Chery's premium Luxeed brand confirmed for Australia in mid-2027 with the LLounge MPV and no Huawei technology

A mid-2027 launch built on right-hand drive first

Chery's premium brand Luxeed will launch in Australia around the middle of 2027, beginning with the LLounge MPV. Luxeed International chief executive Shawn Xu, who also runs Omoda & Jaecoo, outlined the plan to Australian, New Zealand and UK media, including AutoTalk, in Wuhu, China, after the brand's global launch at the 2026 Chery International User Summit. Asked about Australia, he said: "I propose the end of Q2, the middle of next year, for this first model." The LLounge will go through Australian testing before it goes on sale. ¹

The launch order is unusual. Brands from left-hand-drive markets rarely start overseas exports in right-hand drive, but AutoTalk reports the LLounge (pronounced El-lounge) was developed for right-hand drive from the start. Thailand receives it first in early 2027, followed by Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, with Australia and New Zealand due around mid-2027 and the UK a little later. "For this launch we developed right-hand drive first," Xu said. "We are going to cover all of the right-hand-drive markets." ¹²

This marks the brand's first confirmed move beyond China. Chinese Car Brands notes a right-hand-drive version of the V9 flagship MPV, the LLounge's Chinese-market name, was planned for the second half of 2026 as the brand's first step toward international markets. Until now the brand had been sold only in mainland China, as recorded by CN Auto HR. ²³⁶

No Huawei content in export models

In China, Luxeed is part of Huawei's Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance, and its cars use Huawei's driver assistance, the HarmonyOS cockpit and Huawei drive systems. Xu said none of that will be exported: "For international, Luxeed is not related to Huawei. There is nothing, including the hardware and the software." ¹²

Xu's comments match a 36Kr report carried by CnEVPost, which says Luxeed's overseas models will use Chery's own electrical architecture, with Chery's Falcon driver assistance and Lingxi cockpit, and that Chery's central R&D institute is handling the development work. According to the same report, Huawei has handed responsibility for overseas models of its Harmony alliance brands to the carmakers themselves, and AITO's export models will use Bosch technology instead. ¹²⁴

The export cars also carry different styling from their Chinese counterparts. "We believe we understand international customers better," Xu told the assembled media, adding that "the Chinese design is more considered for Chinese tastes". AutoTalk notes Luxeed has not confirmed export powertrain specifications, which matters given the export cars drop Huawei hardware. ¹²

The Chinese-market LLounge and Stormax as shown at Wuhu

Luxeed showed two models at the Wuhu launch. The LLounge, sold in China as the V9, is a large luxury MPV with six- and seven-seat layouts. In China it is a range-extended EV with a 53.4kWh battery, a claimed 1320km CLTC combined range and a 3250mm wheelbase, as detailed by AutoTalk. Its second-row zero-gravity seats rotate a full 180 degrees and recline to 123 degrees, the privacy glass darkens in one second, and the cabin has a Privacy Acoustic Shield mode and a 33-speaker sound system. ¹²

The second model, the Stormax (sold in China as the RX), is a performance SUV on an 800-volt architecture. Its dual motors produce 460kW and 775Nm, and Luxeed claims 0-100km/h in under 3.9 seconds, a top speed above 250km/h and a 100-0km/h stop in under 34 metres on six-piston front callipers. These are Chinese-market figures; no export powertrain specifications have been confirmed. ¹²

Both cars use dual-chamber air suspension, dual-valve CDC dampers and up to 7 degrees of rear-wheel steering. Whether these specifications carry to Australian-market versions remains unconfirmed, and buyers should treat the Wuhu figures as indicative of the Chinese cars rather than local specifications. ¹²

Dealers, volumes and a deliberately slow start

Xu is not setting ambitious volume targets for the first year. "In the first year we don't expect too much from a luxury brand, but we want to build a good brand in Australia," he told the media in Wuhu, per AutoTalk. "We prefer to start slowly and build a good foundation." ¹²

The brand will use conventional dealerships starting in major cities. "Australia is still a traditional store market, so at the beginning we need to build some good stores in tier-one cities to give us coverage," Xu said, adding that the company had approached potential dealers drawn from both its existing network and new candidates, with "a lot of progress" made in some markets. No specific dealer appointments or pricing for Australia have been announced. ¹²

Luxeed adds to a growing Chery Group presence in Australia, where Chery, Omoda and Jaecoo are already on sale and Exlantix, Lepas, iCAUR and Freelander are all on the way, according to AutoTalk. Xu positioned the brand as a premium proposition: "Luxeed is a premium brand, so it is different to a value brand and targets different customers. It brings together luxury, full electrification, intelligence and the driving experience." ¹

Background: a Chery brand with Huawei technology at home

Luxeed was announced in November 2023 as a Chery brand and became a separate company in January 2025, launching with the S7 saloon pitched against the Tesla Model S, followed by the R7 coupe-SUV in September 2024, which Chinese Car Brands reports as the best-seller with more than 73,000 units delivered. Chery Automobile held all of Luxeed Auto until 2026, when two Wuhu partnerships holding shares for managers took 15 per cent between them, leaving Chery with 85 per cent, according to CN Auto HR. ³⁶

Huawei holds no equity in Luxeed; it supplies the driver assistance, HarmonyOS cockpit, design input and retail space through the Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance, and Huawei has repeatedly said it does not build cars. Chery and Huawei signed a Luxeed Brand Strategy 2.0 agreement in August 2025 covering more than CNY 10 billion of investment and a 5,000-person engineering team, and CN Auto HR records Luxeed sales of 90,493 vehicles in calendar 2025. That alliance operates only in mainland China, which is why the export cars' switch to Chery's own technology stack marks a significant departure for the brand. ³⁵⁶