The world of the new Chinese automotive brands can be a confusing and complicated one at times for those uninitiated. Even for those somewhat aware, the sheer pace of new models and brands coming from the far east can be overwhelming to keep up with.
While in China for the past week, I got a chance to speak with some Chery executives about the positioning for each of its brands, as the group has a wide amount of subsidiaries covering various markets.
If the onslaught of new brands is slightly confusing for the motoring press, just how on earth is the consumer supposed to decipher the glut of new unfamiliar brands entering the UK?
A very shrewd move was taken by SAIC back in 2005, when MG Rover famously went bust. MG was an extremely familiar brand for the general public and two decades later, it’s a completely unrecognisable company. However, crucially the company is doing extremely well in the UK - in fact, we’re the biggest market for them outside of China.
The point is, whether or not MG is different to how it used to be, is irrelevant. Consumers have some back of the mind familiarity with the brand and it has clearly paid off.
However, this situation is unique. Nearly all of the other Chinese brands have an up hill battle on their hands to make sure the consumer one, knows that they exist and two, understands the branding position and why they should choose them over the established brands.
Like we have seen with the new Freelander brand, using a familiar name generates excitement and interest. The new Freelander is a collaboration between Chery and JLR, with Chery handling the engineering and JLR the design. Since its full announcement this week, there has been a lot of buzz in the media, because mainly it’s a familiar name.
Just this week, I drove the new Lepas L8 in China. While this is an extremely attractive car in term of design, its success in the UK relies on the consumer understanding the brand and where it sits. Just because Jaecoo has sold in massive numbers here, doesn’t necessarily mean Lepas will have the same success.
One way Chery could speed up the time to market, from a branding perspective is to have a flick through the British car brand back catalogue.
When asked about whether, rather than trying to work through the expensive brand building exercise, could Chery seek to purchase a previous defunct British car name? The possibility wasn’t exactly out of the question. The Chery executives said that they are interested in recovering existing brands, as it has done with Ebro in Spain.
There are plenty of old car brands that are now owned by various other companies, such as Triumph, which has been owned by BMW since the 1994 takeover of Rover. There is also Talbot, which has been sitting with Stellantis (previously PSA) since 1978.
Recently the upcoming Jenson Intercepter made a splash in the media, with a new V8 powered recreation coming later this year. Again, likely making headlines due to its brand history.
Regardless, it’ll be interesting to see what Chery do next in terms of branding and if they look to use another defunct brand, like it did with Freelander.
