In 2023, following its mid-year relaunch that year, Chery was the 14th largest car group in Malaysia. By 2025, the group was placed fifth by sales volume, with a 4% market share and having sold 31,646 vehicles that year. As of now, the automaker, which now has four brands (Chery, Omoda | Jaecoo, iCaur and Lepas) here, has 55,800 vehicles on Malaysian roads.
The company is hoping to make significant progress on numbers in the coming years, with the Chery Smart Auto Industrial Park helping to accelerate that growth. Located in Lembah Beringin, Selangor, the industrial project, part of the Beringin High-Tech Auto Valley development, was announced last year, signalling the brand’s commitment to Malaysia.
At the heart of the development – which will eventually span 1,280 acres in total – is an assembly plant that is slated to have an initial production capacity of 100,000 vehicles a year, with room to upscale to 300,000 vehicles annually, but the development will also incorporate offices, supply chain and technical innovation facilities, hostels as well as a flagship gallery, integrating what is essentially a right-hand drive hub with R&D facilities in one location.
Besides vehicles, the Chery Smart Auto Industrial Park is also set to be involved in the brand’s AiMOGA robotics programme, with the local project undertaking aspects of robot assembly.
Development on the project, which has seen RM1.4 billion in investment through 2024, with a further RM2.2 billion being allocated in 2025, is being accomplished in phases. Construction began in September last year and is moving fast, according to Chery Corporate Malaysia executive VP Men Lin Bo, with the first phase set to be completed later this year.
Speaking at an event during the automaker’s ongoing 2026 International Business Summit being held in Wuhu, China, Men said a total of 1,260 employees make up the company’s workforce at present, stating proudly that 99% of them were Malaysian, covering every level, from senior managers to engineers and technicians, within the organisation.
During his speech, Men also indicated that the powertrain aspect is evolving quickly within the Malaysian car market, with the move to new energy vehicles (NEVs) growing in significant fashion. He said that in 2024, 93.3% of cars sold were ICE, but by 2025, that dropped to 89.8%, which indicated that a shift was taking place.
Sales of battery electric vehicles doubled from 21,532 to 43,986 units, while that for PHEVs grew by 112%. And for the first time, REEVs started making headway, with 1,215 units sold in year one. With NEVs making up 10.2% of market sales in 2025, up from 6.7% the year previously, Men expects there to be further significant growth in this area in the near future.
