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Recently, South Korean automaker KG Mobility (KGM) announced a strategic investment agreement with Chery Automobile. According to the agreement, Chery will invest 75 million US dollars into KGM and carry out or expand cooperation in areas such as accelerating new vehicle development, autonomous driving, and advanced electronic and electrical architecture.
If the transaction is completed and all bonds are converted to equity, Chery is expected to hold approximately 10% of KGM's shares and is expected to become its second-largest shareholder.
Chery's partnership with a South Korean automaker this time easily brings to mind the recent cooperation between Geely and Ford. Geely acquired 34% equity in the joint venture for 221 million euros and shares Ford's factory resources located in Valencia, Spain.
On the surface, in both collaborations, Chinese enterprises did not obtain absolute controlling equity, nor did they directly control daily operation management, but this precisely embodies the strategic wisdom of China's deep cultivation in the global market.
In the past, Chinese automakers going global relied more on product exports; however, nowadays, with changing competitive environments, Chinese automobiles are moving from pure "product output" to "global operation" covering technology, supply chain, manufacturing capabilities, brand value, and industrial ecosystems. For Chinese automakers, carrying out deep cooperation with local enterprises can faster utilize existing manufacturing, channels, and industrial resources to enter overseas markets with lower cost thresholds and achieve long-term rooting.
Currently, the globalization of Chinese automakers is entering a brand new stage. According to data from the General Administration of Customs, China's auto exports reached 5.31 million units in the first half of this year, a year-on-year increase of 53%, achieving continuous growth for 5 years. At the same time, consulting firms predict that China's auto export volume in 2026 will approach 10 million units, and China is expected to become the first country in the world to break through the 10 million unit auto export scale.
However, it needs to be seen that export volume growth does not equal the formation of globalization capabilities. For Chinese automakers, going global still faces multiple challenges such as trade barriers, policy differences, local operations, and brand awareness. How to move from "selling out" to "staying in" is the proposition that must be answered in the next stage.
True globalization still requires automakers to answer three core questions: Why are locals willing to accept the enterprise staying? Why are partners willing to walk alongside the enterprise for the long term? Can the enterprise achieve sustainable profitability locally?
These three questions correspond to industrial value, cooperation value, and commercial value respectively. Only when the three form a closed loop does going global become not just a short-term sales growth, but a long-term business capable of crossing cycles and continuously creating value.
"Behind the 'Global Expansion Fever', Chinese Automakers Still Need to Find Long-term Growth Solutions"
In recent years, "going global" has become a mandatory course that Chinese automakers cannot bypass. Besides Chery, enterprises such as Geely, Changan, Leapmotor, and Xpeng are also accelerating the promotion of global layout.
On the surface, this is a natural spillover after the improvement of Chinese automobile technology, product strength, and complete industrial chain capabilities; but from a more realistic perspective, it is also a strategic choice forced by market competition.
In the past few years, China's new energy vehicle market grew rapidly, with new brands, new models, and a large amount of capacity flooding in, and market competition gradually moved from incremental competition to stock game phase. Against the backdrop of domestic market "involution to death", many automakers face the dilemma of "increasing revenue but not profit". Therefore, the overseas market has become an important direction for enterprises to digest capacity, expand scale, and improve profit space.
However, when more and more enterprises regard going global as the answer for growth, a new question also appears: Will the overseas market become the next competitive red sea?
From the demand side, the global new energy vehicle market indeed still exists a large growth space. In the first half of 2026, the cumulative sales of new energy vehicles in the European market were about 2.378 million units, a year-on-year increase of 32.7%, penetration rate reached 29.2%, an increase of about 6 percentage points compared to the same period last year, accounting for 20.3% of global new energy vehicle sales. At the same time, new energy sales in emerging markets such as India and the Philippines also grew rapidly, among which India increased by 83.8% year-on-year, and the Philippines increased by 149.6% year-on-year.
However, it needs to be seen that different countries exist huge differences in consumption habits, regulatory standards, infrastructure, channel systems, and brand awareness, etc. The overseas market is not simply copying the Chinese market's "second battlefield", nor is it as simple as moving domestic mature models overseas for sales.
In fact, the export growth in the first half of this year not only comes from the improvement of the competitiveness of Chinese automakers themselves, but is also affected by multiple factors such as changes in international energy prices and adjustment of the electrification rhythm of overseas traditional automakers. With more Chinese brands entering the overseas market, competition is also gradually upgrading, and the dividends of going global are also gradually decreasing.
If enterprises only rely on price advantages, short-term sales, and channel deployment for expansion, then Chinese automobiles overseas may also fall into the cycle of "low-price competition" and "scale involution".
"Overseas is not a 'Safe Haven', Chinese Automakers Welcome Higher Cost Battlefields"
As is well known, the selling price of many Chinese automobile brands in the overseas market is often higher than the domestic market. Taking Chery Tiggo 8 as an example, the market price in China is around 100,000 yuan, but after entering the Russian market, the starting price is converted to about 220,000 yuan RMB, and in some markets in the Middle East, the landed price of the top configuration model is even close to 400,000 yuan.
This also makes many people in the past believe: going global means "China production, overseas sales", utilizing China's mature supply chain system and cost advantages to obtain higher premiums in the overseas market. But in fact, as Chinese automakers' globalization enters the deep water zone, this simple sales model is facing more and more challenges.
Even, a higher overseas selling price does not necessarily mean higher overseas profits. And a series of factors such as tariff barriers, local production requirements, environmental policies, distribution networks, after-sales service, etc., will directly affect the enterprise's final profitability.
Especially against the background of intensified competition in the global automobile industry, the overseas market is raising entry barriers. For example, the EU "Industrial Accelerator Act" proposes to implement "conditional market access" for countries with global key industry manufacturing capacity share exceeding 40%; the EU "New Battery Act" stipulates that starting from February 2027, power batteries must provide full life cycle carbon footprint data.
At the same time, European local automakers are also strengthening defense. Volkswagen, Stellantis, Renault and other European automotive enterprises have called for the EU to take more measures to protect the local electric vehicle industry; some European enterprises and unions also have concerns about cooperating with Chinese automakers, and even some overseas media described Chinese new energy vehicles as "Trojan horses".
It can be seen that Chinese automobile going global is experiencing a change in underlying logic, the past relied on product quality-price ratio, the future competes on system capabilities. Whoever can transform complex costs in global operations into brand, technology and industrial chain advantages, can truly realize the leap from "exporting products" to "global operations".
"Going Global is Not a Zero-Sum Game, But a Competitive Cooperation Game"
Chinese automakers' going global has never been standing on the opposite side of overseas enterprises.
Previously, Chairman Yin Tongyue of Chery Automobile Co., Ltd. pointed out: "Going to a (emerging) market is not just about pushing Chinese products out, must comply with local regulations, fit local user habits, at the same time we cannot keep all for themselves." He further emphasized that Chery going global is not to "grab" others' territory. "Do not be a plunderer, but be a fertilizer provider, increase fertility; do not go to their (place) to plunder markets, plunder talent."
Because true sustainable globalization is not about selling a car to the overseas market, but forming industrial connections locally, truly rooting in the local market.
Nowadays, the overseas layout methods of Chinese automakers have become more and more diversified, covering whole vehicle exports, CKD assembly, local production, dealer cooperation, technology licensing, platform output, capital cooperation, and joint operation and other models. And different models are essentially all for improving the enterprise's adaptability to the global market.
For example, SAIC-GM-Wuling planned production bases in Indonesia through the industrial chain synergy mode, built 120,000 units of whole vehicle capacity, while leading 16 domestic three-electric enterprises to go out together, and cultivated more than 100 local suppliers, achieving transition from product entry to industrial chain integration; Great Wall Motors through acquiring and transforming Brazil Daimler factory, officially started production in August 2025, created about 2,000 direct employment positions, and drove local supply chain system development; Chery and Spain EV MOTORS established a joint venture company, took over the Nissan closed Barcelona factory, with "Chery Technology + EBRO Brand" method to re-activate local manufacturing capability
In addition, Changan Thailand Rayong Factory welcomed the 20,000th whole vehicle off the line in June 2026, the factory total investment about 2.2 billion yuan, phase one annual capacity 100,000 units, key quality control workstation automation rate reached 90%; Geely relied on Proton brand deep plowing in Malaysia market, its Tanjung Malim electric vehicle factory has started production, phase one annual capacity reached 20,000 units.
It is worth noting that new power brands are also accelerating the output of technical systems and infrastructure capabilities. For example, Nio has deployed 93 battery swap stations overseas, and participated in research and formulation of Singapore electric vehicle charging and swapping standards "Singapore Standard SS 722"; Leapmotor, through establishing a joint venture company with Stellantis, promotes internationalization with the help of global channel resources, its main model C10 has also started local assembly production at Kulim Factory, Kedah, Malaysia; Xpeng not only has strategic cooperation with Volkswagen, but also acquired 90.1% equity of Indonesian listed company EIDO, planning its first overseas production base, and adopted CKD model to promote localized manufacturing.
From the perspective of industry insiders, different going global paths do not exist absolute superiority or inferiority, the key lies in whether it matches the enterprise's own capabilities and development stages. Whole vehicle export speed is fast, investment is relatively light, but easy to be affected by trade policy changes; local factory construction can enhance industrial integration, but needs continuous capital investment and scale support; channel cooperation can quickly open the market, but user relationships and brand assets may be constrained by partners; technology licensing and capital cooperation are lighter, but test whether the enterprise can transform technical advantages into long-term commercial value.
And judging whether an enterprise's going global is successful, cannot look only at export volume, how many countries and regions entered, or even cannot look only at overseas sales growth, but need to see whether it can answer several more core questions.
First, can it make money. Whether overseas business can form stable and sustainable profit-making ability, rather than relying on domestic market blood transfusion, financing support or short-term price advantages.
Secondly, can it take root. Whether it establishes local R&D, manufacturing, channel, service and supply chain systems, rather than staying at one-time product sales.
Thirdly, can it achieve win-win. Whether it can create employment, tax and industrial value for the locality, making government, partners, suppliers and consumers all become beneficiaries in the globalization process.
In addition, it also needs to see if the enterprise can resist risks. Facing tariff changes, policy adjustments, exchange rate fluctuations and geopolitical uncertainties, whether overseas business has sufficient resilience.
More importantly, whether the enterprise can build true brand value. What consumers buy, is it just a lower price Chinese automobile product, or recognize a global automobile brand that can exist for a long time and continuously provide value.
From the perspective of industry insiders, the highest standard of going global is not how much Chinese automakers took away from the overseas market, but how much value was left for the local while obtaining commercial returns. The overseas market does not reject Chinese automobiles, but no market will long-term welcome an "outsider" who only sells products, fights for share, but does not bear industrial responsibility and does not create local value.
Truly viable globalization is not a short-term surprise battle won relying on cost advantages, but finding the greatest common divisor of enterprise interests and local interests in different markets. Only from "entering overseas market" to "integrating into local industry", Chinese automobiles can truly complete the transformation from export powerhouse to important participant in the global automobile industry.
