Chery to establish Australian R&D centre, building on Stockman and local tuning programs

A dedicated Australian R&D centre

Chery is setting up a research and development centre in Australia, staffed by local engineers, to adapt its models to Australian conditions before they go on sale. The plan was outlined by Zhang Guibing, executive vice president of Chery Auto and president of Chery International, at a media round table in Wuhu, China, during the Chery Group User Summit, as reported by AutoTalk Australia. ¹

"We are creating an R&D centre in Australia, and we will use more local people to teach Chery, because we are a long way from Australia," Zhang said, according to AutoTalk Australia. "The driving habits and the road conditions are very different there, so we need local people to really understand them." ¹

Asked whether the centre would be used to adapt the group's more premium brands, Zhang said its work will not be limited to one badge. "The local R&D will cover any brand that we are willing to launch in Australia. But before we launch, we will do a lot of different analysis," he said. ¹

One brand at a time, with Australia prioritised

Chery Group now has nine brands, but AutoTalk Australia reported that not all are destined for Australia. Alongside Chery and Omoda & Jaecoo, the group includes iCAUR, Lepas, Luxeed and Exlantix, with some aimed at much smaller customer groups than the two volume names. Chen Chunqing, vice president of Chery International, said the remaining brands will be introduced one at a time: "We will go one by one, step by step. If a brand or a product is suitable, maybe we can introduce it to Australia. For the luxury brands, we still need some time to make adjustments for Australian customers," he said. ¹

Chen confirmed Chery plans further investment in Australia and pointed to the Stockman ute as a measure of the market's importance. "We make Australian people the first priority. Australia is the first launch country for this product, even earlier than China. That shows how important the Australian market is to us," he said, according to AutoTalk Australia. ¹

Zhang told the round table the Stockman name came from Chery's Australian team, which rejected every alternative put to it, and that Brazilian journalists at the summit have since asked when the ute will reach their market. ¹

Stockman: delayed launch and remaining work

The Stockman has yet to go on sale. AutoTalk Australia reported that its Australian launch has already been pushed back to 1 February, and the project's chief engineer has acknowledged there is still work to be done on the vehicle. Australian and New Zealand media in China for the summit were not allowed to drive the ute, while South African media were. ¹

Chery Motor Australia announced in August that engineering firm Premcar has been appointed to undertake in-market testing and validation of the Stockman, assessing its ride and handling tuning ahead of the local release. "Premcar has an outstanding reputation for engineering and vehicle validation, making them the ideal partner to help ensure Stockman is thoroughly tested and validated for Australian conditions before it reaches our customers," said Chery Motor Australia chief operating officer Lucas Harris at the time. ²

CarExpert reported that Premcar, which traces its origins to 1996 as Tickford Vehicle Engineering and has worked with Nissan on Navara and Patrol variants since 2019, is validating the ute ahead of a fourth-quarter 2026 launch window. CarExpert also detailed the Stockman's initial 2.5-litre turbo-diesel plug-in hybrid powertrain with four-wheel drive, 350kW system outputs, 800Nm, up to 100km of electric range under NEDC testing and 3500kg braked towing. That would make it the first diesel PHEV offered in the Australian ute market, according to CarExpert, with a 2.0-litre petrol PHEV variant rated at 395kW and 1000Nm to follow in 2027. ⁶

Australasian Paint & Panel reported the Stockman is scheduled to arrive in the fourth quarter of 2026, with diesel and petrol plug-in hybrid options, 3500kg braked towing, four-wheel drive, heavy-duty rear leaf springs, at least 247mm of ground clearance and standard all-terrain tyres. The 1 February timing reported by AutoTalk Australia represents a later, updated position than that quarter-2026 framing. ⁷

Lessons from the Omoda 5 ADAS problems

The planned centre builds on a local program that grew after criticism of the brand's early ADAS calibration. CarExpert reported in March 2024 that Chery Australia managing director Lucas Harris admitted the Omoda 5, launched in March 2023, had "extremely limited local testing and extremely limited local validation", and that every model since now undergoes a rigorous local adaptability program, including the Omoda 5 GT, Tiggo 7 Pro and Tiggo 8 Pro Max. Harris said many ADAS changes are software updates that can be applied to existing vehicles at dealerships. ⁵

Harris told CarExpert that Australia's varied lane widths, road markings and surface conditions differ sharply from China's more uniform roads, and noted most Chery buyers at the time were coming out of older Kias and Holdens unfamiliar with driver-assist technology. He also said the company was pushing to expand local tuning beyond ADAS into powertrain, suspension and steering, with support from Chery's R&D colleagues in China. ⁵

How local tuning already works

GoAuto reported in July 2025 that Chery's local tuning program can extend up to 14 weeks per model, with engineers from its R&D network, which has bases in Brazil, China, Germany and the United States, assessing road and climatic conditions to form a global tune used in Australia and other export markets. Chery Automobile's head of product development, Dr Xianqiang (David) Lu, told GoAuto the team had responded to early reviewer criticism of the Omoda 5's suspension, ADAS and durability, and that Australian testing had helped build an internal 'DNA Handbook' of market tuning preferences. He also said Australia's coarse-chip bitumen forced new NVH standards, with Chery targeting less than 1dB difference in cabin noise between engine-on and electric-only operation. ³

Dr Lu told GoAuto that Chery Automobile has invested over $A420 million in developing an R&D regimen that tests more than 2600 components across 23 specialised modules at its Test Technology Centre, which also analyses field data for the 80-plus markets Chery vehicles are sold in. That existing global infrastructure is the backdrop against which the new Australian centre is being created. ³

Australasian Paint & Panel reported in July 2026 that Lepas prototypes bound for Australia have completed thousands of kilometres of local validation across metropolitan, regional and rural roads, including coarse-chip bitumen, mountain routes, and hot and cold weather testing, with ADAS evaluated against Australian road markings, signage and traffic conditions. Harris said at the time that "Australia presents some of the toughest vehicle conditions anywhere in the world." ⁷

Broader Chery Group expansion in the region

The R&D centre announcement comes as Chery's premium arm expands in the region. AutoTrader New Zealand reported that Exlantix, the electric and range-extender arm of Exeed, has been confirmed for New Zealand by Exeed and Exlantix International CEO Lilian Xiong, with the ET SUV and ES GT shooting brake shown in right-hand drive as the first two models, though launch timing is yet to be confirmed. Exlantix is sold in China as Sterra and launched in Europe in Norway with the ES sedan and ET SUV. ⁴

AutoTrader New Zealand also reported that Omoda, Jaecoo and Chery are already on sale in New Zealand, with Lepas, iCaur and the Jaguar Land Rover joint-venture brand Freelander on the way, and that the group has at least seven EVs lined up for New Zealand by 2027. Chery's other brands include Jetour and Luxeed, which it builds with Huawei. Any Australian plans for Exlantix or these brands have not been confirmed by the supplied reporting; Chen told the Wuhu round table that premium brands still need time to be adjusted for Australian customers. ⁴