Chery Commercial Vehicles to open European headquarters in UK

Chinese giant Chery will open a new European headquarters in the UK for its commercial vehicles division as it looks to expand its electric vans business into Europe. This news marks a huge step in Chinese-British automotive relations.

The site, in Liverpool, will be largely focused on research and development for the European market. It isn’t expected to be a manufacturing site for any vehicles.

Chery isn’t the first Chinese brand to set up shop in the UK, with Geely – owner of Volvo, Lotus, Polestar, LEVC and more – having had an R&D base in Coventry since 2018. 

The news comes just days after reports emerged that Chery's car-making arm was looking to use spare capacity at JLR’s UK plants, as was Dongfeng with Nissan’s Sunderland site, to avoid EU-imposed tariffs on Chinese-made vehicles.

Mike Hawes, chief executive of the UK's Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said at the time that for any new entrant “you would want them to use the UK supply chain where possible”.

This is what the new hub will do, reports the Liverpool Echo, meaning hundreds of jobs will be created. Liverpool City Council leader Liam Robinson said the news was “fantastic”.

Gong Yueqiong, general manager of Chery Commercial Vehicle, added that the firm was “building a British business”, not “just bringing products to the UK”.

The exact location of the site or when it will open have yet to be confirmed.

Chery Commercial Vehicles currently sells a host of different vehicles, but it will likely be the electric models it brings to Europe. 

These are buses under the Wanda brand, the R8 pick-up truck (pictured below) under the Rely brand and vans and trucks (badged EV, EX7 and ET8) under the Karry brand.

The group also makes a range of diesel lorries, dumper trucks and cargo trucks under the C&C brand, but those seem unlikely products to bring to Europe.