Great Wall and JEEP "smells", Chery says "not interested" in overseas acquisitions

The headline news of the Chinese auto circle last week was undoubtedly the rumor of the Great Wall “quote” JEEP. Despite recent announcements by the Great Wall and Fick Group, the two sides did not have any contact and negotiation. However, the Great Wall CEO Wang Fengying, which was exposed by foreign media, replied to foreign media. The “Great Wall is interested in JEEP” and the news of the mysterious buyer’s quotation JEEP showed the close interaction between the Chinese and American auto industries.

Some commentators believe that the reason why the Great Wall or other mysterious Chinese sellers are interested in the Fick Group lies in its huge network of US channels. Once it can achieve M & A, it will make the pace of Chinese brands entering the US market "accelerate." Obviously, the willingness of Chinese auto brands to open up in the US market has become a “footnote” to the M&A rumors.

What is intriguing is that, as the current "large exporter" of China's automobile enterprises, what is Chery's attitude towards the U.S. market? Does it also have the will to join the Chinese "buyer group"?

While the scandal between the Great Wall and JEEP was buzzing, Chen Anning, general manager of Chery Automobile Co., Ltd., accepted an interview with Reuters and continued to explain Chery’s overseas strategy.

According to statistics, Chery’s performance in overseas markets is remarkable compared to the tepidness of the domestic market. In July, a total of 9013 cars were exported, a 49% increase year-on-year. From January to July, 63330 vehicles were exported, a year-on-year increase of 37.4%. Among them, Arrizo 5 accounted for more than half of Chery’s total exports.

“Our current overseas sales and domestic sales are 1 to 3, and in the future we expect this ratio to become 1 to 2.” Chen Anning told Reuters that this means that the overseas market will account for 30% of sales in the future, but its No specific timetable was given.

It is worth noting that when interviewed by US media in May this year, Chen Anning also expressed the desire of Chery to become a multinational corporation. "We set ourselves goals and become truly multinational companies in markets around the world."

As for the rumors that Chinese brands are rushing to offer Fick Group at the moment, Chen Anning said, “We are not active in the M&A market because we rely mainly on our own strength and focus on our own continued growth. Of course, Chery has always upheld the cooperation. Open mind."

At the same time, he said, "If there are suitable (acquisition) opportunities, we will continue to pay attention, but we will enter the 16-18 markets through the current model."

Talking about the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show next month, Chen Anning revealed that it will exhibit a new brand of new cars. The brand will be higher than the current Chery brand, and the price of this new car is also higher than that of Chery.

Chen Anning stressed that Chery currently considers entering the Western European market as a priority and will continue to wait and see in the US market. "I think we have to wait a few years. It is too early to talk about starting the U.S. market after the U.S. market economic policies and political measures have stabilized."

The Reuters report quoted an analyst from Shanghai as saying that Chery is now a medium-sized Chinese car company and "could not raise enough funds to conduct overseas acquisitions."