Chery has revealed plans to turn Jetour into a “high-end off-road brand”, according to its latest Globalisation 3.0 strategy, but this won’t change its plans for the South African market.
CarNewsChina reported that Chery’s plans for the brand include strengthening integrated domestic and international operations, pivoting the brand towards the high-end market and expanding its offerings.
These strategies will be implemented in South Africa to a certain extent, as Jetour South Africa confirmed to TopAuto.
“Jetour will continue to build its brand identity around SUVs, travel-oriented mobility and off-road experiences,” it said.
“Building on these strengths, we will continue to expand our product portfolio while enhancing product quality, technology and the overall customer experience.”
The Chery sub-brand plans to have its different product series, including the T-Series and the yet-to-be-introduced G-Series, serve a diverse range of customer needs.
“The T-Series will continue to play an important role in the brand’s development, while the G-Series will create further opportunities for Jetour to expand into the premium off-road and high-quality mobility segments,” it said.
Following the introduction of the G-Series, whenever that may be, the brand will continue to evolve its local product portfolio.
“Jetour will explore opportunities to introduce more premium vehicles with enhanced off-road capabilities,” it said.
“The G-Series represents an important part of this direction, combining off-road performance with driving comfort and advanced technology.”
Jetour South Africa’s ambition is not simply to compete directly with any single established luxury brand, aiming instead to set itself apart from other manufacturers.
“We aim to establish Jetour’s own distinctive identity through differentiated products, compelling value propositions and unique travel and off-road experiences,” it added.
Whether this means diverging slightly from its parent company’s plans remains to be seen, since the South African market tends to consider value-for-money over pure luxury.
What this means for the T-Series and the local market
Despite Jetour aiming to move upmarket in China, its local branch confirmed that it is committed to delivering competitive value to its customers.
“As our product portfolio expands into a broader range of market segments, certain premium models may enter higher price brackets to reflect their positioning, technology, specifications and overall capabilities,” said Jetour South Africa.
“However, moving the brand upmarket does not mean that prices across the entire range will increase.”
In the South African market, it will continue to consider local customer needs, competitive market conditions, product specifications and overall value when determining its pricing strategy.
Jetour said this will ensure that it offers suitable options for customers with different requirements.
“The T-Series will remain one of the core pillars of Jetour’s development in South Africa,” it confirmed.
“Models such as the T1 and T2 play an important role in building brand awareness, strengthening customer confidence and driving business growth.”
The brand’s expansion into higher-value market segments will reportedly complement the development of the T-Series rather than replace its existing core models.
“We will continue to focus on the competitiveness of the T-Series, the customer experience and local market requirements to ensure that our products continue to meet the expectations of South African customers,” said Jetour.
It added that just because the Chery Group is looking to reposition Jetour as its more upmarket offering, it won’t necessarily affect the introduction of other upmarket Chery products, like the Freelander.
“Jetour’s development and the potential market introduction of Freelander should be viewed within the broader context of Chery Group’s global multi-brand strategy,” it said.
“Different brands can serve distinct market needs based on their respective positioning, product characteristics and target customer groups.”
Loading ...