CHERY battles in the high-end market again, pressure shifts to Xingtu

Author | Wang Xiaojun

Editor | Chai Xuchen

The Xingtu brand, carrying the high-end dream of Chery Group Chairman Yin Tongyue, has once again begun its iteration.

On the evening of December 22, the Xingtu brand under Chery announced its official entry into the 3.0 era.

This time, Xingtu has refreshed its brand logo and clarified its new positioning as a "high-emotion, high-energy luxury brand." It also announced the "4+4+X" product matrix plan and unveiled four new models: Xingtu ES8, ET8, ET9, and ES7 GT.

Once again, Yin Tongyue emphasized the positioning of Xingtu. He stated that Xingtu is positioned as the "pinnacle" of the Chery brand pyramid, aiming to build Xingtu 3.0 from three levels: basic performance, value experience, and emotional expression.

On stage, Yin Tongyue appeared very confident, backed by Chery's breakthroughs in the global market over the past year.

In 2025, Chery Group ranked 233rd on the Fortune Global 500 list with a revenue performance of USD 59.6939 billion, a leap of 152 places from the previous year. In July, Chery's cumulative exports surpassed 5 million units, becoming the first Chinese automotive brand to reach this milestone.

After achieving success in other areas, Chery still needs to complete the key puzzle of high-end development. At this point, it has been seven years since the Xingtu brand was born. In 2018, Xingtu emerged as an important piece in Chery's upward brand strategy, carrying the mission of reshaping the value of Chinese brands.

In the past seven years, Chinese automotive brands have collectively completed the breakthrough from "scale manufacturing" to "value creation." During this period, Xingtu has gained some recognition in the global market, but overall sales still need improvement.

Chery Group's latest sales data shows that from January to November 2025, the cumulative sales of the Xingtu brand reached 109,466 units, accounting for about 4.3% of the group's total sales of over 2.56 million units. Although this figure has increased compared to 2024, it still falls short of the internal "pinnacle" positioning within the group.

In the face of market challenges, Xingtu has also launched a new 3.0 era strategy, upgrading from four dimensions: technology, design, products, and brand.

In terms of technology, Xingtu showcased the Rock Solid Body 3.0 structure, using the industry's first 2400MPa hot-formed steel, and plans to first equip the Rhino all-solid-state battery in 2026. In product planning, Xingtu has clarified the two major product series, ES and ET, focusing on performance and luxury, respectively. Chery Auto Executive Vice President Li Xueyong revealed that more than three new cars from Xingtu will be launched in the next 10-20 months.

Additionally, Xingtu announced the launch of the "EXEED Le Mans Plan," aiming to become the first Chinese brand to participate in the world's three major top automotive event systems as a manufacturer team. This move is interpreted as Xingtu's attempt to strengthen its performance luxury brand gene through motorsport culture.

The brand upgrade of Xingtu is not an isolated event but part of Chery Group's overall strategy. In 2025, Chery undertook a series of integrations and personnel adjustments to prepare for market competition in 2026.

Currently, Chery Group has formed a passenger car brand matrix consisting of five major brands: Chery, Xingtu, Jietu, iCAR, and Zhijie. The Chery brand serves as the sales foundation; Jietu targets the "travel+" market; iCAR and Zhijie focus on new energy; The brand Xingtou is tasked with the ultimate mission of brand elevation.

In overseas markets, Chery's localization strategy of "In somewhere, for somewhere" has begun to show results. From January to July 2025, Chery's sales in the European market reached nearly 40,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 942%, with new energy vehicles accounting for over 32%.

Doubling down on Xingtou can also be seen as a key step in establishing Chery's globalization system. At the 2025 Chery Global Innovation Conference, Yin Tongyue confidently declared, "This year, Chery's global innovation system will also be 'unreserved.'"

According to data released during Brand Night, Xingtou products have been sold in over 30 mainstream markets worldwide, with an average overseas selling price exceeding 400,000 RMB, achieving the top sales in several European sub-markets such as Poland, the UK, and Italy.

The brand upgrade of Xingtou is also taking place against the backdrop of a deep adjustment in the Chinese automotive industry. In 2025, the Chinese car market is showing a clear trend of shifting from "scale expansion" to "quality and systematic competition."

As the purchase tax incentives for new energy vehicles are set to decline in 2026, the Chinese new energy vehicle market is accelerating its shift towards "market-driven" dynamics. In the future, all car manufacturers must rely on product strength and brand power for genuine market competition.

Facing the global market, China's automotive export model is transitioning from simple "product trade" to "localization of the industrial chain" and "ecological output." This places higher demands on Xingtou's globalization strategy, which must not only sell cars but also export technology, standards, and culture.

In the future, how Xingtou's emphasized technological advantages translate into brand premium, and how its global layout supports breakthroughs in the domestic high-end market, the 3.0 era has just begun to tackle these challenges