Can Chery Automobile maintain its sales volume by adjusting Exeed, replacing the management of Zhijie, and reviving Chery QQ?

On March 1st, Chery Automobile (9973.HK) released its sales figures for February 2026. Its total sales volume in February was 147,200 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 14.8%.

From January to February, Chery Automobile's cumulative sales volume was 337,700 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 12.5%. Specifically, for each brand, the Chery brand sold 243,300 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 3.9%, making it the only brand under Chery Automobile to achieve growth. Xingtu's sales volume was 9,292 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 35.5%; Jetour's sales volume was 70,400 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 29.9%; iCAR's sales volume was 9,243 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 32.9%; and Zhijie's sales volume was 5,451 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 76.3%.

In 2025, Chery Automobile achieved an annual sales volume of 2.6314 million vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 8%. Among them, only Xingtu experienced a 15% decline in sales volume, while the other brands all achieved growth. Why did Chery Automobile experience a lack of growth momentum in 2026?

Poor Performance in the High - end Market

In terms of monthly sales, in September 2025, only Xingtu and Jetour experienced sales declines of 31% and 6% respectively. At that time, Chery Automobile's overall sales volume was 255,600 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 9%. The sales declines of the two brands continued until November, with declines of 24% and 13% respectively that month, and Chery Automobile's overall sales volume declined by 2%.

In December 2025, all five brands under Chery Automobile experienced varying degrees of decline, resulting in a 16% decline in Chery Automobile's overall sales volume. By January 2026, only the Chery brand under Chery Automobile achieved growth, while the other brands all declined, and this situation continued into February.

According to Chery Automobile's financial report, Chery is the main brand, targeting the general public and family users. It mainly includes the Tiggo, Arrizo, and Fengyun series, as well as OMODA and JIAECOO for the overseas market. Jetour targets users interested in family travel and outdoor off - road. Xingtu targets users who pursue performance, calmness, and elegance, including the Xingtu and Xingjiyuan product series. iCAR targets the Z - generation customers who are keen on technology and advocate freedom. Zhijie targets customers who pursue intelligence, high performance, and innovation.

That is to say, in Chery Automobile's planning, Xingtu and Zhijie are the two main brands targeting the high - end market, but the sales performance of these two brands is not outstanding.

In July 2025, Chery Automobile newly established the Domestic Business Group of the Chery brand, with the Xingtu Division, Aihu Division (Arrizo and Tiggo), Fengyun Division, and QQ Division under it. Li Xueyong, the executive vice - president of Chery Automobile, was appointed as the general manager of the business group, in charge of the four divisions.

Among them, the positioning of the Xingtu brand as Chery's high - end brand remains unchanged, focusing on the mid - to high - end market of 200,000 - 500,000 yuan, with intelligence and high performance as its differential competitiveness. The organization and functions of its domestic business division are overall incorporated into the Domestic Business Group of the Chery brand. Huang Zhaogen, the former general manager of the Xingtu Marketing Center, was adjusted to be the executive deputy general manager of the Xingtu Division of the Domestic Business Group of the Chery brand, reporting to Li Xueyong.

Two months later, Xingtu carried out a personnel adjustment. Huang Zhaogen, who had served as the general manager of the Xingtu Marketing Center for more than three years, was transferred, and his duties were taken over by Liu Hening.

In December 2025, Xingtu released a new brand LOGO at the Xingtu Brand Night. It is reported that the new logo has a refreshed visual color scheme, which fits the aesthetic preferences of the current young consumer group. Yin Tongyue once again emphasized Xingtu's positioning on the spot. He said that Xingtu is positioned as the "peak" of the Chery brand pyramid, and Xingtu 3.0 should be built from three aspects: basic performance, value experience, and emotional expression.

At present, the results of Xingtu's adjustment have not been reflected in sales, and Xingtu still needs to continue to work hard.

The other brand that undertakes Chery's high - end strategy, Zhijie, is under even more pressure. In February 2026, Zhijie's sales volume was 945 vehicles, a year-on-year decrease of 90.6%. During the same period, Hongmeng Smart Mobility delivered 28,212 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 31%. Whether in the Chery system or in the Hongmeng Smart Mobility system, Zhijie's performance is "less than satisfactory".

Facing sales pressure, Zhijie also had important personnel changes. According to media reports, Guo Rui, the former CMO of Honor and a veteran in Huawei's terminal marketing, decided to join Zhijie Automobile at the end of 2025 and serve as the CEO. In January 2026, Zhao Changjiang, the former person in charge of BYD's Denza brand, officially announced his joining of Zhijie and serving as the executive director and executive vice - president.

Whether the new executives can drive Zhijie's sales is also worth looking forward to.

"Reviving" Chery QQ

Facing the sales decline of high - end models, Chery Automobile also set its sights on mass - market pure - electric small cars.

In February 2026, at the "Chery QQ Night" event, the Chery QQ, which had been out of production for 12 years, officially returned as a pure - electric vehicle, and the new QQ3 EV started blind pre - orders. The new car is built on the T12 pure - electric platform, positioned as a compact pure - electric car, and will be pre - sold and delivered on March 10th.

It is reported that in terms of intelligent driving, the new Chery QQ3 EV is equipped with a 15.6 - inch 2.5K - resolution floating central control screen, with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 chip built - in, supporting AI large - model voice interaction, visible - and - speakable function, and OTA remote upgrade. At the same time, it is standard - equipped with Chery's self - developed Falcon 500 intelligent driving assistance system, supporting high - speed NOA, full - scenario automatic parking, and urban memory navigation functions.

Official data shows that since the blind pre - order of Chery QQ started, the number of orders exceeded 10,579 in 20 minutes, and the cumulative number of orders reached 27,319 in 3 hours.

Obviously, the market has expectations for the Chery QQ3 EV. However, in the field of pure - electric small cars, the market positions of other automakers are already very stable. According to data from Chezhuzhijia, in 2025, Geely Xingyuan's sales volume was 465,800 vehicles, ranking first; followed by BYD Seagull, with a sales volume of 311,000 vehicles; BYD Dolphin's sales volume was about 160,700 vehicles, ranking third; and Wuling Bingo's sales volume was 136,200 vehicles, ranking fourth.

In today's era when consumers pay more attention to cost - effectiveness and intelligence, whether Chery Automobile can "reshuffle" the pure - electric small - car market with the Chery QQ, which has been out of production for 12 years, is still a question mark.

At the same time, the Fengyun series under the Chery brand is also accelerating its transformation. According to Ping An Securities, in September 2023, Chery Automobile classified the hybrid products of the Chery main brand into the Fengyun product series. In July 2025, Li Xueyong, the executive vice - president of the company, announced at the launch conference of the Fengyun A9L that Fengyun was upgraded from a product series to a new brand. The independence of Fengyun means the acceleration of the new - energy transformation of the Chery main brand. According to the plan, the Fengyun brand will launch 16 new models within 3 years, covering sedans, SUVs, and MPVs, with power forms including plug - in hybrid, extended - range, and pure - electric.

Chery Automobile, which was successfully listed in 2025, is now facing the pressure of declining sales. On the one hand, the sales of Xingtu and Zhijie, which focus on the high - end market, are under pressure, and they have not really opened up the market; Jetour and iCAR, which target the off - road and young consumer groups, have also declined. Now, with only the Chery main brand driving growth, whether Chery Automobile can leverage the pure - electric small - car market with the sentiment and technology of QQ and whether it can achieve a breakthrough in the high - end field still need to be tested by the market.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Visibility in the Auto Circle", author: Wei He. It is published by 36Kr with authorization.