PUBLISHED ONJuly 11, 2025 3:30 AMBYBen ChiaKrado Low remembers the first time he drove a Chery in the mid-2000s.
"The Chery QQ was memorable, but not for the right reasons," the 41-year-old marketing executive recalled. "It was quite noisy, very unrefined, and felt very cheaply made."
"It was quite a torture to drive," he added.
Indeed, Chery as a brand did not garner the best reputation when it first arrived in Singapore. The QQ, a tiny little hatchback, was often the butt of jokes, and was derided as a car that one only bought if they were desperate for a new car but could not afford anything else.
Chery had other models back then too, like the T11 SUV and the A5 sedan, but they were also widely mocked as budget knockoffs of cars from other manufacturers.
Indeed, the fact that Chery's first appearance here coincided with record low Certificate of Entitlement (COE) prices in Singapore only served to further the brand's 'cheap' image.
Azfar Hashim, a 41-year-old owner of a creative agency, remembered that one could drive away with a brand-new Chery QQ back then for around $30,000, inclusive of COE. If one opted to register it under the Off Peak Car (OPC) scheme, which offered an effective tax rebate of $17,000, the final driveaway price would be lower still.
Like Krado, he also had a bad experience driving a Chery from that period. "I remember that the Chery T11 I test drove had a lingering plastic smell in the interior, and after a while I got a headache from the smell," he recalls.
Still, Azfar observed that even though the T11 was lacking in refinement and build quality, it was a fairly spacious SUV, and offered decent value if one was willing to look past its flaws.
Nevertheless, Chery generally suffered from poor sales in Singapore despite its budget pricing, and it struggled here until 2017 when its local distributor finally stopped importing cars from the brand.
But with the rapid development of Chinese cars over the past few years, surely the Chery of today would be a vast improvement from back then?
Indeed they are, as I found out when Chery invited AsiaOne to visit the brand's home city in Wuhu, China and check out some of their latest models to see how much has changed since those early days.
One of the more intriguing aspects of the trip was a visit to the company's headquarters, where they showcased not only their wide array of current modern cars, but also displayed a few of their early models alongside, ostensibly to provide a contrast of how far the company has come in two decades of development.
Today's Chery is a massive car-making conglomerate, and is the fourth largest automotive group in China, with several brands under its stable.
Aside from the main Chery brand, it also offers two SUV-focused brands, Jetour and iCar, that both target different segments of the market. It also has two luxury premium brands, Exeed and Luxeed, with the latter being a joint collaboration with tech giant Huawei that focuses on high-tech electric vehicles (EVs).
But what's unique about Chery that sets it apart from other Chinese carmakers is that it also has a completely different product and branding strategy for export markets, with a whole separate slate of brands that are specifically meant for overseas use.
Most of these are often closely based on what Chery offers domestically. For example, Exlantix is mostly the export equivalent of Exeed, likewise Aiqar for iCar. Chery also announced at the 2025 Shanghai Auto Show that it will be introducing Lepas, an all-new budget brand meant for less developed markets.
The most prominent ones however are Omoda and Jaecoo, which were the first of Chery's export brands introduced in 2022. They have expanded their reach rapidly since then, making their way to several countries in Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, including Singapore.
While some markets, like Malaysia, continue to use the Chery branding for some of the new generation models, the local distributor in Singapore has wisely opted otherwise, and decided to focus on the Omoda and Jaecoo branding when the carmaker returned to our shores in 2024.
It's clearly a move to distance itself from the poor reputation that Chery had previously garnered here, and while it's still too early to judge on the success of the relaunch, from a product perspective, it looks like there have been massive improvements since then.
The Omoda E5, which was the first car that marked Chery's comeback here, is a well-made electric crossover that can easily compete with the best mainstream offerings on the market.
The Jaecoo J6 meanwhile is an electric SUV with very capable off-road abilities, and offers an interesting choice for those looking for something rugged and unique.
The one that really made a statement though, is the Jaecoo J7, an SUV with a plug-in hybrid powerplant that could legitimately drive for more than 1,000km before needing to be recharged or refuelled.
It's arguably the most impressive product so far from Chery's rebranding offensive, and one that has made consumers here sit up and take them seriously.
Indeed, when both Azfar and Krado took a brief test drive in the J7 back in Singapore, they came away seeing the brand in a different light.
Azfar remarked that the J7 had "a rather refined drive", and noted that the vast improvements in build quality, driving ability and overall package meant that the car brand "warrants a closer look from consumers."
Likewise, Krado also noticed the improvements in refinement and build quality, and was also impressed by the level of standard equipment. "It's very well equipped," he pointed out, adding, "I like that the back seats can be adjusted with a few different angles, and there's also fully electric seat adjustments in front."
There's certainly more in store for the brand ahead. During AsiaOne's visit to Wuhu, I was given a preview of the Jaecoo J8, a luxury SUV that bears more than a passing resemblance to offerings from premium brands like Audi and BMW, and is a sign of where Chery is aiming their sights.
I also got a first look at the Omoda C3, a compact crossover that's boldly styled and targeted at younger customers. Its cyberpunk-inspired design is the brainchild of a development team that has an average age of 28, and among its highlights include an infotainment system that can be hooked up to gaming devices like the Nintendo Switch, turning it into a mobile game machine.
While the future does look bright for Chery, there is definitely still room for improvement. AsiaOne's visit to Wuhu was part of Chery's week-long International Business Summit 2025, which saw over 2,000 guests from all over the world descend onto Chery's hometown, and it was somewhat clear that the company was not ready to handle international events of such a massive scale.
Much of the trip felt rather disorganised, and occasionally chaotic, with many of the media guests and dealer partners frustrated at the perceived lack of planning and communication. The inexperience in organisation from the hosts was pretty telling, and some of the programme highlights, like the visit to the theme park and concert on the final day, just felt bizarre and out of place.
Nevertheless, those are probably just hiccups, and hopefully it can offer Chery some valuable learning lessons as the company figures out how to cater to an international audience. In terms of actual cars though, there's no doubt that they are well on their way to delivering competitive products that can take on some of the best in the industry.
The final word will be decided by the consumers themselves, of course, but as Krado notes, the brand has "definitely made a big improvement" from when it first emerged on the scene.
In fact, the difference is so stark that even he was taken by surprise. "If you didn't tell me that this (Jaecoo J7) is from Chery, I wouldn't have known," he said.
Given the development trajectory that Chery is on, it will surely be a matter of time before it loses the last vestiges of its cheap and nasty reputation.
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