A new brand of Chinese cars arrives in Mexico: Chirey. This brand is owned by Chery, an automotive company that today has a presence in 80 markets and that this year plans to add the Mexican to this list.
Its initial offer will consist of three SUVs. “The first cars have already left China and will arrive in Mexico very soon,” the company said in a statement. These first models will be used to initiate market research and be able to adapt the products to the Mexican territory.
Once the brand concludes the ‘tropicalization’ process of its units, it will start marketing the models. This will happen in the middle of the year.
Chery was the first auto company in China to export vehicles, CKD parts, engines, and vehicle manufacturing technologies and equipment to the world. Up to now, the Chinese manufacturer’s products have been distributed in more than 80 countries and regions.
“The company has ranked first in China’s passenger car export volume for 19 consecutive years,” the company said.
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 users.
Chinese cars have earned a place in the Mexican market in the last five years. It was not a minor challenge. After the bad taste in the mouth left by Grupo Elektra with the sale of FAW models at the end of 2008, Mexican consumers perceived Chinese cars as unreliable and of poor quality.
But now “Chinese brands are coming back with better products and better service. They no longer just sell a cheap product but also offer quality service and products with a lot of equipment,” explained Guido Vildozo, an industry analyst at IHS Markit.
Chirey joins an offer of five Chinese brands – Baic, Jac, JMC, Changan and MG – already available in the Mexican market at a time when the global auto industry is facing limited unit inventories due to semiconductor shortages.
“Chinese manufacturers have managed to stabilize their production and maintain a more stable inventory,” Vildozo explained.
Markets such as Chile or Colombia, where Chinese brands represent more than 50% of sales, achieved a rapid recovery in sales volumes in 2021. In Mexico, the five Chinese brands that are marketed recorded double-digit growth or more. MG, a brand owned by Saic Motor that arrived in Mexico in October 2020, achieved a 2,203.9% increase in sales during 2021, according to Inegi data.
