Chery to account for more than one-eighth of car brands on sale in Australia
Just a few days after announcing an eighth brand for Australia, Chery is adding a ninth marque: Luxeed.
Chery shows no signs of letting up on its Australian expansion, this week adding an eighth and now ninth brand to its future plans.
Today, Chery announced its plans to launch Luxeed in Australia from mid-2027, with its luxury marque tipped to include the LLounge (no, that’s not a typo) people mover, followed by the Stormax electric SUV, which looks similar to a Ferrari Purosangue.
Confusingly, the Luxeed name is close to that of Exeed, which was earlier this week announced to come to Australia next year as well, though Chery is renaming it Exlantix for its local debut.
Currently, brands owned by Chery operating in Australia include the core Chery brand, Omoda, Jaecoo (counted together in sales reports as Omoda Jaecoo) and Lepas.
Next year, Chery will add iCaur (or iCar as it’s called in China) and Freelander to its local roster, with Exlantix becoming its seventh brand, and Luxeed the eighth.
Jetour, which is owned by Chery globally, will also come in 2027, bringing its total to nine, however it will not be operated by Chery, instead doing so on its own.
By the end of next year, it’s predicted there will be more than 70 new-car brands in Australia, provided any current operators don’t drop out.
With nine brands from the same global owner, it will give Chery an edge over Stellantis, which currently has eight of its marques in Australia.
Locally, Stellantis Australia distributes Alfa Romeo, Leapmotor, Fiat, Abarth and Jeep, meanwhile Ateco handles Maserati and Ram.
At the start of July, Inchcape Australia announced it was ending its distribution of Peugeot, and though new Peugeots are still being sold locally, the future of the brand is hanging in the balance.
It followed Inchcape axing sister brand Citroen in late 2024, which has not returned to local showrooms.
The Volkswagen Group also has a significant presence in Australia, not only with its main brand, but additionally through subsidiaries Audi, Skoda and Cupra, plus standalone luxury brands Porsche, Bentley, and Lamborghini.
Geely is another emerging Chinese player, again with its core brand, plus others it owns such as Zeekr, Volvo, Polestar, Smart (LSH Auto), Farizon (Jameel Motors) and Lotus (Simply Sports Cars).
