Chery: China's biggest car exporter is building a Mexico plant — and a US back door

Background

Chery Automobile Co., Ltd. is a state-affiliated automaker founded in 1997 in Wuhu, Anhui, by the local Wuhu municipal government. It became China's first passenger-car exporter in 2001 and has led Chinese auto exports almost every year since. In 2024 the Chery Group sold roughly 2.6 million vehicles globally — about 1.1 million of them exported — making it the largest Chinese auto exporter and the third or fourth largest Chinese automaker overall (after BYD, SAIC, and Geely depending on the count).

The group's structure splits across several brand lines: Chery (the core mass-market badge with broad ICE, hybrid, and EV lineup); Omoda (export-focused, design-led sub-brand launched 2021 — Omoda 5, Omoda E5); Jaecoo (more upmarket sub-brand emphasising SUVs with off-road styling — Jaecoo 7, Jaecoo J8); iCar (youth-oriented EV sub-brand launched 2023, boxy retro styling); Exeed (premium upper-end ICE/PHEV brand for the Chinese market); and Luxeed (joint EV venture with Huawei).

Chery's scale is built on emerging markets that most Western analysts pay less attention to: Russia (post-2022 Western-brand exodus made Chery effectively the default new-car brand), Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Iran, Egypt, and Indonesia.

Strategic wedge

Chery's strategy has always prioritised export volume over domestic-market polish — the opposite of BYD's China-first-everything-else-later playbook. Where BYD became dominant by owning the Chinese EV value chain and then radiating outward, Chery built distribution and manufacturing partnerships across emerging markets first.

Key strategic moves in the EV era: a $400M Mexico plant announced 2023, targeting 2026–2027 production — aimed at the Mexican and Latin American market, but unspoken is the USMCA back-door question. A sub-brand portfolio (Omoda, Jaecoo, iCar) to segment internationally without diluting the core Chery badge. A Huawei partnership on the Luxeed brand — gets Chery access to Huawei's ADAS stack (the same one in Aito and other Huawei-Inside brands). Russia dominance — Chery and its sub-brands command something like 30% of the Russian new-car market in 2024, an extraordinary windfall from the geopolitical vacuum. And Iberian and Italian assembly partnerships — Chery is reportedly in talks with Spanish and Italian partners (separate from the Mexico plant) to assemble in Europe and sidestep the EU countervailing duty.

Where they sell today

Top export markets: Russia, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iran, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia.

Europe: Omoda 5 / E5 sold in Spain, Italy, Poland, Germany, the UK (planned), and several Eastern European markets via Omoda and Jaecoo dealer partners. The European footprint is growing fast but still much smaller than MG's.

China: Chery is well-represented at the value end of the market but is less dominant domestically than BYD or Geely.

Export markets: Russia, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iran, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, Europe (selectively)

US-market outlook

United States: No direct path under current tariffs. The Mexico plant is the route to watch. If construction proceeds as planned for 2026–2027 ramp, and if USMCA rules-of-origin allow it, the Omoda E5 could be the first Chinese-brand EV legitimately on sale in the US. That depends entirely on political decisions over 2025–2026.

EU: Chery faces the new EU countervailing duty (Omoda and Chery-branded EVs were assigned roughly 17% additional duty on top of the 10% base MFN — Chery was treated as a partially-cooperating company, between MG/SAIC's harsher rate and BYD's lower rate). The Spanish or Italian assembly partnership, if it materialises, is the EU back door. Chery has not publicly committed to a site as of mid-2026.