Chery says main brand equivalent to Toyota, Lepas to Mazda, Omoda & Jaecoo to BYD, iCaur to Jeep

Chery says main brand equivalent to Toyota, Lepas to Mazda, Omoda & Jaecoo to BYD, iCaur to Jeep

Aside from presenting the product plan for Omoda & Jaecoo, Chery International president Zhang Guibing also clarified the positioning of his company’s various brands, including not just the main marque and O&J but also Lepas and iCaur. The executive moved to answer criticism that the firm had too many brands that lacked clear differentiation.

Specifically, Zhang compared his nameplates to those of other established carmakers. No prizes for guessing what Chery was supposedly equivalent to – the mainstream brand was likened to Toyota, Hyundai, Volkswagen and MG. Meanwhile, the more premium Omoda & Jaecoo was said to be comparable to Kia and, oddly enough, BYD; then again, according to the latest product plan, Jaecoo is set to pivot further towards ruggedness, so this diagram might need to be updated later on.

Perhaps the most notable is Lepas, which Zhang compared to Mazda. The fledgling brand has struggled to establish itself, having hitherto offered products which are very similar to Chery’s own models – and in fact, the L4 and L8 do actually wear the Chery badge in China. Perhaps a new range of sportier models, which were previewed privately to dealers and members of the media during the Chery International Business Summit in Wuhu, will address this.

More straightforward is iCaur, which is said to be analogous to Jeep. The brand has openly cited inspiration from classic off-roaders for its cars (and the V23 in particular), including the Toyota Land Cruiser, Mercedes-Benz G-Class and the original Land Rover Defender.

While the brand’s vehicles aren’t quite as capable off the beaten track as those cars, they have been rather successful thanks to their retro designs, and the forthcoming V27 range-extended EV should further reinforce their strong positioning. Last but not least is Exeed, a premium brand that is limited to selected countries in places like the Middle East and Latin America and has been likened to Lexus.

Zhang paid tribute to those international and Chinese brands, saying that they provided the seeds for Chery to grow each “tree”. He added that he hoped these “trees” will continue to grow into a forest, suggesting that even more brands – including the newly-launched Freelander – are set to follow.

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Jonathan Lee

After trying to pursue a career in product design, Jonathan Lee decided to make the sideways jump into the world of car journalism instead. He therefore appreciates the aesthetic appeal of a car, but for him, the driving experience is still second to none.

 

Comments

  • Wonderwhy on Apr 28, 2026 at 9:10 am

    I wonder what those pro japanese and anti chinese car people gonna say bout it?! LOL… for me, it’s not a shame to have such claim, being drive some of this… but those who keep criticizing but never really have a chance to buy any of it…. and only can afford the saga and bezza or even myvi… could all starting to bullshitting! Of coz there’s flaws and of coz there’s some problem wit some car functionality or sometimes built… but which car dont? you just choose to turn your blind eye coz they are japs, they are europe! and u even turn blind eye coz u feel ur myvi is cheaper, so u choose to accept your cheap myvi to have problems!

    Thumb up 85 Thumb down 45
    • Jaguh Global on Apr 28, 2026 at 3:23 pm

      Waja = Asia’s answer to BMW 3 Series

      Thumb up 2 Thumb down 1
    • FrankC on Apr 28, 2026 at 4:36 pm

      Chery’s strategy is to flood the market with multiple brand name. They want to cover all segment and perhaps benchmark their offerings to other established brands. it is marketing and business development strategy.
      no doubt the current vehicles offered by chery’s group now is way way better the older Chery Alado which appears in our market long ago. They have catch up in terms of manufacturing efficiency, quality and perhaps design too. It will take awhile for chery’s brand to sink in with malaysian drivers. those that had driven will help promote this brand in the long run.
      For golfer out there, remember Taylormade back in early 2004, where they introduce R5, R7 and Burner drivers. They release not only R5, R7 and Burner, they release twice a year!!! They practically force all other brand to release new version twice a year or at least once every year!!! Titleist can’t keep up and update once in 2 years and almost gone !!!!
      this is typical marketing strategy if you have the capacity to introduce multiple model / sub brand to flood the market. Good luck Chery…

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    • Chris K on Apr 28, 2026 at 9:45 pm

      Don’t you feel so funny about this. Just don’t understand how this claim come out. And you support them because of ??? Marketing. Hahahaha

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  • wat4mau on Apr 28, 2026 at 9:15 am

    quality to be desired. check the steering column rack, its exposed and goes all the way to the floor. focused on eye level quality

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  • yea yea... on Apr 28, 2026 at 9:23 am

    Chery to Toyota? LMAO.. not even close on reliability… more like to peugeot…

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  • Mark Jaya on Apr 28, 2026 at 9:27 am

    happy, Jaecoo J5 is cheaper than vios full spec.

    Thumb up 13 Thumb down 6
  • Sabri on Apr 28, 2026 at 10:21 am

    I love china cars but this guy is high on himself

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  • pqrst on Apr 28, 2026 at 10:35 am

    not dare to mention Audi, range rover where you copy bulat bulat ke? hehehe

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  • dont see any difference between toyota and mazda, do they imply lipas have better handling than chery or chery cater more to older gens? and byd also not a premium brand, has this guppy zhang been drinking before giving speech?!

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  • Danmy118 on Apr 28, 2026 at 11:16 am

    Didn’t read about them talking about Jetour? I wonder which international brand they intend to compare with?

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    • Zamri on Apr 28, 2026 at 12:34 pm

      JLR is thier JV, hence they don’t intend to name it?
      But Jetour T2 is Malaysian-assembled rugged masterpiece, featuring an imposing 2006mm width and 255mm tyres. Its 2.0T engine delivers performance that rivals icons like the BMW X3, but with a superior 10-year / 1,000,000km warranty. Equipped with Full Level 2 ADAS, it’s the ultimate adventure partner built for peace of mind.

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  • They may not be up to those brand quality now, but its a good start they made it clear. Give them sometime and dont doubt what the chinese say they’ll do. Look at the infamous laugh elon musk has on byd surpassing tesla in top EV cars in the world.

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  • AkooIm on Apr 28, 2026 at 12:18 pm

    China cars probably got the leap of the century technology wise.
    But their design… oh my… they literally just copy everything they see on the road & put on one car…

    And then some of their product naming……

    Thumb up 13 Thumb down 0
  • Proton Oh Proton on Apr 28, 2026 at 12:41 pm

    Im happy with P. Emas7 (AKA GEELY EX5) for the space, comfort and tech, however the car handling still not par with T. cross.

    Thumb up 5 Thumb down 0
  • The Japanese car manufacturer cannot compete with the chinese in EVs technology, Can’t beat them you join them

    https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/japan-china-ev-honda-nissan-dongfeng-6083526

    Thumb up 2 Thumb down 1
  • normal_user on Apr 28, 2026 at 4:29 pm

    Good case study for MBA students titled;
    Provide critical argument on this market positioning idea from Chery? Refer to the sub branding topic of your Kotler text book. Justify.

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  • Keep dreaminglah, quality so terrible. Customer service so bad, sikit-sikit want to LOD your customer. Boycott Chery!

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  • Revan on Apr 28, 2026 at 5:38 pm

    Credit where credit is due, they at least willing to namedrop their competition.

    Almost no legacy automaker does this anymore. At least not obviously and outwardly.

    As for whether they can actually be as good or better, now that is another matter entirely.

    Unlike Japan, Germany, America, France & British car companies which have been around for decades if not century or 2, China is very new to the Global Auto market let alone Malaysia.

    Yea Ssangyeong and Chery did have some presence in the early 2000s – 2010s but frankly back then they were not exactly powerhouses they are now.

    The thing is no matter how much cheaper or better value or better tech they have compared to the competition, people will naturally be wary because they don’t know Chinese cars the same way they know cars from other country.

    Japan is affordable but boringly reliable and cheap to maintain.

    German balances luxury and performance but is high maintenance.

    America is more about powah, size & presence at the cost of efficiency and price.

    British (not MG) is beautifully designed but typically expensive and nowhere near as reliable as the other countries.

    French is French, just fkin weird.

    These stereotypes, regardless of whether or not they’re true is most people’s understanding of the various car brands. This didn’t come from the manufacturer but rather people’s own experience of the cars over decades of use and ownership.

    The problem with Chinese cars is that they haven’t been around long enough for people to even have an idea of what they are, how they behave, how they last over time, etc.

    Because people have no pre-concieved notions about Chinese they’re that much hesitant to buy. It doesn’t matter if it’s cheaper than Toyota or better specced than a Hyundai/Kia or faster than a BMW.

    People just have no pre-existing reference point and as such they will be taking a risk and eventually THEY will become that reference point for others.

    This is the fundamental problem with Chinese cars as far as I see it. Sure they’re ridiculously cheap now, fun and outselling and threatening the very existence of legacy automakers, but who’s to say they’ll still be that way 5 – 10 years from now?

    It wasn’t that long ago that Honda and Toyota were cheap and cheerful before they eventually moved with times upwards in price and *minimalism* to maximise sales.

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  • newme on Apr 28, 2026 at 5:43 pm

    Equivalent to Toyota? You sure? Equal in quality? reliability? service? prestige? resale value? and the biggest one… equal in parts availability?

    Thumb up 1 Thumb down 5
  • Malu Sikit on Apr 28, 2026 at 6:11 pm

    Banyak syok sendiri and over-claim, so embarrassing

    Thumb up 4 Thumb down 7
 

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