奇瑞向KG Mobility战略投资7500万美元并深化共同开发合作

Chery Automobile, China's largest auto exporter, has signaled its entry into the Korean market through a partnership with KG Mobility. As BYD and Zeekr have already entered the domestic market, KG Mobility is joining Renault Korea as an ally for Chinese automakers.
KG Mobility (003620) said on the 3rd that it held a "KGM-Chery Strategic Investment Signing Ceremony" at the Grand Hyatt Seoul in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, where it secured a $75 million (about 108 billion won) investment from Chery. The event was attended by KG Group Chairman Kwak Jae-sun, KGM CEO Hwang Ki-young, Chinese Ambassador to Korea Dai Bing, and Chery Chairman Yin Tongyue.
At the event, Chery hinted at the possibility of entering the Korean market. Chery President Zhang Guibing said, "If many Korean customers come to like Chery, we can consider entering Korea," adding, "We can consider ways for Chery's sub-brands to target the (Korean) market."
Regarding the possibility of Chery models being produced at KGM's domestic plant, he said, "I think it is part of our cooperation," adding, "We can also consider a cooperation model that shares production capacity in the global market."
He also said, "Because there will be regions where China's tariffs and Korea's tariffs differ, cooperating in these areas could benefit both sides."
This prompted observations that Chery could use KGM's domestic plant as an export base to respond to the European Union (EU), Mexico, and Brazil markets, which impose high tariffs on Chinese cars.
In fact, China's Geely Automobile Group, after acquiring a 34.02% stake in Renault Korea in 2022, has been contract-manufacturing the Polestar 4 of its electric vehicle brand Polestar at Renault Korea's Busan plant and using the production for global exports.
Chinese Ambassador to Korea Dai Bing, who attended the event, also assessed the auto industry as a key axis of Korea-China economic cooperation. He said, "Cooperation in the auto industry is a very important field in Korea-China economic and trade cooperation," adding, "The cooperation model between the two companies will become a new model case for Korea-China advanced manufacturing cooperation, and will hold important significance in promoting the qualitative development of economic and trade cooperation between the two countries."
He further said, "Korea-China economic cooperation has shifted from the existing vertical division of labor structure to a horizontal cooperation structure," urging, "A common interest relationship of competition within cooperation and cooperation within competition is becoming the new normal, so I hope businesspeople in both countries accurately recognize this new environment and actively seize new opportunities."
The auto industry expects that Chinese companies with Korean automakers as allies will make more aggressive moves to enter the domestic market. Facing intensifying domestic competition and overproduction problems, China is focusing on global exports. As internal cutthroat competition intensified, it sought new outlets centered on Europe and Latin America, and the Korean market has also emerged as a market for the Chinese auto industry to target.
BYD achieved cumulative sales of 10,000 units about a year after entering the domestic market on the strength of value for money. The 7X, Zeekr's first model launched in Korea, surpassed 1,000 reservations within a month.