Chery has confirmed it plans to develop at least two unibody bakkies, while also mulling the idea of offering a body-on-frame model to battle the likes of the Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger…

The man at the very top of Chery has confirmed the Chinese automaker has big plans to enter the bakkie segment.

Charlie Zhang, Chery International executive vice president, made the comments to carsales ahead of the Chinese state-owned firm’s return to Australia.

“According to our planning, we will develop two pick-ups. One small-medium sized, the other is a large one, with electric or PHEV [plug-in hybrid electric vehicle] [powertrains]. That is something we are planning for,” Zhang said.

He revealed these two bakkies would employ unibody rather than ladder-frame platforms.

“Most of the pick-ups are still the traditional body-on-frame, so the other type of pick-up is for the urban use. It is a new lifestyle, right? We call it the unibody pick-up. It is developed on the passenger vehicles. The Hyundai Santa Cruz is the perfect example,” Zhang explained.

What about a body-on-frame bakkie from Chery?

The Karry Higgo, which interestingly appears to share much with the GWM Steed 5…

So, are there any plans to offer a ladder-frame model to compete with top sellers like the Toyota Hilux, Ford Ranger and Isuzu D-Max? Well, Zhang suggests the Wuhu-based firm is investigating its options in that space, too.

“Also for the traditional pick-up, we will see if there are emerging opportunities for us. We will see if we can do it through mergers or acquisitions,” Zhang said.

As the Australian publication points out, Chery has a potential partnerwithin its group in the form of the Karry brand, which it founded back in 2009. As its name suggests, Karry specialises in light-commercial vehicles and has built a few bakkies in years gone by, including the Aika and Higgo.

Zhang emphasised the importanceof the bakkie segment in global sales terms.

“According to our study, the pick-up segment accounts for at least 15% of the total [global sales], so worldwide more or less eight million total units pick-ups.

“If we have 8% or10% market share, that’s roughly 700 000 units. So, it is one of the largest segments we have not yet entered. So, for pick-up it is very, very interesting.”

Chery’s return to the South African market

The Tiggo 4 Plus has been Chery’s strongest seller locally in recent months.

Chery officially announced its return to the South African market in August 2021, entering the space directly as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Chinese automotive giant. The current line-up comprises three crossover models: theTiggo 4 Prothat touched down in November 2021, theTiggo 8 Prothat arrived in February 2022 and theTiggo 7 Prothat launched in May 2022.

The automaker’s local divisionstarted reporting sales figures to Naamsa in July 2022, registering 1 262 units that month. The company’s sales total improved to 1 320 units in August and 1 352 in September, before dipping slightly to 1 229 units in October.

While fellow Chinese brand Haval is playing in both the passenger and light-commercial spaces, Chery is currently limited to the former by virtue of its crossover-only portfolio. Judging by Zhang’s comments, that may well change in the next few years…

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