Chirey is the latest Chinese brand to reach the domestic market. It does so with three first models, 40 agencies that will add 100 in 2023 and with the aim of turning Mexico into “the bridge” between South America and North America. For this, the brand has the project to build an assembly plant that will start operations in 2026.
The Chinese manufacturer had been considering three alternatives to achieve this: buy a plant from another assembler, build its own or look for a local partner who could carry out the final assembly of the units.
Buying a vehicle factory is not something new for Chinese automakers. Great Wall Motors, one of the largest private car manufacturers in China, acquired in August 2021 the car plant that Mercedes-Benz deactivated eight months earlier in Brazil and in which it produced the C-Class sedan and the GLA SUV.
In Mexico, Chirey held talks with the possibility of acquiring some of the plants that operate in the country. But with manufacturers hesitant to sell their complexes, Chirey is increasingly convinced to build her own plant from scratch.
The first two models that will reach the Mexican market will be the Tiggo 7 Pro and Tiggo 8 Pro Max SUVs. The first units left China at the beginning of the year; However, Zhang Guibing, International CEO of Chery, said that the brand intends “not only to sell but to assemble and export the models from the Mexican market.”
Until now, Nuevo León was the best option for Chirey, due to its proximity to the United States and the supply chain that is developed in the entity, but it has made the Chinese manufacturer reconsider other regions such as the Bajío or the south of the country.
Like the northern state, the Bajío region also has a robust supplier base, but insecurity has become a deterrent to investment. Chiapas and Tabasco, in the south of the country, are other alternatives that were considered in the past and that can be reconsidered. Although there are practically no auto parts suppliers in the south of the country, there is water, railway infrastructure under development and government incentives to attract industry.
Other plants built in the last five years have required an average investment of $1 billion, and Chirey estimates a similar amount.
Chirey is owned by Chery , an automotive company that today has a presence in 80 markets and plans to add the Mexican to this list this year. It has 10 overseas factories and more than 1,500 distributors and service points around the world, serving 10 million global users, including 1.95 million overseas customers.
The tropicalization of the brand name was made after several Mexican consumers who participated in a focus group assured that they liked the name “chirey” better.
Models, prices and financing
Chirey is the latest brand of Chinese origin to reach the Mexican market, in addition to Jac , Saic Motors (which owns MG and also ), Baic , JMC and Changan . These last three are sold in multi-brand Motornation dealerships.
These brands have conquered 5% of the market in five years. They have done so with well-equipped vehicles, with panoramic roofs, large screens and leatherette seats, but at very affordable prices.
For example, the price of the compact SUV Tiggo 7 Pro starts at 484,900 pesos, while that of the Medium SUV Tiggo 8 Pro Max starts at 739,900 pesos.
Jorge Ramírez, director of financing and incentives for Chirey Motors Mexico, said that the brand will have credit plans through its brand finance company, Chirey Finance. As of July 2022, it will offer three types of simple credit and in October one type of balloon will be added, one for students and another for drivers of applications such as Uber, Beat or DiDi.
All models will be offered with a five-year/150,000-kilometre bumper-to-bumper warranty, the same as body paint. The engine has an additional guarantee of 10 years or one million kilometers.
Chirey reaches the Mexican market with the promise of “immediate delivery” of the units. “In China the mandate is clear: to give priority to local manufacturers in the supply of Chips,” says Ricardo Arvizu, product manager for Chirey Mexico. Even Taiwan, one of the leading global semiconductor manufacturers, has Chinese automakers at the top of its delivery list.
Chirey’s plans in Mexico
The directors of the brand detailed that in the second half of the year, a crossover will arrive and from 2023, the Chinese manufacturer will add one more SUV and start with an electrification strategy for its range with the introduction of a plug-in hybrid model and another electric .
Two other models will arrive in 2024, the Arizo sedan and the Omoda SUV, while a 4×4 vehicle will be added in 2025.
