Chery will push for more registrations by better honing its cars for UK buyers, with an announcement on R&D due imminently. “Step two is UK R&D engineering because this is a unique market,” he pledged.
A priority will be setting up the driver-assistance systems to cope with British road layouts. Lan admitted the lane-keep assist needs to be more finely tuned, and Auto Express’s road testing would add driver monitoring to that list, as well as adjustments to the ride and handling. More automated cars would need to understand what UK drivers mean when they flash their lights, to capitalise on being let out, he added.
R&D will mean additions to Chery’s UK workforce, which has already grown from 40 to 150 people. Lan talked of partnering with a university such as Warwick to develop engineering capabilities, and said: “We can seek help from the UK [to find] talent for our business, for our vehicle to be more British.”
The ultimate goal is “UK production – that will be step four,” said Lan. The FT has reported that Nissan has held talks with Chery and the Japanese firm’s Chinese JV partner Dongfeng to boost capacity utilisation at its Sunderland plant. Nissan recently announced that production of the Leaf, Qashqai and Juke had been consolidated on one line, leaving an assembly line vacant.
“Sunderland is a very cost-competitive plant,” Nissan CEO Ivan Espinosa told the FT’s Kana Inagaki. “What it’s missing is volume. It is one of the best we have worldwide, actually. So we will continue to try to find a partner. And you know, looking at the operational competitiveness of the plant, I’m sure we will be able to find interested stakeholders to work with us in the plant.”
Nissan is assessing bringing the NX8 electric SUV to Europe, and exporting other EVs built by Dongfeng in China to the Middle East and other regions. Whether the numbers add up to Sunderland production is another matter – but it’s clear that Chery, at least, will be providing UK industry with a shot in the arm.
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