Chery Wants to Be a British Brand and Build Cars in the UK

Chery Chairman Wants UK Design, Engineering and Production

The chairman of Chery, the Chinese group behind the Omoda and Jaecoo brands, wants the company to become British. In an interview with Auto Express at Chery's headquarters in Wuhu, published on 26 October 2026, Yin Tongyue said: "We need to be a British brand." He also wants deeper links with Jaguar Land Rover and is considering moving the group's design headquarters to the UK.

Key takeaways

Yin wants cars "designed in the UK, engineered in the UK and produced in the UK".

Chery may move its design centre headquarters to Britain and is talking to British design firms.

A memorandum with Nissan about spare capacity at Sunderland was signed earlier in 2026 but is not a final deal.

Chery says it would cut prices and margins rather than lose ground if the UK added tariffs.

What Chery's chairman said

Yin, 63, has led Chery since it was founded. He told Auto Express: "I really want to have products designed in the UK, engineered in the UK and produced in the UK". He did not like the nickname some British buyers give Jaecoo models, but added that "UK design beats the world". He even raised the idea of reviving a British name, asking whether Chery could find "a sports car company that we could help".

Chery already has an engineering centre at UTAC Millbrook in Bedfordshire, which could grow. The bigger question is production. In June 2026 the group signed a memorandum of understanding with Nissan about contract manufacturing at the Sunderland plant; electrive reported that it is not legally binding. Auto Express says up to 300,000 Chinese-brand cars a year could be built in Britain if that went ahead, but no contract has been signed.

The JLR connection

Chery and JLR have run a joint venture in China since 2012. In 2026 it gained a new brand, Freelander, which uses JLR know-how and intellectual property under licence; the name was last used on a Land Rover with the Freelander 1 and 2. Yin asked how Chery could help JLR return to higher volumes and called the cooperation "deep in many perspectives". Auto Express did not rule out a larger investment, but there is no deal on the table.

Tariffs and prices

The interview comes as the UK government is reported to be weighing tariffs on cars imported from China. Yin said Chery would follow the rules and "adjust the price and margin to suit the competition". The brands matter in Britain: Chery arrived with Omoda in 2024, and the Jaecoo 7 was the UK's best-selling car in September 2026, with 10,814 registrations according to preliminary SMMT figures reported by Carwow.

What it means for buyers

For now, nothing changes for Omoda and Jaecoo customers. If tariffs come, the chairman's words suggest the company would absorb part of the cost rather than pass it all on, at least at first. UK production, if it happens, is several years away. Before buying, compare warranty terms and the dealer network near you, as both vary more between new brands than between established ones.

Read the background in the history of Chery and see the models in the Chery catalogue, the Land Rover catalogue and the Nissan catalogue.