The Chinese automaker currently has 4 brands of its over here right now: Chery, Omoda Jaecoo, Jetour and iCaur
It should not escape anyone’s notice that the Chinese invasion is currently in full swing in the auto market over here… and the biggest player by far from these new arrivals has to be Chery. Ever since its local comeback after all, the brand is seemingly going all in on our shores, in an apparent quest to actually give Proton’s market share (not to mention national automaker status) a run for its money.
And credit where credit is due, this monumental push by the Chinese automaker has certainly not gone unnoticed, with it now occupying a slot among the top 10 best-selling carmakers in Malaysia for 2024 — a pretty remarkable feat for a brand that was only brought back from the dead over here less than 2 years ago.
BUT… as many Chery cars as there are on Malaysian roads today, there seem to be almost as many brands under the Chery umbrella here too.
By the end of 2025 for instance, there will be no less than four separate marques in Malaysia carrying the Chery Group bloodline:
- The mainline Chery brand itself,
- The newly-rebranded Omoda Jaecoo (formerly just Jaecoo),
- The fresh-faced newcomer Jetour,
- And the soon-to-debut iCaur.
Now given the sheer number of Chinese car brands arriving over here, many Malaysians might not actually even know (or frankly care) that what they are buying is technically a Chery. But for those who do — or anyone curious about just how tangled this corporate family tree really is — Automacha is here to help with a quick cheat sheet to the many branches of the massive Chery tree that has since taken root over here.
1. Chery
Target Demographic: Family-focused buyers looking for decent features and strong value-for-money.
Current Model Lineup: Omoda 5, Omoda E5, Tiggo 7 Pro, Tiggo 8 Pro,
Coming Soon: Tiggo Cross, Tiggo 8 PHEV
Local Distributor: Chery Auto Malaysia
Local Assembly Partner: Inokom Corporation (Kulim, Kedah)
Additional Notes:
Despite being the parent brand, the Chery-badged models sold in Malaysia are actually not assembled in Chery’s own Shah Alam plant. Instead, these models are produced by Inokom in Kedah, while Chery’s Shah Alam facility handles the assembly of Omoda and Jaecoo models.
Also worth pointing out for those who are still blur: Chery sells two models under the “Omoda” name, though only one of them — the Omoda 5 (and its EV twin, the Omoda E5) — belongs to this mainline brand. The other, the Omoda C9, is sold under the newly-rebranded Omoda Jaecoo.
In fact, if we’re being pedantic here, the mainline Chery brand really just serves as the wrapper for what is effectively its Tiggo sub-brand. So… why didn’t Chery launch the Tiggo as its own thing?
2. Omoda Jaecoo
Target Demographic:
Omoda: Young, fashion-forward, techy urbanites who care about sustainability
Jaecoo: High-income trendsetters looking for rugged-but-premium vibes.
Current Model Lineup:
Omoda: C9
Coming Soon:
Omoda: C7
Jaecoo: J5
Local Distributor: Chery Auto Malaysia
Local Assembly Partner: Chery Auto Malaysia (Shah Alam)
Additional Notes:
Yes, Omoda Jaecoo are basically two distinct sub-brands (with two distinct product lines) within a brand, which in itself is a sub-brand of the main Chery brand.
Also, while we’ve already gone through how both Chery and Jaecoo (now Omoda Jaecoo) have an Omoda in their lineup right now, it is nevertheless still interesting to highlight that the already confusingly-named Omoda C9 By Jaecoo (or at least that is what it is initially marketed at launch as anyway) has the geran-given name of Chery Omoda 9. It looks like even JPJ is confused on which Chery should actually be a Chery…
3. Jetour
Target Demographic: Adventurous types who want a bit of rugged design with everyday usability
Current Model Lineup: Dashing, VT9
Coming Soon: T2, eVT5
Local Distributor: Jetour Auto Malaysia
Local Assembly Partner: Berjaya Assembly Sdn. Bhd. (Johor)
Additional Notes: Jetour currently operates with the most autonomy within the Chery corporate umbrella over here, and is run by a distinctly separate management team relative to those at the namesake brand and at Omoda Jaecoo.
Despite their degree of corporate separation though, parts for their cars are nevertheless still widely shared across the larger Chery corporation. The Dashing and VT9 for instance feature the same 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine as found in the Chery Omoda 5 (with the former pretty much competing directly against it too).
And just to muddy the waters that little bit more here, the upcoming eVT5 e-SUV that was previewed at Malaysia Autoshow 2025 is actually sold in China under a different Chery sub-brand altogether — Kaiyi — where it is known as the X3 Pro EV (which in itself is pretty much the all-electric version of Chery’s Tiggo Cross).
4. iCaur
Target Demographic: Young adults aged 25–35 seeking an entry-level lifestyle SUV with rugged looks and accessible pricing (or those who just want a boxy off-roader-looking soft-roader)
Current Model Lineup: None Yet, 03 launching in Q3 2025
Coming Soon: 03, V23
Local Distributor: Chery Auto Malaysia (Shah Alam)
Additional Notes:
The brand was originally meant to be called the iCar (and still is in China in fact), but the additional U was added due to an apparent trademark dispute (possibly with a certain tech giant from Cupertino) with the original name.
Interestingly enough, the iCaur 03 that made its debut at the Malaysia Autoshow this year actually arrived over here last year already, under the guise of the Jaecoo J6.
Some Closing Remarks
The Chery Group’s strategy in Malaysia is clear: go wide, not just deep. Rather than focus on pushing a couple of models under a single brand, they’ve instead opted to carpet-bomb the market with multiple badges, design languages, and target demographics, even if many of their cars still share largely the same box of bits underneath.
That said, having this many distinct brands technically housed under one corporate umbrella inevitably leads to a fair amount of confusion, for customers, reviewers, and occasionally even the regulatory bodies. And it really remains to be seen whether splitting it all up into their own little unique entity (alá British Leyland) is a wise choice, or whether GWM Malaysia’s multi sub-brand under one roof approach will prove more effective.
Still credit where it’s due, Chery has managed to grab real market share in a real short span a time over here with this aggressive approach. Now it s just a matter of seeing whether Malaysian buyers eventually learn to separate their Jaecoos from their Jetours… or if they even care in the first place.
Also worth pointing out: this multi-brand strategy isn’t a Chery-exclusive phenomenon anyway. The Volkswagen Group has been playing this game for years, and nobody seems to mind that the Bentley Bentayga, Porsche Cayenne, Audi Q7, Volkswagen Touareg, and Lamborghini Urus are, in essence, the same car underneath.
