The locally-assembled Jaecoo J7s will soon also be exported to Thailand, Singapore, Brunei and the Philippines.
Chery has recently announced that it has begun initial exports of the Shah Alam-assembled Jaecoo J7, with left-hand drive Vietnam being the premiere destination for these Chinese-designed but Malaysian-put-together SUVs.
The first batch of J7s sent from Malaysia to Vietnam comprised of both the pure ICE and soon-to-locally-launch PHEV variant, with the Chinese automaker touting that more models and even sub-brands under its corporate umbrella will be set for export in the near future. Chery has further stated that aside from Vietnam, it intends to soon export the stuff it assembles in Malaysia to other ASEAN nations like Thailand, Brunei, the Philippines and Singapore.
This move to kickstart international exports from Malaysia is in alignment with Chery’s vision to make Malaysia its production hub for the region, not to mention too its right-hand drive hub for the world. Chery currently touts itself as the first fully Chinese brand to begin exporting out of Malaysia, as Proton’s international sales of its Geely-based SUVs are still technically considered Malaysian.
“Chery is progressing well towards establishing Malaysia as our production and research and development (R&D) hub in Southeast Asia. Expanding our exporting capabilities enhances our production capacity to meet the region’s growing demand,” said Leo Chen, executive vice president of Chery Corporate Malaysia.
“Furthermore, Chery is excited to play a role in boosting Malaysia’s economy, develop local talent and strengthen our supply chain. We are confident in achieving our goal to make Malaysia the leading export hub for Chery vehicles which includes our premium sub-brand Jaecoo,” he added.
Production for SEA export markets is presently supported by Chery’s production facility in Shah Alam, where the Jaecoo J7 and Omoda C9 are currently being churned out. It has previously also been teased during the opening of this plant last year that other models which are roll out from it in the near future includes the larger J8 three-row SUV, as well as the all-electric Defender-esque J6.
The Chinese automaker has added too that it has established strategic partnerships with its other local assembly plants around the nation, in a bid to further scale-up its local assembly capabilities. All Chery-badged cars sold locally are currently being put together in Inokom’s plant in Kulim, with this including the Tiggo 7, Tiggo 8, Omoda 5 and the all-electric Omoda E5.
For the year 2024, the Chery Group achieved record-breaking annual sales of over 2.6 million vehicles, a 38.4% year-on-year increase, with exports reaching 1.1 million units, up 21.4% from 2023.
