Chery makes another push at the high-end market, putting pressure on Exeed.
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Author | Wang Xiaojuan
Editor | Chai Xuchen
The Xingtu brand, carrying Chery Group chairman Yin Tongyue's high-end dream, has once again begun its own iteration.
On the evening of December 22, Chery’s sub-brand Xingtu announced its official entry into the 3.0 era.
This time, Xingtu refreshed its brand LOGO, clarified its new positioning as a "high-emotion, high-potential luxury brand," announced the "4+4+X" product matrix plan, and even unveiled four new models at once: Xingtu ES8, ET8, ET9, and ES7 GT.
This time, Yin Tongyue once again emphasized Xingtu’s positioning. He stated Xingtu is positioned as the "apex" of the Chery brand pyramid, aiming to build Xingtu 3.0 from three dimensions: basic performance, value experience, and emotional expression.
Yin Tongyue appeared on stage with confidence, backed by breakthroughs Chery has achieved in the global market over the past year.
In 2025, Chery Group, with a revenue of $59.6939 billion, ranked 233rd on the Fortune Global 500 list, a leap of 152 places from last year. In July, Chery’s cumulative exports exceeded 5 million vehicles, becoming the first Chinese auto brand to reach this milestone.
After achieving results in other areas, Chery still needs to complete the high-end key piece of the puzzle. At this point, it has been seven years since the birth of the Xingtu brand. In 2018, Xingtu debuted as an important upward move for the Chery brand, with the mission of reshaping the value of Chinese brands.
In seven years, Chinese car brands as a whole have broken through from "scale manufacturing" to "value creation." During this time, Xingtu has gained some recognition in global markets, but overall sales still need improvement.
According to Chery Group’s latest sales data, from January to November 2025, Xingtu’s cumulative sales reached 109,466 units, accounting for about 4.3% of the group’s total sales of over 2.56 million units. Although this figure has increased from 2024, it still falls short of its "apex" positioning within the group.
In the face of market challenges, Xingtu also released a new 3.0 era strategy, with upgrades in four dimensions: technology, design, product, and brand.
In terms of technology, Xingtu showcased the Rock Body 3.0 structure, using industry-leading 2400MPa hot-formed steel, and plans to debut the Rhino all-solid-state battery in 2026. For product planning, Xingtu has defined two main product series, ES and ET, focusing respectively on performance and luxury. Chery Auto Executive Vice President Li Xueyong revealed that in the next 10-20 months, more than 3 new Xingtu models will be released in succession.
Additionally, Xingtu announced the launch of the "EXEED Le Mans Plan," with the goal of becoming the first Chinese brand to participate in the world’s three top auto racing systems with a manufacturer team identity. This move is interpreted as Xingtu’s attempt to strengthen its brand DNA of performance and luxury through motorsport culture.
Xingtu’s brand upgrade is not an isolated event, but part of Chery Group’s overall strategy. In 2025, Chery carried out a series of integrations and personnel adjustments to prepare for market competition in 2026.
Currently, Chery Group has formed a matrix of five passenger car brands: Chery, Xingtu, Jetour, iCAR, and Zhijie. The Chery brand is the sales cornerstone; Jetour focuses on "Travel+" market; iCAR and Zhijie target new energy; Xingtu shoulders the mission of brand elevation.
In overseas markets, Chery’s "In somewhere, for somewhere" localization strategy has begun to show results. From January to July 2025, Chery’s sales in Europe approached 40,000 units, a year-on-year surge of 942%, with new energy vehicle models accounting for more than 32%.
Strengthening Xingtu can also be seen as a key step in establishing Chery’s global system. At the 2025 Chery Global Innovation Conference, Yin Tongyue confidently declared: "This year, Chery’s global innovation system will ‘stop being polite’."
According to data released at the Brand Night, Xingtu’s products have been exported to more than 30 major markets worldwide, the average overseas price has exceeded RMB 400,000, and it achieved first place in sales in several European sub-markets such as Poland, the UK, and Italy.
Xingtu’s brand upgrade occurs amid deep adjustments in China’s automotive industry. In 2025, the Chinese auto market clearly shifted from "scale expansion" to "quality and systematic competition."
As the new energy vehicle purchase tax preferential policy tapers off in 2026, China’s new energy vehicle market is rapidly shifting to a "market-driven" dynamic. In the future, all automakers will have to compete in a "real-world" market based on product strength and brand strength.
Facing the global market, China’s auto export model is shifting from simple "product trade" to "industrial chain localization" and "ecosystem output." This raises higher requirements for Xingtu’s globalization strategy—not just selling cars, but exporting technology, standards, and culture.
In the future, how Xingtu’s emphasized technological advantages can be converted into brand premium, and how its global layout supports domestic high-end breakthroughs—these are the issues the 3.0 era is just beginning to address.
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