Ganbei (with a Chery on top)

INCREASED FOOTPRINT: SA MARKET IS CRUCIAL FOR CHINESE AUTOMOTIVE GIANT

- Jim Freeman

From the moment we sat down at our Welcome to Wuhu dinner recently, our group of South Africans felt at home in China. In the middle of the table, alongside an array of Chinese dishes that included the delicious local equivalent of braai'd lamb chops, was a bottle of Stellenbosch's finest.

Wuhu is home to Chery, the global automotive giant that's only the fourth largest in China.

We were a motley lot in the room: apart from our local hosts and minders from Chery, there was a handful of senior staff from its Bryanston-based South African subsidiary, a clutch of motoring journalists and – to add colour and piquancy – the "Kings of Chery".

These included singers, actors, South Africa's top female DJ, market influencers and an animal welfare activist... all of whom serve as Chery brand ambassadors and champions back home.

We didn't know it yet but this bunch would repeatedly set the 3 000-delegate 2024 International User Summit alight with song, style and energy over the next few days.

Although there as a journalist, unlike my petrolhead peers I wasn't interested what vehicles were up for imminent release in Mzansi (the Tiggo 4 facelift which has just been launched here as the Tiggo Cross and the all-new Tiggo 9) but nevertheless had questions I wanted answered.

On a strategic level, I wanted to know if, why and how the piddly little market that is South Africa matters to a Fortune 500 company that manufactured its 15 000 000th vehicle (after starting production only in 1999) during our visit?