Another Chinese brand wants to help keep sedans alive in Australia

7NEWS

3 days ago

Chery wants to introduce sedans to Australia, even as their popularity dwindles in an increasingly SUV-hungry market.
Sedans, at least those built by Japanese, Korean and European brands, have been slowly disappearing from Australia as sales decline and customers shift to utes and SUVs – as evidenced by the recent axing of models like the Mazda 6, Volkswagen Passat and Volvo S60, among others.
In contrast, the introduction of new sedan models has primarily been led by Chinese manufacturers, with MG selling the MG 5 and soon introducing the MG 7 (technically a liftback), BYD selling the Seal and considering another sedan, and now Chery showing interest.
'I wonder if part of the reason that segment has been shrinking is because the competitors are leaving,' Chery Australia chief operating officer Lucas Harris told CarExpert.
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ABOVE: BYD Seal and MG 7
'So if there's not as many suitable options, is that naturally shrinking that segment? There's only really one main competitor.'
This competitor is almost certainly the Toyota Camry, which remains Australia's top-selling sedan, with 4259 units delivered so far in 2025. It's trailed by the Tesla Model 3 with 3715 and the BYD Seal with 1609, but naturally, the entire medium passenger car segment pales in comparison to SUVs.
Even if you lump mid-size cars with small and large cars, inclusive of sedans, hatches and wagons, that's only around 53,000 sales across the first half of 2025. In contrast, mid-size SUVs alone have notched just over 149,000 sales.
Chery Australia's current lineup, including the now-separate Omoda Jaecoo brand, is comprised entirely of SUVs.
ABOVE: Fulwin A9L
'I certainly would advocate very strongly for us to be able to bring sedan options. We've got them globally, but left-hand drive, so I think if we can do a really good job with what we are [currently] given in right-hand drive, then maybe our friends in R&D could consider giving us a sedan in right-hand drive,' Mr Harris added.
Globally and across all its brands, Chery offers at least six sedans, albeit in left-hand drive. SUVs still dominate its lineups, but there are sedan models that could conceivably be engineered for sale in right-hand drive markets.
There are also several different powertrains available, including petrol (Chery Arrizo 5 and Arrizo 8), plug-in hybrid (Chery Fulwin A8 and Fulwin A9L) and battery-electric (Exeed Sterra ES).
Chery chief engineer David Xianqiang Lu told CarExpert that while there would still be a focus on SUVs, the brand is open to introducing global sedan models to Australia.
ABOVE: 2025 Exeed Sterra ES
'We all see the trend in sedans dropping and SUVs increasing, so it's obvious that every company is focusing more on the SUV,' he said.
'But globally, we can see we are making more and more sedans for global markets. I would say we are definitely in the research phase, studying the potential, doing the business analysis to see if it's worthy to do that [in Australia].
'Chery is just getting into the right-hand side of business, we also see that overall the right-hand drive side of the business group is growing. If there is an attractive business case, we can put it in very quickly.'
Chery is currently working on expanding into other segments too, with work currently underway to bring ute models to Australia. The first of these models is expected to arrive in the second half of 2026.