That Chery Group's 20 millionth unit should be an all-new FULWIN carries a special resonance across time. The original FULWIN was the first vehicle built by Chery, and also Chery's first global model to enter overseas markets. Today, the FULWIN line has been fully renewed as a new range of intelligent new-energy vehicles, positioned as a "long-range, smart and elegant pure-electric coupe". It is more than a single new model: it represents a comprehensive upgrade of Chery's product system and quality system, reflects what it means for Chery to "set out for a better future", and embodies Chery's commitment to being "From China to the World".

From zero to its 20 millionth unit, Chery's 29-year entrepreneurial journey has been part of, and borne witness to, the upward trajectory of China's automotive innovation. It has also explored a Chinese automotive path to globalisation built around the idea of being "From China to the World".

29 Years and 20 Million Units: China’s Automotive Journey Forward

This July marks the 70th anniversary of the first vehicle rolling off the production line in New China. Within the 70-year history of New China's automotive industry, Chery Auto's 29-year entrepreneurial journey offers a distinctive case study.

In the 1990s, two views were widely accepted across the industry: that there was no future without joint ventures with multinational companies, and that independent R&D was impossible without million-unit scale. Chery challenged both assumptions, insisting on the path of an independent brand, independent R&D and independent development. It became the first Chinese automotive brand to master the core technologies of the "three major components".

In August 2007, Chery became the first Chinese auto brand to hit 1 million cumulative sales. It then went on to lead the way past the two million, three million and five million milestones, before surpassing 20 million units in July 2026.

Chery Rhino Battery＆AiMOGA Robot

Today, Chery's global industrial footprint spans complete vehicle manufacturing, core components, automotive finance, embodied-intelligence robotics, modern services, intelligent technology and other fields. Chery's "advanced technology portfolio" has already accumulated more than 400 advanced technologies, including the Rhino Battery, a large AI model for intelligent driving, intelligent cockpit technologies and CSH (Chery Super Hybrid), covering a technology roadmap across land, sea and air.

In the latest 2026 Fortune China 500 list, Chery Auto was included for the first time as a listed company, ranking 87th. Its return on equity (ROE) ranked first in the automotive sector.

More Than One Third of Owners Are Overseas: One of China's Most Globalised Automotive Brands

In May this year, Dragos Stan from Romania drove a CHERY Brand TIGGO9 CSH across eight countries in Eurasia, covering 12,000 kilometres in 25 days before arriving at Chery's Wuhu headquarters with zero faults along the way. "I believe in Chinese manufacturing," he repeated throughout the journey.

Dragos Stan during his trans-Eurasian journey

Trust of this kind is gathering momentum worldwide. In the first half of this year, Chery Group exported 943,800 vehicles, up 71.5% year on year. It set a new monthly export record for Chinese automakers for four consecutive months, with one "Chery-made" vehicle heading overseas every 17 seconds on average. Today, Chery products are sold in more than 130 countries and regions, with nearly seven million overseas users, representing around 35% of its 20 million users worldwide. In other words, one in every three Chery owners is overseas.

Recognition in markets with stringent regulatory standards further validates the strength of this user choice. From January to June, Chery sold 174,000 vehicles in Europe, up more than 212% year on year. In the UK, it ranked among the top two brands across the entire new-car market for four consecutive months, offering authoritative validation from a mature overseas market.

On the foundation of continued product exports, Chery is accelerating a strategic upgrade from "product export" to "value-led growth". As one of Chery's core brands in overseas markets, CHERY Brand officially announced at its European Operations Centre in Barcelona, Spain, on 14 May this year that international football icon Robert Lewandowski had become CHERY Brand Global Ambassador. The brand also handed him the key to a TIGGO9 CSH, communicating its core "For Family" value proposition to the world and accompanying hundreds of millions of families towards a safer and better mobility future.

Zhu Shaodong, Executive Vice President of Chery International and Head of the Europe Region, at the signing ceremony with Robert Lewandowski

The Logic of the "Tree Planter": Wherever We Are, We Serve That Place

On 3 July this year in Pretoria, the administrative capital of South Africa, Chery announced that it would renovate and upgrade the Rosslyn plant it had acquired from a foreign company, restore production at the facility, retain all 692 existing employees and create nearly 3,000 jobs across the upstream and downstream value chain. Cheers erupted on site when the news was announced.

Launch of Chery's Rosslyn plant in South Africa

Wherever Chery goes in the world, it represents the image of Chinese brands. It cannot act as a company that simply follows profit from place to place. Instead, it must be a locally rooted "tree planter": serving the place where it operates and becoming part of the local community.

Chery's manufacturing base in Wuhu

Overseas, Chery is also upgrading from "product going global" to "ecosystem going global". In 2024, Chery partnered with Spain's EV MOTORS to revitalise EBRO, a historic Spanish automotive brand, while creating more than 1,000 jobs. The cooperation has been praised by the governments and the public in both countries as a model of China-Spain collaboration. Today, Chery Group has 150,000 employees worldwide, including more than 20,000 overseas employees, and supports millions of jobs across the upstream and downstream value chain.

Beyond its industrial presence, Chery's contribution to local communities is also expanding worldwide. Chery practises the ESG philosophy of sustainable development, with carbon-footprint coverage reaching 100% across models on sale. It has established long-term cooperation with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), supporting projects including seagrass-bed restoration in the Mediterranean Sea in Spain, mangrove conservation in Malaysia and key nature-conservation areas in South Africa. As a global partner of UNICEF, Chery has pledged USD 12 million in cumulative donations since 2023 to support global education programmes.

After 20 Million Units: From "Building Cars" to "Creating Better Lifestyles"

Where does Chery go after 20 million units? Chery's answer is clear: its mission is to help Chinese brands grow from big to strong, and to help Chinese automobiles change the global automotive industry. Chery is not only a carmaker. It is also a technology ecosystem company that continues to break through energy constraints, mobility boundaries and industrial bottlenecks through technological innovation, creating better lifestyles for users worldwide. The challenge Chery is addressing is ultimately the fundamental question of sustainable human development.

Seventy years ago, New China's automotive industry started from zero. Twenty-nine years ago, Chery Auto set out from a stretch of barren land. 20 million units is a milestone on this entrepreneurial road, and also a new starting point for Chery's next journey.

As it approaches its 30th anniversary in 2027, Chery is moving from "building cars" to "creating sustainable and better lifestyles". This is the question for Chery as it comes of age, and it is also the promise made by 29-year-old Chery to the vision of a century-old Chery.