Yin Tongyue, chairman of Chery Holding Group, once lamented that Chery is "getting up early in the morning and catching up late" in the transformation of new energy. Starting from 2023, Chery Group will begin to make rapid layout in the field of new energy, and has formed three new energy sequences: Chery Fengyun, Xingtu Star Era, and Jietu Shanhai, as well as an independent iCAR new energy brand.
Since 2024, whether it is Yin Tongyue's live broadcast to promote the Star Era ET or the successive release of a number of models, it has shown Chery's all-out entry into the field of new energy. "2024 is a year in which Chery Group's new energy strategy will blossom and bear fruit, said Zhang Guozhong, executive deputy general manager of Chery Automobile Co., Ltd., at the 2024 Chery Fengyun New Energy Night and Fengyun T9 pre-sale conference on the evening of April 18.
On the same day, Chery's new model T9 was officially launched for pre-sale, with a total of 4 models and a pre-sale price range of 159,900-199,900 yuan. From the perspective of products, the new car is positioned as a mid-size SUV, and pursues the characteristics of a "luxury car" in terms of performance, configuration, and quality. Li Xueyong, deputy general manager of Chery Automobile Co., Ltd., said, "Chery is to allow global users to buy luxury cars defined by Fengyun at the most cost-effective price."
Of course, after careful analysis of the product, it is not difficult to find that many luxury features such as performance and safety of Fengyun T9 are essentially the embodiment of Chery Group's technology, and Chery's Mars architecture-super hybrid platform plays an extraordinary role. Zhang Guozhong said that Chery hopes to take out the best, safest and most suitable technology in the technology "treasure box" to "get on the car", respond to the "devil's challenge" with real efforts, and create a god-like experience for users. Probably to prove this sentence, Chery Qingdao factory will Fengyun T9 accessories and other brand product accessories side by side, focusing on a self-confidence.
Of course, the display of dismantled parts not only reflects Chery's technology, but also reflects Chery's strict global standards. As Li Xueyong said, Chery uses world-class technology and world-class factories to create a Fengyun T9 with both world-class standards and German luxury quality.
Fengyun T9 redefines luxury and has nothing to do with money
The definition of luxury cars in the domestic auto market is mostly related to price, and the car price can be 300,000 yuan or 400,000 yuan, but it will most likely not be less than 200,000 yuan. "Luxury cars defined by Fengyun" can be ruled out in the first place that has nothing to do with price, so what does it have to do with it? The answer is very simple - product power.
Fengyun T9 is positioned as a mid-size SUV, providing a 5/7-seat layout, with a body length, width and height of 4795/1930/1738mm, a wheelbase of 2770mm, and the room efficiency of Fengyun T9 has reached 70.04%, which also means that users can enjoy more spacious space in this car. Of course, this has little to do with "luxury", but more to do with luxury, the sense of experience in the spacious space. In this regard, Fengyun T9 not only uses stitching technology and soft materials to wrap the center console with trim to create a sense of luxury in the car, but also equipped with "SPA-level" comfortable seats, one-key comfortable lying queen co-pilot, with a 10-point massage function, long-distance travel is also more relaxed and pleasant. In addition, Fengyun T9 is also equipped with C-PURE net cube healthy cockpit, with high-end environmentally friendly materials and strict manufacturing processes, so that the air in the car is fresher.
Of course, in the era of intelligence, technology is also the "standard" of luxury cars, Fengyun T9 has a 15.6-inch 2.5K central control screen to bring a full sense of science and technology, built-in 8155 high computing power chip can achieve a seamless human-vehicle interaction experience. The voice assistant in the car can also perform dialect recognition, and can execute 20+ commands in 30 seconds. The W-HUD head-up display and Level 2+ driver assistance functions also enhance the vehicle's technological attributes.
But is that enough to "define luxury"? In fact, what really makes the Fengyun T9 comparable to a luxury car is its power performance and suspension system.
In terms of power, the Fengyun T9 hybrid system adopts the fifth-generation ACTECO 1.5TGDI hybrid engine, with a maximum power of 115kW, a maximum torque of 220N·m, and a thermal efficiency of 44.5%. However, the difference is made from conventional systems, and the continuously variable super hybrid DHT system is equipped with an E-CVT gearbox, and the motor has a power of 150kW and a peak torque of 310Nm. The system has a combined power of 265 kW and a combined torque of 530 Nm, and accelerates from zero to 100 km/h in 7.7 seconds, while the three-speed super hybrid DHT system adopts a dual-motor drive and a three-speed DHT configuration, with a drive motor power of 165 kW and a maximum torque of 390 Nm. The comprehensive power of the system is as high as 280kW, and the comprehensive torque reaches 610N·m, making the 0-100km/h acceleration time of Fengyun T9 only 4.26 seconds.
From the point of view of power, torque and acceleration and other parameters, Fengyun T9 has indeed reached the level of traditional luxury fuel vehicles. In addition, the comprehensive range of Fengyun T9 exceeds 1400km, while the fuel consumption of the feed is only 4.2L/100km, which is particularly outstanding in the same class of models. Li Xueyong summed it up like this: there are not only the high performance of luxury cars, but also the high energy saving that luxury cars do not have. In addition, the Fengyun T9 also applies CDC "magnetic levitation" suspension technology to further optimize the response of the suspension system, and with the efficient hydraulic control arm bushing and dual hydraulic mounting, the powertrain seismic isolation effect is increased by 30%, which also makes the chassis of the Fengyun T9 comparable to luxury cars.
Technology Treasure Chest + International Standard The strength behind Fengyun T9......
Judging from the product performance of Fengyun T9, it actually shows the strong technical strength of Chery Group behind it. It is understood that Chery relies on the technical system of "Yaoguang 2025" and invests 20 billion yuan in research and development every year. According to the information released by Chery Technology Day 2023, the R&D investment in the next five years will be no less than 100 billion yuan, and the number of R&D personnel will reach 25,000, of which more than 50% will be software talents. By the end of 2023, Chery has applied for more than 29,000 patents and obtained more than 18,000 authorized patents.
With the continuous advancement of Yaoguang's strategy, based on the Mars architecture - super hybrid platform and E0X high-performance electric platform, Chery has continuously implemented various new technologies in the five core technology areas of Mars architecture, Kunpeng power, Lion intelligent cabin, Dazhuo intelligent driving and Galaxy ecology, which have been implemented on the new models of Chery Group one by one. The Fengyun T9 for pre-sale this time is a product of the Martian architecture.
As Zhang Guozhong said, Chery has a "technology treasure box", and the technology taken out of this treasure box is to give users a god-like experience. Of course, at the Fengyun T9, it's not just the technology that is on display. As the No. 1 car company in the export of Chinese brand passenger cars for 21 consecutive years, Chery has made its product manufacturing standards more stringent based on the development vision of the global market.
Taking Chery Qingdao Gigafactory as an example, as the world's leading 5G black light factory, Chery Qingdao Gigafactory, which manufactures Fengyun T9, creates high-quality products with zero differences and zero defects for users with the world's strongest automation, the world's strongest intelligent quality control, the world's strongest digitalization, and the world's strongest energy intelligent control. Li Xueyong said that Chery's leading world-class super factory ensures that every car off the assembly line is a global car, and every Chinese user buys a global car that meets global standards.
In addition, in terms of safety, Fengyun T9 inherits Chery's global standards well. Fengyun T9 is developed in accordance with the global five-star safety standard, and its high-strength steel accounts for 85% and hot stamping steel accounts for 21%. The height of the front anti-collision beam of the vehicle is 140mm, and the lateral coverage rate is 85%, in addition, the Fengyun T9 power battery adopts the guardian battery safety system, which is waterproof IP68 and has a strong protection of 2ms power failure. What's more, these have been verified by Chery's global system.
In 2023, Chery Automobile's annual sales will reach 1.881 million units, a year-on-year increase of 52.6%, far exceeding the overall market growth rate of passenger cars in the industry, and truly entering an upward cycle that has not been seen for many years. With the "full firepower" in new energy, the ceiling of Chery Automobile may be higher. According to the plan, in the future, Fengyun Sequence will fully cover the hybrid, extended range, and pure electric markets, and launch 11 new models within 2 years, covering SUV, SD, and MPV categories, fully meeting the different market needs from A0 to C-class, and helping Fengyun Sequence to become popular all over the world.