Australia’s electric vehicle landscape is set to gain a competitor next year, in the form of the Chery Omoda 5 EV.
The Chinese firm has announced that production of right-hand drive Omoda 5 plug-ins destined for Australia will commence next September.
Speaking during an Australian media round table event, Chery representatives offered little in the way of information about the model.
It’s understood that the Omoda 5 EV will feature a range of approximately 450km, and it’s expected that the model will be priced to rival the MG ZS EV and the BYD Atto 3; two of the most affordable pure EVs on the market.
Executive vice president of Chery International, Charlie Zhang, told media at the event that the brand’s engineers produced the Omoda 5 as a direct competitor to the Hyundai Kona Electric.
Zhang pulled no punches when it came to comparing the Omoda 5 to other EVs from China.
“The Omoda 5 BEV is much better than the MG ZS EV,” he said. “We have the new generation of electric and electronic architectures, and the design, technology, and features [are] very much different.
“The most important thing I believe is that we need to offer value to the customers. We need to convince the customer that you will have a good offer from Chery or Omoda 5 BEV, because this car offers you something different, or something valuable.
“We need to define the pricing strategy, but so far, I don’t have any ideas about that. But my point is that we want to be competitive, in terms of the product itself, and also in terms of the value we have offered to the customers.”
Full details of Chery’s Australian aspirations are still yet to be fully fleshed out by the manufacturer, although it appears a launch before the end of the year is on the cards.
Plans for a Chery revival down under were first discovered in April, after it was found that the group was advertising job positions online.
Leaked documents surfaced later that month, detailing how the brand planned to launch the non-EV Omoda 5 in October of this year, following it up with the Tiggo 8, Tiggo 7 Pro, and a ute in 2023.
The documents also outlined the brand’s sales expectations, stating an eventual goal of 76,000 annual sales beyond 2026.
In more recent times, Omoda 5 test vehicles have been spotted on Australian soil, covered in camouflage.
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