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Industry > Business

What can we learn from Omoda and Jaecoo’s global summit?

The local subsidiary is late to the party

The headquarters of Chery and its subsidiaries is located in Wuhu, China. PHOTO FROM LEANDRO MANGUBAT

At this point, Omoda and Jaecoo is known as the Chinese brand that has been trying to launch in our country for more than a year. Yet, it has been plagued by delay after delay.

Despite that, we were invited to its international user summit in Wuhu, China. And here’s what we learned from what was essentially a weeklong celebration of the “Chery Automotive Universe” that O&J are a part of.

There are a couple of new faces this time around. PHOTOS BY LEANDRO MANGUBAT

This is my second trip for O&J with the previous one in September 2023. A lot has happened in the past year. Back then, O&J only had the Omoda C5, the E5, and the Jaecoo J7. Now, the lineup is bigger with the Omoda C7, the Jaecoo J7 PHEV, the J8, the J8 PHEV, and the EJ6. Also, the Jaecoo J5 made its debut during the trip.

Influencers play a key role in marketing and community-building. PHOTOS BY LEANDRO MANGUBAT

Even more interesting is the community surrounding Omoda. Its marketing was bizarre at first. However, the brand appears to have gained traction thanks to influencers (also known as key opinion consumers or key opinion leaders).

Omoda held a “Global Refitting Competition” where people were given the chance to express their creativity by dressing up the E5. Fashionable, fun, futuristic—each of these three words describes the creations of the winners.

These creations really drive Omoda's emphasis on uniqueness and individuality. PHOTOS BY LEANDRO MANGUBAT

DJ Zinhle (South Africa) won “Best Popularity” for her pink, Louis Vuitton-inspired car. Gamers would love the E5 of Nagimzhan Bakhar (Kazakhstan), which was awarded “Best Creativity” for its Pac-Man-like livery. Meanwhile, Stanley Ng (Malaysia) won “Best Design” with his galactic aesthetics.

Seven Jaecoo 7 PHEVs were driven over 1,300km from Guangzhou to Wuhu with a single full tank and a full charge. PHOTOS BY LEANDRO MANGUBAT

Coming from Metro Manila, it’s hard to see the Chery group as an automotive giant with what little road presence its vehicles have. That wasn’t the case during the international summit with guests from all over the world.

I was surrounded by foreigners mostly from South Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. Meanwhile, the Philippines only had two media delegates for O&J, and another two for Chery.

Boston Dynamics' Spot has a new companion in Chery's Argos. PHOTOS BY LEANDRO MANGUBAT

During one of its conferences, Chery announced that it had reached the milestone of producing its 15,000,000th vehicle, and its executives were excited over solid-state batteries with a range of 1,000km by 2026. It is also preparing for a future with autonomous cars, robots, and flying vehicles—not unlike a certain chaebol.

The author got to drive Jaecoo vehicles on a dirt track. PHOTOS BY LEANDRO MANGUBAT

Seeing Chery’s growth on a global scale has got me thinking: Is the world undergoing a paradigm shift with Chinese cars? Previously, Korean cars were seen as laughingstocks in the motoring industry. Yet, Hyundai is now a manufacturing giant having produced its 100,000,000th car globally.

In the case of Chinese brands, the transfer of technology is rapid thanks to all the joint ventures with foreign brands. Chery itself has one with Jaguar Land Rover (hence the resemblance of Jaecoo models to the British SUV marque). However, the acceptance of Chinese vehicles is complicated—but not necessarily hindered—by geopolitics in our country.

The Jaecoo EJ6 EV looks interesting, if only it were launched soon. PHOTO BY SAM SURLA

While the foreigners had a blast, it was difficult to see the relevance of all this in our local market. After all, Omoda & Jaecoo Philippines has yet to launch anything. Even its exhibit at this year’s Philippine Electric Vehicle Summit was nothing more than a preview with no launch date in sight.

It also doesn’t help that the competition has gotten tighter in the past year, with heavy hitters like the Toyota Corolla Cross HEV and the BYD Sealion 6. Even VinFast beat O&J to the punch in setting up shop and beginning sales operations.

Trips like this are supposed to be confidence-inspiring. Omoda and Jaecoo seem to be doing well in other countries. But to say that the local subsidiary is late to the party is such an understatement. It makes me wonder how it will ever recover from its repeated setbacks.



Leandro Mangubat

Leandro is our staff writer. Although having a background in mechanical engineering, he enjoys photography and writing more.



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