Changan subsidiary Deepal is headed to Europe
Deepal’s international expansion will initially begin in Thailand. Further expansion will focus on other ASEAN markets and Europe, according to Chinese media reports citing Deepal CEO Deng Chenghao
Founded in 2022, the brand currently offers the mid-range sedan Deepal SL03 (known as L07 in Thailand) as a BEV, EREV (battery electric with range extender) and FCEV in China, as well as the mid-range SUV S07. It has not yet been confirmed whether these models – in the mid-range, a rough comparison with Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y suggests itself – are also part of the European plans, but this is likely.
Two further models are to follow in 2024, which according to Chinese media are being developed together with Huawei. However, details about the vehicles are not yet known. This week, Changan and Huawei signed a cooperation agreement that also provides for a joint venture. This will focus on “research and development, design, production, sales, etc., service for intelligent automotive systems and component solutions – in other words, it will become a manufacturer in its own right.
Deepal itself has delivered 102,417 vehicles in China in the current year up to the end of October. As assembly results have recently been in the range of 15,000 to 17,000 units, Deepal could end the year with around 150,000 units if the trend remains constant – 450,000 vehicles in 2024 would still be an enormous increase, despite the current growth.
In addition to Deepal, Changan also operates the Avatr and Qiyuan brands. A few days ago, Changan agreed on a battery swap cooperation with Nio. Here too, it is unclear whether Deepal’s European models will be able to use Nio’s power swap stations.
Although Changan is less known in Europe, it is one of the four major state-owned car manufacturers in China – together with FAW, SAIC and Dongfeng. Changan has “big plans” for Deepal, as Car News China puts it. In addition to expanding into other markets, “thousands of order and service centres” are to be opened in China itself by 2025.
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