Fast-growing Asian carmaker Chery Auto held last week in its home city of Wuhu in China the first-ever Chery International User Summit, a unique gathering of more than 500 Chery owners and media from over 40 countries.
Happening over four days from October 15 to 18, the summit, with the theme “New Journey, New Life,” aims to co-create a new ecology where “automobiles” harmonize with “life” alongside global users, facilitating international multi-dimensional exchanges and jointly journeying on a new chapter in Chery’s ecological and technological endeavors.
In recent years, the global automotive industry has witnessed a surge in electrification, artificial intelligence, and connectivity. The automotive electrification rate has increased from 3.9 percent in 2020 to the current 13.4 percent. User demands on automobiles have evolved from simple means of point A-to-point B transportation to include a focus on intelligent features, mobile sharing, and surrounding ecosystems. The concept of “people-oriented and co-creation” has become a new focus for automotive companies. This is also what Chery aims to build: a user-centered “new life.”
During the opening ceremony, Zhu Shaodong, Deputy General Manager of Chery International, provided a comprehensive explanation of the significance of this global user ecology conference to the summit attendees.
He stated, “Chery has always taken ‘Green, Technology, Family, Companion’ as the core of brand development, guiding the brand’s direction and also representing Chery’s vision for a new way of life. In the current context where automobiles are closely linked with life, Chery has consistently regarded “green and low-carbon” as a crucial strategic direction, with a focus on low-carbon principles. We begin with a people-oriented design philosophy, and extend it to our eco-friendly manufacturing plants and prioritize low-carbon and energy-efficient practices.
Furthermore, we present green mobility solutions to our customers, aiming to create an ecological system, and it integrates “automotive ecology” into the “new way of life,” Shaodong added.
In addition, Chery constantly innovates in technology (they own 26,000 patents—a high number for a fairly young automotive company), and the latest release of its Qpower brand covers solutions for mainstream power forms such as fuel, hybrid, electric, and hydrogen power. Under Chery’s QPower architecture, the thermal efficiency of Chery’s PHEV models has been increased from 30 percent in fuel vehicles to 44.5 percent, providing energy-saving advantages with efficiency and environment-friendliness. The combination of a 1.5-lier turbo engine and a dual-motor hybrid powertrain enables a driving range of a stunning 1,300 kilometers. It achieves an industry-first high-safety and high-performance battery material system, creating a high-performance hybrid-dedicated battery that can charge from 30 percent to 80 percent at room temperature in just 19 minutes.
In the pure electric field, Chery’s products achieve a range of over 700 kilometers, with acceleration from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour in just 3 seconds. Additionally, Chery offers various power systems to meet the needs of all their pure electric platform products, as showcased in a massive tech exhibit that featured EV technology from rocks with phosphate and iron ores (which are used for making hybrid and EV batteries) all the way to the battery packs themselves and of course, the final finished electric vehicle.
Chery also displayed the technology and quality of its interior design for each of its products, optimizing the user’s driving experience and providing a safe, comfortable and reliable driving experience for its global users.
Chery also demonstrated how it undertakes its corporate social responsibility. Currently, it carries out over 120 public welfare projects in more than 30 countries worldwide. For example, in February of this year, when a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Turkey, Chery Turkey was the first local automobile company to rush to the disaster area for assistance. In South Africa, Chery joined hands with 36 media outlets to care for disadvantaged children.
At the opening ceremony of the 2023 Chery International User Summit, Chery for the first time brought together a range of Chery automotive-related ecosystem products. This included items such as a robot dog, intelligent AR glasses, beauty refrigerators, electric skateboard, lawn mowers, and more, which were showcased collectively. Users from around the world took the opportunity to explore, interact with, and understand these offerings.
In addition, there were immersive activities such as plant tours, media interviews, cruise parties, test drives with post-drive surveys, user cooperation salons, business banquets, and even a sneak peek of a couple of future Chery models (the only time when photography wasn’t allowed). With the first-ever Chery International User Summit, Chery’s new ecological model with global users has embarked on a fresh and inspiring start and has provided a glimpse of the future for this cutting-edge automaker.