Australian officials say Chery 2.0 will herald a new chapter in safety, refinement and aftersales back-up
Chery Australia has declared it will not take shortcuts when it comes to vehicle safety in Australia.
The Chinese auto brand bowed out of Australia in 2016 after five years in the local market and a woeful safety record, including a two-star ANCAP rating for the J11 small SUV, the lack of electronic stability control for its sub-$10K J1 city-hatch and an asbestos-related recall.
However, safety will be paramount for the brand as it relaunches in Australia with the all-new Omoda 5 small SUV in March, says Chery Australia marketing director James Curtis.
“Every car that Chery brings to Australia, it is our requirement and our desire to make sure that each car meets a five-star safety rating,” he told carsales.
“Our cars are global quality and global safety; it’s a completely different shift from the previous strategy of when Chery was offered in the market and it was distributed by Ateco. At that time, our products and our brand… the market wasn’t at the right spot.
“We’ve got the opportunity to take the control back and really make sure we bring the right product into the market at the right time.”
Chery will reopen its Australian operation in March with the Omoda 5 small SUV, which has already been awarded a five-star Euro NCAP rating under the latest test protocols (but is yet to be crash-tested locally).
Chery Omoda 5
Curtis said the SUV would set a lofty safety precedent that other Chery models must uphold.
“Our cars are built to 2023 [standards] and beyond,” he said.
“The Omoda 5 is a brand-new product. This is not a recycled product. We’re bringing in a brand-new car with the latest technology and the latest safety features and a car that is agnostic in terms of its powertrain.
“That’s a really important part of our strategy.”
Chery Omoda 5
Not content with simply addressing safety features on a list, Curtis promised Chery’s safety systems would be well tuned and practical for everyday driving thanks to an unspecified level of research and development on Australian roads.
“As cars get more advanced, we need to make sure those advanced features work in a practical environment,” he said.
“We’re spending a lot of time calibrating things such as blind spot monitoring, lane keep assist features and anything to do with cameras and sensors to ensure the Australian road conditions and the vehicles that we offer work in the way they’re intended to.”
Chery Tiggo 7 Pro
In addition to safety, Chery is also eager to match or better current warranty standards in Australia, and is understood to be planning on a comprehensive seven-year factory warranty, which would match industry leaders including Kia.
“I can’t give you a specific number, but we’re not going to be worse than the market. Warranty is really important in the consumer’s mind, so warranty for us will be at the competition level, if not better,” Curtis said.
“It has to be at least seven years when you look at all the competitors. We’re always looking at the market and if the number changes tomorrow then we’ll change our warranty to suit.
“For us warranty is a hallmark of the quality of our vehicles – it’s not an insurance policy. We’re really mindful of that… with a number of seven years-plus, we’re really confident.”
Chery Tiggo 9
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Keyword: Chery pledges minimum five-star safety for Oz