On January 22, as the only representative from Chinese auto industry, Tongyao YIN, President and CEO of Chery Automobile Co., Ltd., accompanied Chinese President Xi Jinping to Iran for a state visit in the Middle East. During the visit, the signing ceremony for Chery Iran Auto Industry Park Expansion Project was held. The project is Chery’s first move to implement its “globalization 2.0” strategy in the Middle East, a reflection of its transition from “going out”, “going in” to “globalization”, as well as an important strategic step to build a globally competitive auto brand.
The Middle East has always been the first station in the globalization of Chinese auto brands. As China’s largest export enterprise among independent auto brands, Chery took root in Iran a decade ago. Driven by President Xi’s visit, Chery’s cooperation with Iranian enterprises has been further extended. Iran’s relevant departments and local governments have offered strong support for the successful signing of the Expansion Project, showing that Iran’s auto industry recognizes and is willing to work with China’s auto industry represented by Chery, and further promoting the development of Iran’s auto industry and the prosperity of local economy. As the newest achievement in the implementation of the strategy of “the Belt and Road” (B&R), the expansion of Chery Iran Auto Industry Park will make a greater contribution to the economic and trade cooperation between China and Iran.
As China’s first passenger vehicle manufacturer in Iran, Chery initiated cooperation with Modiran Vehicle Manufacturing Company (MVM) early in 2004 to export CKD kits for vehicle assembly; in 2009, Chery seized the market opportunity to successfully acquire MVM as the largest shareholder, thus taking root in Iran. In the meantime, Chery established a localization team in Iran in full charge of the operation and management of the joint venture.
In Iran, Chery has built a plant with an output of 60,000 units per year, and successively established over 150 sales and service network in key cities such as Teheran, Mashhad, Isfahan and Tabriz. According to an analysis report released by ISQI, Chery’s after-sales service and vehicle quality have been ranked top in Iran.
Through 12 years of efforts, Chery’s joint venture in Iran has become Iran’s third-largest automaker only behind Iran’s two state-owned enterprises, IKCO and SAIPA. Chery topped the list of foreign brands in Iran with sales of nearly 40,000 units in 2014 and 2015 consecutively. By late 2015, Chery’s market shares in Iran had reached 180,000 units, accounting for over 50 percent of China’s total passenger vehicle exports to Iran.
Since their entries into Iran, Chery models have been favored and trusted by local consumers. Chery has launched models such as Tiggo 5, Tiggo 3, E5, Fulwin 2 and New QQ based on local market demands. These models have played a leading role in Iran in terms of appearance design, product quality, etc., and earned high recognition and favor from local consumers. In the future, Chery will launch two or three new models annually to meet local consumers’ demands at more levels.
To further its development in Iran, guided by its globalization strategy, and according to the national industrial support policy of “B&R”, Chery has worked out a plan for expanding Iran Industry Park. Based on the plant with an output of 60,000 units per year, Chery will build a new auto industry park with an added output of 100,000 units per year and supported by key parts. With the aim of building a vehicle-dominated park, the industrial park will bring in Chinese automotive parts manufacturers, automotive equipment manufacturers, automotive service enterprises and other relevant enterprises to form a regional manufacturing industry cluster. The park will not only provide parts and relevant services to other automakers in China and Iran, but also play a leading role in promoting Chinese independent-brand enterprises to provide better products and services to local consumers.
With the gradual launch of Chery’s new-generation competitive models in Iran, YIN said confidently that Chery would achieve the goal of selling 100,000 units annually in the coming three years.
