Chery gunning for Polestar with inbound premium brand

Chery has successfully re-established itself in Australia this year, launching the Chery Omoda 5 small SUV in March and announcing the Chery Tiggo 7 Pro medium SUV earlier this month, and now the Chinese car-maker appears to be laying the groundwork for an even bolder plan: the launch of its premium ‘Exeed’ brand Down Under.

Chery International executive vice-president Charlie Zhang told carsales late last year that models from the Exeed brand – and others falling under the Chery Automobile Company Limited umbrella – could be released in Australia pending local market evaluation, wearing either Exeed or Chery badges.

Exeed already has a presence in the Middle East and eastern Europe, which prompted Zhang to declare Australia a logical market to enter.

“We will definitely study the market behaviours,” he said. “So if there is any significant market growth in the premium brands then we would consider for Exeed.”

It seems Chery has seen enough to start making arrangements for Exeed’s launch here, with carsales uncovering a pair new trademark applications filed with IP Australia for the Exlantix nameplate – the Chinese luxury brand’s upcoming “high-end” battery-electric model line.

The first two of these models, the Sterra ES sedan and Sterra ET SUV, made their public debuts at this year’s Shanghai auto show and are both underpinned by Exeed’s purpose-built 800V ‘E0X’ platform.

Neither has been detailed in full yet, but Chinese homologation data reveals the former will be offered in its native market with four different powertrain configurations comprising three single-motor set-ups (185-230kW) and a single 353kW dual-motor system.

The four powertrains each use different battery chemistry to help differentiate their drive experiences, cruising ranges and eventual price points: CATL lithium iron manganese phosphate (230kW), BYD Blade (185kW), CATL lithium iron phosphate (230kW) and CATL ternary lithium iron manganese phosphate (353kW).

Exeed says the almost five-metre-long Sterra ES is good for a 0-100km/h acceleration time of just 3.8 seconds in dual-motor form, while the most frugal single-motor version is claimed to cover up to 700km on a single charge, with up to 150km of range able to be added in just five minutes of ultra-fast charging.

Similar components and performance figures are expected for the boxier Sterra ET, albeit with shorter ranges on account of its higher drag coefficient.

Chery’s intent to launch Exeed here is perhaps best reflected by the fact the exterior designs of both Sterras have been secured with IP Australia since early May and were originally filed in July last year – pre-dating these fresh nameplate submissions by roughly 10 months.

The two nameplate submissions were both filed exclusively under Class 12 (electric cars) and revolve primarily around the stylising of the ‘Exlantix’ nameplate.

Piece all this together and it becomes clear Chery has had most of its ducks lined up from the outset so it could pull the trigger if and when its Aussie market evaluation process yielded promising results.

Chery has traditionally moved fast in terms of product launches, which means we could potentially see the Sterra ES and Sterra ET in local showrooms as soon as 2025, when it would take on the Polestar 5 and Polestar 4 respectively, and perhaps even the BMW i5 and the Mercedes EQE portfolio.

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