“I am proud to say that we are the fastest-growing auto brand in the world,” said Shawn Xu, global CEO of Omoda & Jaecoo, at Auto China 2024 in Beijing. The Chery International division was more than just hot air or self-praise. She made this bold claim based on both market expansion results and actual sales data.
Officially launched just a year ago, Omoda & Jaecoo (cutely called O&J) has expanded aggressively globally, successfully tapping into more than 40 high-potential markets, including Malaysia. The number of dealer networks in these markets currently stands at 873. That’s one hell of a debut year.
Worth noting is the recent opening of an assembly plant in Spain as part of the brand’s ‘European campaign’ – significantly, it is the first-ever car production facility in Europe to be operated by a Chinese car manufacturer. Local production is important to O&J and follows the philosophy of “In somewhere, for somewhere” to promote globalization while supporting localization.
Omoda & Jaecoo is also the fastest growing car brand in terms of hard sales figures. It only took them five months to reach the 50,000 unit mark and another three months to reach 100,000 units. In O&J’s first full year of sales, global sales volume exceeded 160,000 units – the highest ever for a young car brand.
However, the figures only count vehicles sold with either Omoda or Jaecoo badging, and not, for example, the Chery Tansuo 6 models sold in China (essentially the Jaecoo J7 by a different name).
If you’re reading this in Malaysia now, you might be wondering why Omoda and Jaecoo are even considered a single “brand”. After all, the Omoda 5 will be sold here as a Chery, while Jaecoo will soon stand on its own two feet. Well, brand may not be the right term at all – subdivision is a bit more precise.
You see, Chery International recently decided to split its many brands into three subdivisions – Chery, Exeed and Omoda & Jaecoo, with the last two merging into one – each with its own CEO and top management team. However, certain new markets required a more personalized approach.
Malaysia is a very good example where Chery International had to make a splash right from the start. The Omoda 5 was chosen for its high marketability, so Chery launched it first – and what an inspired choice it was! Soon, Jaecoo will try to enter the market as a separate entity and in the long term, the Omoda brand is likely to be reintegrated into their company.
Confused? Us too, but those are Chinese car brands for you. In recent years we have become familiar with the Geely Group, which now includes Geometry, Galaxy, Lynk & Co, Zeekr, Radar and Jiyue, to name just a few. Even BYD has expanded its brand to include sub-brands Yang Wang and Fang Cheng Bao.
Aside from that, what do you think of Omoda & Jaecoo’s meteoric rise so far in markets around the world? Can Jaecoo make as big an impact as Chery in Malaysia? Discuss below.
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