Chery recently announced its plans for South Africa for 2024, dropping a bombshell of new information in the process.
The Chinese carmaker intends to launch no fewer than six different models on the tip of Africa within the next year, which will be spread out across its own stable as well as that of its two luxury subsidiaries – Omoda and Jaecoo.
A lot to be excited about
Chery is still a relatively new player in South Africa, having relaunched in the country in late 2021.
Despite its short time on the market, the automaker has quickly risen to become one of the country’s best-selling brands which has led to a rapid expansion with the introduction of new nameplates under the Chery umbrella.
The first of these is Omoda, which made its local debut in April this year with the launch of its first car, the C5 crossover.
The other brand is Jaecoo, which announced its plans to enter the local market at the Festival of Motoring in August with its inaugural model, the J7 SUV.
Together, Omoda and Jaecoo form what Chery describes as the “O&J” brand, which provides two flavours of high-end vehicles, in contrast to their parent company’s mass market-oriented options.
With all that being said, the Wuhu-based manufacturer’s first model for 2024 will be the Omoda C9, which will launch in the first quarter of the year and take the flagship position of its line-up.
This means the C9’s launch was delayed, as the company previously said it would arrive on local shores in November 2023.
When it eventually does go on sale next year, South African customers can expect a 2.0-litre, turbocharged petrol plant with 197kW and 400Nm, which pairs with an eight-speed automatic gearbox and an all-wheel-drive layout.
In the same quarter-one period, Jaecoo will make its official debut in the country with the J7, which so far has only been shown at media events in China and thus its South African-specific spec sheet is still unconfirmed.
As a reference, the version shown in China was equipped with a 1.6-litre, turbo-petrol powertrain with 140kW and 275Nm.
The J7 will be followed by another Omoda in quarter two of 2024, the battery-electric E5, something that the company had previously said was under consideration for a local introduction.
It uses the same platform as the petrol C5 but is powered by an electric motor with 150kW and 340Nm that connects to a 61kWh battery. When it lands, the E5 will be the first all-electric vehicle in South Africa to come from any of the Chery group brands.
Chery’s long-awaited plug-in hybrid Tiggo 7 Pro and Tiggo 8 Pro are then set to land in South Africa in the last three months of 2024, distinguished from their normal counterparts with a new “e+” tag.
Both vehicles are expected to receive assistance from a pair of electric motors linked to a 19kWh battery, which the company says can provide a pure-electric driving range of around 75km.
Finally, Jaecoo will bolster its domestic line-up at the end of next year with a second vehicle, the J8 SUV, though not much has been shared about this model so far.
The South African pricing, model line-up, and finalized equipment sheet of all the above vehicles, will be revealed closer to the respective launch windows in 2024.
Join the discussion