Arrizo7 as a contender for “Best Car of 2016” in terms of its strong sense of model design and rich configuration. It demonstrated how Chery’s design and technology had matured as implementing the newest design philosophy and styling from the concept cars seeped into the latest models which are all sleek, modern and more refined.
Adding further impetus to the Chery design and technology was “an FV2030″ brand vision concept car. It interpreted Chery’s future product design concept, thinking and outlook showing the product and technology achievements of Chery in its Strategy 2.0 age.
Few can argue against the looks of the Tiggo 7 which won several awards due to its excellent appearance and design quality. On March 22 in Tokyo, the world’s most authoritative car design magazine CARSTYLING, awarded the Chery Tiggo 7 the title of Best Production Car Design China 2016.
It would be the second time Chery received the Award for Best Conceptual Model since the prototype Chery TX. The Tiggo 7 winning an international award in the area of automobile design highlights the world-class level of Chery design and technology.
Chery’s Technology Timeline
As a strong brand focusing on independent innovation, they have R&D centres in China, Germany, the United States and Brazil. To showcase the automaker’s intent on being future-ready, they established a global automotive R&D team of more than 5,500 people which has helped Chery create award-winning brands such as Arrizo, Tiggo and the more high-end EXEED names.
A few examples showing the quality of Chery’s design and technology include the Chery A3 passing a collision test in Taiwan, demonstrating its five-star safety rating. The Chery QQ Standard and Comfort also achieved the highest “A” rating in the “Micro-Compact” category of INMETRO’s fuel-economy test.
In 2007, the Chery Cowin passed the world’s authoritative VCA collision test followed by Chery and ArvinMeritor jointly establishing a chassis system company. At this stage, they had sold more than 10,000 cars to overseas markets and soon the Chery Tiggo made its debut in Indonesia.
In 2012, Chery entered into an agreement with Bosch Investment Co., Ltd. and Atech Automotive Electronics Co., Ltd. (Atech) to establish a joint venture to develop and manufacture car multimedia products, including combination instruments and information entertainment systems.
A famous Brazilian car magazine conducted a comprehensive series of tests and comparisons of ten entry-level models in Brazil. The Chery QQ came out on top in overall performance, ranking first in six areas including: Braking Time, Maintenance Cost, Warranty Period, Terminal Price, Comfort and Safety.
The 1.6TGDI engine is another breakthrough by Chinese brands representing a leading competency of automotive engineering prowess in China.
With the future of the automotive world heavily focused on electrification, connection, intelligence and sharing, the Chery Lion System makes for the perfect addition. The latest version has been added to the Chery Tiggo 8 and EXEED models that support functions such as voice control, facial recognition, AR navigation, internet service and smart home.
Chery has successfully developed the first and second generations of unmanned driving technology, and it is targeting L4 highly autonomous driving.
Looking ahead, Chery plans on integrating smart transport, intelligent manufacturing, IoT and blockchain to provide an intelligent and interconnected lifestyle for consumers. With all that they have achieved over the last 20 years or so in Chery design and technology, the future is looking particularly bright.