China auto giant Chery expands in UK market

Chinese automaker Chery plans to open a research and development center in the United Kingdom for passenger vehicles, expanding the market footprint of its Omoda and Jaecoo brands.

The move comes as the company accelerates its push into Europe, with demand for its vehicles continuing to surge.

Chery rolled out the Lepas brand in February, developed specifically for European buyers. In June, it signed a deal with Nissan to assemble its vehicles at the Japanese carmaker's plant in Sunderland, England.

The company confirmed on Wednesday that its new research and development center will be based at UTAC Millbrook — the vehicle development and testing hub in Bedfordshire, England — and is slated to open later this year.

Chery said the center's initial work will focus on fine-tuning the company's cars for UK driving conditions, expanding over time to autonomous driving and AI. The Bedfordshire area is a hub for engineering and motorsport, hosting several automotive R&D centers.

Gary Lan, chief executive of Chery International UK, said the launch of a passenger car R&D center would be a key milestone in localizing operations, with UK manufacturing to follow.

"We waited over 20 years for the right time to enter this market, and our ambition has always gone much further than simply bringing vehicles here," Lan said in a statement.

"UTAC Millbrook allows us to turn UK customer insight into product development, from ride and steering to active safety systems," he added.

The group did not specify how much it would invest in the facility, or how many jobs may be created, but said it has long-term plans to hire local talent and create new, high-skilled roles at the center.

Kirsty Andrew, vice-president of UTAC UK, said: "This is about much more than testing individual vehicles. We see this as the sustained momentum of a long-term engineering relationship with Chery Automobile."

Last month, Chery sold roughly 280,000 vehicles worldwide, with exports of about 202,000 — up 70 percent year-on-year — making it the first Chinese automaker to ship more than 200,000 in a single month.

jonathan@mail.chinadailyuk.com