Chery doubles its research and design team in Europe

Specifically, Chery plans to double the number of employees in Raunheim to 120 within the next twelve months. Opened near Frankfurt Airport in 2018, Chery covers R&D for new products and purely country-specific solutions at the site.

The 120-strong team will soon underpin its claim to “play an even stronger role in design and engineering within the globally active Chery Group in the future”, according to the press release. The Chery Group and the global headquarters for design and development are located in the Chinese province of Anhui.

With additional specialist staff and expanded resources in Germany, the Raunheim centre should be able to “accelerate and intensify its digital design and development activities, which are largely based on special software, and drive innovative solutions forward even faster”, the company writes. Chery also envisions expanding collaboration with regional suppliers, also in the form of development partnerships.

In Raunheim, design development, simulation and testing, and hardware and mechanical product design are among the central areas of responsibility. In addition, the experts take on extensive project management tasks for various business units within the Chery Group. According to Jochen Tüting, Managing Director of Chery Europe GmbH, this includes the ‘Advanced Design Studio’, which “provides creative input for almost all of the Group’s global brands” – meaning that work is also carried out in Raunheim that is not limited to Europe.

“Our strategy in and for Europe is a long-term one with a clear focus on customers and their requirements,” says Tüting. “We are firmly convinced that the investment in research and development in Germany and Europe will pay off because Chery will be able to develop solutions that are both innovative and tailored to the needs of European consumers – in terms of technology, sustainability and price.”

Chery plans to roll out its Omoda and Jaecoo brands in nine key European and smaller markets. This year will see the launch of the Omoda 5 as a combustion engine and a BEV offshoot. The Omoda 5 EV prices are expected to start at around 37,000 euros in Germany. The compact crossover SUV will be launched step by step on the most important European markets in 2024 before the Jaecoo 7 off-road SUV on the same platform follows shortly afterwards. Chery has yet to reveal whether the Jaecoo 7 will also be available as a BEV.

As reported, the Chinese manufacturer focuses on a broad drive mix in Europe.

Info via email in German, with reporting by Sebastian Schaal.