Chery is one of the biggest car brands in South Africa, but we still don’t have access to its entire catalogue.
The Chinese automaker relaunched in our market in 2021 and has risen to become one of the top 10 best-selling brands in the country, selling over 2,000 units per month.
Capitalising on its success, Chery has gradually introduced multiple sub-brands in South Africa, starting with Omoda in 2023.
While Chery primarily caters to the mass market with its Tiggo family of SUVs, Omoda is positioned as an premium alternative that sells sleek crossovers and SUVs like the C5 and C7.
The manufacturer followed this up one year later with the launch of Jaecoo, which is another premium brand meant to complement Omoda.
Omoda and Jaecoo are different brands but function as one entity in South Africa and are often referred to as “O&J.”
Jaecoo, in contrast to Omoda, sells SUVs that have a bigger emphasis on off-roading than Omoda’s urban-focused models, such as the J5 and J7.
Chery also plans to introduce another two brands in South Africa next year – iCaur and Lepas.
Lepas is another brand focused on urban crossovers and SUVs, which is expected to slot between Chery and Omoda on the brand’s luxury hierarchy when it launches in 2026.
iCaur is the most unique of the brands mentioned thus far, as it is an all-electric marque that produces retro-themed SUVs like the V23.
One other brand that’s important to mention is Jetour, which is part of the Chery Automobile Group, but has elected to launch in South Africa independently and is not directly affiliated with Chery South Africa.
Even with all these names now in our market, there are still more brands in China that could potentially get the green light for a local introduction.
One of these badges is Exeed, which is the most luxurious of all the members of the Chery family.
Chery’s fanciest car brand
Launched in 2017, Exeed produces a number of vehicles that are widely considered to be the most premium options in the Chery stable.
An better way to understand Exeed is to visualize how it compares to the other Chery brands in terms of its market position:
- Exeed
- Omoda & Jaecoo
- iCaur
- Lepas
- Chery
Exeed is not officially available in South Africa, but you can still buy one of their cars.
This is because the C9 – Omoda’s flagship SUV – is actually a rebadged version of the Exeed RX.
Chery opted to sell the RX under the Omoda banner in South Africa to bolster the latter’s lineup, given that Omoda previously only had a single car with the C5.
However, a spokesperson for the brand later told TopAuto that the company does not plan to bring in additional Exeed products as rebadged Omoda models.
This comes after something similar happened with Jaecoo, as Chery originally planned to introduce the iCaur 03 in South Africa as the Jaecoo J6.
The company later scrapped this plan, stating that iCaur was different enough to warrant its own launch.
It’s therefore possible that Chery may do something similar with Exeed, opting to launch it in an official capacity rather than sell its cars as rebadged Omoda models.
Two of the most recent Exeed cars are the Sterra ES sedan and Sterra ET SUV, which are known as the Exlantix ES and Exlantix ET outside of China.
Exlantix is essentially a brand within a brand, as it functions as Exeed’s new-energy division.
This is evident with the ES and ET, which are available with either a battery electric (BEV) or range-extender electric (REEV) powertrain.
To get a sense of what these vehicles are capable of, the top-spec ES BEV has a dual-motor configuration with 353kW and 663Nm, letting it sprint from 0 to 100km/h in 3.7 seconds.
It also has an 82kWh battery with 520km of range.
The REEV version, meanwhile, has a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine that functions as a generator to charge a 41.2kWh battery that powers two electric motors
This version has a combined output of 345kW and 634Nm, which lets it accelerate from 0 to 100km/h in 4.6 seconds.
Exeed also claims that this version has a CLTC range of up to 1,645km when fully utilizing both the battery and the petrol “generator.”
It remains to be seen whether Chery will launch Exeed in South Africa, but considering the company’s success and how many other brands are already here, we reckon it’s more a question of “when” than “if.”
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