Chery Exlantix targets Zeekr with 'friendly prices'

Exlantix, the incoming self-declared luxury brand of the Chery Group, has identified Zeekr as its key Australian rival while promising competitive pricing and a product range that will leave some models on the table in order to focus on what it thinks can sell locally.

Lilian Xiong, chief executive of Exlantix International – and who previously worked at Geely’s Zeekr and Lynk & Co – confirmed the positioning ahead of the brand’s mid-2027 Australian launch.

When quizzed on what segment Exlantix is targeting, Xiong said: “premium Chinese EV brands, more or less,” before agreeing that Zeekr would be its key rival.

While Chinese marques are first up in Chery’s sights, Exlantix will also apply some focus to competing with established brands like Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

“I think times are changing, technology is changing, and customers are changing,” Xiong said when asked why some Western premium owners were straying to Chinese brands.

Asked what Exlantix would do differently to Zeekr, Xiong said the Chery premium brand would be more discerning in what it chose to import to Australia.

Xiong said Chery’s approach to overseas markets differed in that it did not assume its Chinese product line would suit all parts of the world.

Purely combustion vehicles sold by Exlantix’s head brand Exeed in other markets were not on the menu for Australia.

“I think what we see in Australia is that we want to [import] new energy vehicles, because we see Tesla is popular, and a lot of Chinese PHEV and EVs are popular,” she said.

The initial plan is to send the ES GT station wagon and ET two-row SUV to Australia with a choice of fully electric or plug-in hybrid powertrains.

Exlantix this week revealed three higher-end large SUV concepts in the form of the coupé-SUV EX7, the upright EX8 and the super-luxe EX9.

All are under consideration for Australia, again with a choice of battery-electric or PHEV powertrains, but we are expected to get two of the set, rather than all three.

It has not yet been confirmed whether the Exlantix vehicles will score an Australia-specific ride and handling tune.

With the exception of the incoming Stockman ute, the Chery Group has avoided dedicated chassis tuning for Australia, claiming it is not necessary.

Feedback regarding the ride and handling of several Chery models has been critical.

On the pricing front, Xiong declined to nominate a figure for the ES GT or ET, but she hinted that Exlantix would deploy the kind of sharp pricing that has allowed Zeekr a foothold.

“We have a very large scale of production capacity, so that's why we can make high quality, high technology, and new technology at a fairly friendly price,” she said.

Zeekr’s 7X SUV is priced from $57,900 plus on-road costs (ORCs), while the 7GT wagon is expected to kick off from between $55,000 and $60,000 when it arrives early next year, a few months ahead of the Exlantix launch.

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