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Chery to open R&D centre in Bedfordshire to support UK car push
Chery said its Millbrook, Bedfordshire facility will open in late autumn and give it access to more than 70 km of test tracks for UK road tuning.
Chery, the owner of car brands Jaecoo and Omoda, plans to expand in the United Kingdom with a new research and development centre in Bedfordshire, the Guardian Business reports. The company said the launch of the site is the next step in its long term plan for Britain, including moving toward manufacturing its cars in the UK.
Chery’s sales have been rising quickly in the UK, and its three brands accounted for nearly 8% of market share in July, up from 3% a year earlier, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. The China built Jaecoo 7, nicknamed the “Temu Range Rover” for its low price and tech features, became the top selling model in the UK in March.
The new R&D facility is set to open in late autumn at UTAC Millbrook, an existing testing centre in Bedfordshire used by engineering and motorsport companies, as well as the Ministry of Defence. Chery said the site will provide access to more than 70 km of purpose built test tracks to fine tune its cars for UK roads, with plans to work on self driving cars and artificial intelligence later.
Chery currently brings the Jaecoo 7 in from abroad, but it has signed a deal with Nissan to build its cars at the Sunderland plant, a move it says would begin mass market Chinese car production in Britain for the first time from 2027. The company is part owned by the Chinese state, and its UK chief executive said Chery waited more than 20 years to enter the market with an ambition beyond simply bringing vehicles to the UK.