Prime minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim paid an official visit to China recently and the Malaysian contingent had trade discussions with Chinese companies that are keen to invest in the ASEAN country. Wuhu-based carmaker Chery was part of the talks.
In a statement, Chery said that it was invited to discuss its investment plan and development direction during the PM’s visit to China. Chery executives had an in-depth discussion with Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, minister of international trade and industry. He highly recognised Chery’s international corporate strength and showed great interest in the investment plan, the carmaker said.
Subsequently, Chery – China’s top passenger car exporter – also participated in a roundtable meeting between Anwar and the Malaysian contingent with the captains of the industry in China. The forum was held in Beijing on April 1.
Discussions with regulators and future plans are good, but what’s the status of Chery’s return to Malaysia, we hear some asking. We’ve been hearing about this for some time now (since December 2021), and while we still can’t walk into a Chery showroom to buy one of their SUVs, yet, it appears that we’re now on the final straight before the brand relaunch is official.
In October 2022, Chery held a local media preview of its SUV range, comprising the Tiggo Pro family and the Omoda 5 (click on these links to learn more about the Tiggo 4 Pro, Tiggo 7 Pro, Tiggo 8 Pro and Omoda 5), and there have been recent reports saying that Chery is now in the final steps of contract assembly negotiations with Inokom for the latter to assemble its models in Kulim, Kedah.
The first two CKD Chery models are set to be the flagship Tiggo 8 Pro and the funky Omoda 5. The targeted timeline is for local production to start by end-June, with a market launch expected to happen a month later. Also, word is that Chery has set up a wholly-owned subsidiary in Malaysia, scheduled to be unveiled in Q2 2023. After a long gestation period, Chery’s return is really around the corner now – stay tuned.
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
Remember it was PH that whacked everything China that came to Msia even before winning GE14, and whacked them further after becoming Gomen?
China tidak mudah lupa and as long as PH governs Msia they will be very cautious to come here.