Chery’s Luxeed brand confirmed for Australia

Chery’s premium Luxeed brand will launch in Australia around the middle of 2027, with the LLounge luxury people-mover leading the way and the striking 460kW Stormax performance SUV to follow.

But the much-touted Huawei technology that defines the brand in China will be left at home.

Luxeed International CEO Shawn Xu confirmed Australia will be part of the second wave of the brand’s right-hand-drive rollout, which kicks off in Thailand in early 2027 before moving on to Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

Left-hand-drive brands rarely open their export campaigns in right-hand-drive markets, but Luxeed developed its first international model, the LLounge (pronounced ‘El-lounge’) MPV, in right-hand drive from the outset.

“For this launch we developed right-hand drive first. We are going to cover all of the right-hand-drive markets,” declared Xu.

The Luxeed CEO was also specific on timing for Australia: “I propose the end of quarter two, the middle of next year, for this first model.”

The LLounge will undergo local compliance testing before it goes on sale here.

But here’s the twist for Australian buyers. In China, Luxeed is a cornerstone of the Huawei-backed Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance (HIMA) – the same ecosystem behind AITO – another brand that is expected to arrive in Australia.

Luxeed cars running Huawei’s driver-assistance tech, a HarmonyOS cockpit and Huawei drive systems are a big hook for buyers in China.

None of that will make the trip Down Under.

“For international, Luxeed is not related to Huawei. There is nothing, including the hardware and the software,” Xu said.

His comments align with overseas reports suggesting overseas Luxeed models will instead run on Chery’s own electrical architecture, with Chery’s Falcon driver-assistance system and a Lingxi cockpit developed by the car-maker’s central R&D institute.

Exactly which driver-assistance software the export cars will run, however, remains unconfirmed.

Huawei stablemate AITO is reportedly fitting its overseas models with Bosch technology as Huawei steps back, while Chery’s in-house Falcon system is the other candidate.

The export cars will look different too.

While Luxeed’s second international model, the Stormax, will look much the same as the Chinese-market RX, the LLounge gets a completely new front end compared with its donor car, the V9, with a more vertical grille, separate headlights and generous lashings of chrome.

“We believe we understand international customers better,” Xu said. “The Chinese design is more considered for Chinese tastes.”

The redesign may also help distance the export models from the Huawei HIMA alliance, whose brands share similar styling and logos.

LLounge luxury people-mover

The flagship of the launch pair, the LLounge is a large luxury people-mover offered in six- or seven-seat layouts and riding on a lengthy 3250mm wheelbase.

It sits on Chery’s E0X-L platform, a stretched derivative of the E0X architecture that underpins the Exlantix ES sedan and ET SUV – the latter confirmed for Australia earlier this week alongside the ES GT wagon.

In China it’s a range-extender electric vehicle (REEV) with a 53.4kWh battery and a claimed 1320km of combined range on China’s generous CLTC cycle, though local WLTP figures are expected to land noticeably lower.

Second-row passengers get zero-gravity seats that rotate a full 180 degrees and recline to 123 degrees, privacy glass that switches in one second, a Privacy Acoustic Shield mode and a 33-speaker sound system.

It will enter a local people-mover market with few genuine luxury rivals. The Kia Carnival and LDV MIFA 9 sit at the more affordable end, while the Zeekr 009, priced from $115,900 plus on-road costs (ORCs), is the closest premium EV benchmark.

Stormax performance SUV

Alongside it sits the Stormax, a performance SUV built on an 800-volt architecture, with dual electric motors producing a hefty 460kW and 775Nm.

Luxeed claims 0-100km/h in under 3.9 seconds, a top speed beyond 250km/h and a 100-0km/h stopping distance of under 34 metres, courtesy of big six-piston front brake calipers.

Both models share serious chassis hardware, including dual-chamber air suspension, dual-valve CDC adaptive dampers and rear-wheel steering with up to seven degrees of angle in either direction.

One important caveat: Luxeed is yet to confirm export powertrain specifications – which matters more than usual here, given the export cars swap out the Huawei drive systems used in China.

Xu was deliberately measured about Luxeed’s first year in Australia.

“In the first year we don’t expect too much from a luxury brand, but we want to build a good brand in Australia,” he said.

“We prefer to start slowly and build a good foundation.”

The brand will sell through conventional dealerships, starting in major cities.

“Australia is still a traditional store market, so at the beginning we need to build some good stores in tier-one cities to give us coverage,” Xu said.

“We welcome our current dealers if they have good performance and are interested in investing. We have seen many potential dealers, some from our current network and some new,” he added.

“We have already approached some and in some markets we have made a lot of progress.”

Luxeed is the latest Chery Group brand to confirm an Australian arrival, joining Chery, Omoda, Jaecoo, iCAUR, Lepas, Jetour and Freelander, plus fellow premium newcomer Exlantix, which is also due in mid-2027.

If Chery grouped all its brands together under one umbrella, it would be a serious challenger to the top five players in Australia.

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