Chery Group has passed 20 million cumulative vehicle sales, 29 years after the Chinese carmaker was founded in 1997.
The milestone vehicle was the Fulwin A9, an electric saloon that revives the name of Chery’s first production model. The original Fulwin was also among the company’s earliest exports, giving the latest car a direct link to the start of its overseas business.
Chery needed a decade to reach its first million sales, crossing that mark in August 2007. It has since expanded into more than 130 countries and regions and remained China’s largest passenger-vehicle exporter for 23 consecutive years.
Exports continue to drive much of that growth. Chery shipped 943,817 vehicles overseas in the first half of 2026, up 71.5% from the same period last year. It set a monthly export record among Chinese carmakers for four straight months, averaging one vehicle sent abroad every 17 seconds.
Almost seven million of Chery’s 20 million customers are outside China, equal to about one in three owners. Europe has become a major growth area, with 174,000 vehicles sold there from January to June, an increase of more than 212%.
In Britain, Chery International now operates through four marques: Omoda, Jaecoo, Chery and Lepas. Omoda entered the market in August 2024, followed by Jaecoo in January 2025. Chery arrived later that year, while Lepas is the newest addition.
The group also entered the 2026 Fortune China 500 as a listed company at No. 87. Fortune recorded revenue of US$41.78 billion and a return on equity of 36.5%, the highest among carmakers on the list.
Chery employs about 150,000 people worldwide, including more than 20,000 outside China.
The 20-million mark shows how quickly its business has shifted from a home-market manufacturer into a major exporter with a broad international retail and production network.
