Budapest, Hungary. mobile.bg team at the event site.
Budapest has always been a bridge between East and West, but this December the city became the scene of one of the fastest expansions in the automotive world. Our team was at the event site in the Hungarian capital at the invitation of Omoda & Jaecoo to see up close how brands that were just exotic names until recently are now dictating the pace of the European market. With over 30 cars, we toured the festive streets of Budapest, and the results of the gala dinner were eloquent: 300 dealerships in 9 countries and an ambition for full coverage of Europe by the end of 2026.
The icing on the cake was the premiere of the new OMODA 5 SHS-H - a hybrid, which, according to Artyom Popkov from the Chery Europe design team, embodies the new visual language of the brand. Both this latest model, but also the others in the range of the two brands, impressed us how far these manufacturers have come in terms of materials and the assembly itself. But more importantly, what is hidden under the hood and in the strategy of the parent company Chery, which is already 233rd in the Fortune Global 500 ranking with revenues of nearly 60 billion dollars.
One of the valuable things during the event is that we were able to find out about the future intentions of the little one, personally from David Shen, vice president of Chery International for Europe, who did not spare the truth about the difficulties in our market. Here is the most interesting thing he shared with the media:
On the differences between the markets: “Europe has the strictest safety and cybersecurity requirements in the world. Customers here are mature and expect not just innovation, but long-term reliability and service. China is driven by speed, while Europe requires deep localization.“
On the biggest challenge: “It's building trust. The European buyer is rational. Our strategy is to listen to customer feedback constantly and make changes to our models based on their habits.“
About the choice of drive: “We offer different solutions for different scenarios. For long distances is the JAECOO J7 SHS-P (PHEV) with a range of up to 1200 km. For the city, it is the OMODA 5 SHS-H (HEV), which feels like an electric car, but travels 1000 km on one tank.“
About local production and prices: “We are actively evaluating the possibility of a plant in Europe. We already have an R&D center in Barcelona and are working with leaders such as Bosch and BorgWarner. As for prices – we don't want to be the cheapest, but to offer the best value and technology.“
