Ranked No. 1 in exports for 22 consecutive years, this veteran automaker finally goes public with a total market value exceeding 180 billion yuan | P
Introduction:
Going global is no longer an option for enterprises, but there are still many choices in the way of going global. Brand going global, supply chain going global, cross - border e - commerce... Behind each model, there are countless stories of Chinese companies' arduous exploration; North America, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Latin America... On every distant continent, there are more and more international presences of Chinese brands.
From introducing foreign investment forty years ago to "going global in groups" today, Qiantang, as the main front of Hangzhou's export - oriented economy, has always been the bridgehead for enterprises to transform themselves and break through for innovation. The International Service Center for Chinese Enterprises has been paying long - term attention to overseas markets and enterprises going global. Based on this, in 2025, we launched a new column "Wave Riders in Going Global" to find the benchmarks in various fields of going global, disassemble practical cases from a professional perspective, precipitate methodologies in the process of seeking consensus, and explore differentiated development paths in non - consensus.
The following is the thirteenth article of this column.
On September 25th, Chery Automobile Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Chery") was officially listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. This automaker, which has been on the listing journey for more than two decades, finally opened the door to IPO. On the first day of listing, the stock price opened more than 11% higher. As of the close, the stock price was HK$31.92, and the total market value exceeded HK$180 billion.
In this global offering for Chery's listing, the issue price range was HK$27.75 - 30.75. The fundraising scale reached HK$9.14 billion, making it the largest IPO of an automaker on the Hong Kong stock market this year. The company plans to use 35% of the funds raised from the listing for the research and development of different models and versions of passenger cars, 25% for the research and development of next - generation vehicles and advanced technologies in the next 1 - 3 years, 20% for overseas market expansion, 10% for upgrading the production facilities in Wuhu, Anhui, and the remaining 10% as working capital.
Chery is headquartered in Wuhu, Anhui. Centering on the R & D and production of all - category passenger and commercial vehicles, it simultaneously layouts the independent R & D and manufacturing of powertrains and core components (such as engines, gearboxes, and intelligent cockpit components), and has a dual - line product portfolio of "fuel vehicles + new energy vehicles".
Since 2004, Chery has attempted to go public six times, all ending in failure. Three of these attempts failed because of the complex equity structure. Core issues such as equity ownership and profit distribution were difficult to clarify for a long time, which did not meet the requirements of a clear equity structure for listing. Coupled with internal business fluctuations at different stages, the attempts were aborted.
However, it is worth noting that Chery has long maintained a leading position in the overseas market compared with other domestic self - owned brand automakers. In 2024, its overseas sales reached 1.145 million vehicles, a year - on - year increase of 21.4%. Since 2003, it has ranked first in the export of self - owned brand passenger vehicles in China for 22 consecutive years.
Chery is also one of the earliest self - owned brand passenger car companies in China to export complete vehicles, knocked - down (KD) parts, and engines overseas. It cooperated with the Spanish veteran automaker EV MOTORS to operate a production plant in Barcelona. In December 2024, the first EBRO S700 car rolled off the production line. It became the first self - owned brand company in China to produce complete vehicles in Europe.
01 Failed to Go Public Six Times, Completed the 21 - year IPO Marathon
Currently, Chery has five sub - brands: Chery, Jetour, EXEED, iCAR, and JIEJIE. The first four brands target the general public and family users, the "travel + outdoor" vertical scenario, mid - to high - end users, and the Generation Z consumer group respectively. JIEJIE is jointly built by Huawei and Chery. The former provides services such as product definition, assisted driving systems, intelligent cockpit systems, and marketing, while the latter is mainly involved in product development, supply chain management, manufacturing, quality assurance, and after - sales service.
The prospectus shows that from 2022 to 2024, Chery's revenue increased from 92.618 billion yuan to 269.897 billion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of 70.7%; the net profit increased from 5.806 billion yuan to 14.334 billion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of 57.1%. In 2024, Chery was also the only passenger car company among the world's top 20 passenger car companies, with the sales of both new energy vehicles and fuel vehicles, as well as the sales in the Chinese and overseas markets, all increasing by more than 25% year - on - year.
In the first quarter of 2025, Chery's revenue reached 68.223 billion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 24.2% compared with 54.910 billion yuan in the same period of 2024. In the revenue structure, the sales of passenger vehicles, automotive components, and parts accounted for about 98%, and the remaining 2% was the revenue from supporting services for the automotive business, including procurement, production, and technology development.
Currently, most of the models sold by Chery are still fuel vehicles, but there is also a trend of transformation to new energy vehicles. The proportion of fuel vehicles in the total sales of passenger vehicles decreased from 85.1% in 2022 to 76.1% in 2024, while the proportion of new energy vehicles increased from 14.9% to 23.9%. In the first quarter of 2025, the proportion of new energy vehicles further increased to 30.3%.
Behind the transformation is the continuous increase in R & D investment. The prospectus shows that Chery's R & D investment in 2022, 2023, and 2024 was 4.128 billion yuan, 6.849 billion yuan, and 10.544 billion yuan respectively, almost tripling in three years.
Different from other automakers that are rooted in first - tier cities, Chery's headquarters has always been in Wuhu, a third - tier city in Anhui. In August this year, the Chery Global R & D Center located in the "Three Lakes" area of Wuhu Economic Development Zone was completed and delivered, which can accommodate 15,000 employees.
Why did Chery choose Wuhu? It dates back to the 1990s. At that time, Wuhu was facing the decline of the textile industry, its pillar industry, and the local economy was in urgent need of transformation. In 1993, the Wuhu Municipal Government launched an automobile project codenamed "951" and listed it as the top project during the "Ninth Five - Year Plan" period in Anhui.
In 1996, Zhan Xialai, then the vice - mayor of Wuhu, invited Yin Tongyue, then the director of the general assembly workshop of FAW, to return to his hometown to build cars. The next year, Anhui Automobile Parts Co., Ltd. was established in a deserted brick and tile factory in the northern part of Wuhu - this is also the predecessor of Chery, with Yin Tongyue as the general manager and Zhan Xialai as the chairman.
After its birth, Chery faced a shutdown crisis due to the lack of a production license. After multiple - party coordination, in 2001, 20% of its assets were transferred to SAIC free of charge. After being renamed "SAIC Chery", it obtained the "birth permit". However, this free transfer of assets made it difficult for Chery to clarify core issues such as equity ownership and profit distribution for a long time, which did not meet the requirements of a clear equity structure for listing. Since then, Chery failed to go public six times, three of which were due to the complex equity structure. It was not until the seventh application for listing this year that it completed the 21 - year IPO marathon.
02 Making Money Quietly Overseas for 22 Consecutive Years
While the new - energy vehicle startups have been making a lot of noise in the overseas market in the past two years, few people know that Chery is actually the "biggest winner" that has been quietly making money in the overseas market.
According to the prospectus, Chery's revenue in the overseas market reached 97.868 billion yuan in 2024, accounting for 39.7% of the total revenue. It has ranked first in the export volume of passenger vehicles among Chinese self - owned brand passenger car companies for 22 consecutive years, with a cumulative sales volume of more than 13 million vehicles in more than 100 countries and regions around the world. In 2024, Chery also ranked first among Chinese self - owned brand passenger car companies in terms of sales volume in Europe, South America, the Middle East, and North Africa, and ranked second in North America and Asia (excluding China), only after BYD.
Currently, the vast majority of Chery's overseas sales are still fuel vehicles, which largely conforms to the overall situation of the overseas market - Although new energy vehicles represent the future trend of Chinese brands going global, the current automobile consumption in the overseas market is still dominated by fuel vehicles. According to the data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, from January to November 2024, the export of traditional fuel vehicles was 4.203 million vehicles, a year - on - year increase of 26.7%, while the export of new energy vehicles was 1.141 million vehicles, only a year - on - year increase of 4.5%.
In the early 2000s, Chery began to enter the overseas market. To avoid the highly competitive European and American markets, it chose to first enter emerging markets such as the Middle East and North Africa. The overseas prices of models such as the Tiggo 3 and Arrizo 7 were about 80,000 - 120,000 yuan, 20% - 30% lower than those of Japanese and Korean models in the same class. In this way, it accumulated a good reputation with its cost - effectiveness advantage. After establishing a foothold in these markets, Chery gradually entered the Western European and North American markets.
Currently, Chery's layout in different regions of the overseas market is relatively balanced, and it does not overly rely on a single market. In 2024, its best - selling market was Europe, accounting for 52.4% of the overseas market revenue, Asia (excluding China) accounted for 30%, and the Americas accounted for 13.6%.
Although the markets in the Middle East and North Africa, which Chery first entered, are not large in scale, they still have great growth potential. According to the data from the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (OICA), the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), and the Frost & Sullivan report, the Middle East and North Africa markets are the regions with the fastest - growing passenger vehicle sales. The compound annual growth rate from 2019 to 2024 was 14.2%, and it is expected to reach 21.4% from 2025 to 2030. In contrast, the growth rate in Europe from 2019 to 2024 was - 2.7%, and the growth rate in North America remained flat.
03 The Overseas Journey from Complete Vehicle Export to Localized Production and R & D
It can be said that Chery has completed the three - stage overseas layout from complete vehicle export, knocked - down assembly to overseas localized production and R & D in 25 years.
In 2001, Chery exported its first car to Syria. At that time, it had not established overseas production bases, and the cars were directly exported after being produced in domestic factories such as those in Wuhu.
As the overseas market share expanded, Chery began to shift to knocked - down assembly (KD mode). It set up a dedicated KD kit production line in China, completed the disassembly, classification, and packaging of the parts required for cars, and assembled the KD kits overseas. It became one of the earliest self - owned brands in China to export KD parts and engines.
Chery's KD kits are subdivided into three forms according to the production conditions, local regulations, and cost requirements of the overseas market: complete knocked - down (CKD), semi - knocked - down (SKD), and direct knocked - down (DKD). CKD is a completely disassembled parts kit, targeting markets with complete automobile assembly capabilities and those seeking a high localization rate to enjoy policy incentives; SKD is a semi - disassembled parts kit, with the core modules having completed preliminary assembly, targeting markets with limited assembly capabilities; DKD is the kit form with the highest degree of assembly, with the body having been pre - installed with complete interior and exterior trims, and the electric system, power system, suspension, and tires having all completed preliminary integration. Overseas factories only need to perform simple splicing, debugging, and quality inspection, targeting emerging markets with a weak automotive industry foundation and limited assembly capabilities.
After 2020, Chery began to build complete vehicle production factories overseas. In December 2024, the first EBRO S700 car rolled off the production line in Spain, making it the first self - owned brand company in China to produce complete vehicles in Europe.
The prospectus reveals that currently, Chery has also set up five research institutions in Germany, Spain, Brazil, Mexico, and Malaysia for localized R & D activities, and conducts vehicle tests in Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Eastern Europe, etc., covering challenging environments such as extreme cold and heat, high altitude, and high humidity, to ensure that the vehicles meet the all - weather test standards of different regions.
Reference articles:
"Chery's Hong Kong Stock Prospectus"
Auto Headlines. "Wuhu Remains the Same Wuhu, but Whose Chery Has It Become?"
Lishi Business Review. "Discovering Yin Tongyue, Founding Chery Automobile, and Serving as the Deputy Governor, He Is the Key Figure behind the Rise of Anhui's Automobile Industry"
China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. "Brief Analysis of Automobile Exports in November 2024"
This article is from the WeChat official account "Hangzhou Qiantang Service Base for Enterprises Going Global", author: Zhejiang Enterprises Going Global. Published with the authorization of Qiantang.
