It’s not a price war, Chery Indonesia calls it an innovation war

December 1, 2025
12:21 PM

Jakarta, huutoanland Indonesia
—
One of the representatives of Chinese brands in the country,
Chery
, said the competitive situation of launching a new model at a much cheaper price than the market was not a price war.The low price is said to be the result of previous efforts in terms of research and efficiency.
“For Chery, yes, this is not a price war, but a technology innovation war,” said Head of Brand Chery Sales Indonesia Rifki Setiawan, on the sidelines of Gaikindo Jakarta Auto Week (GJAW) 2025, Thursday (27/11).
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Technology and innovation, said Rifki, can produce competitive selling prices.The innovation he means is not only about products, but also the production process resulting from large investments in the research and development (R&D) sector.
“(Chery’s) R&D budget is very large. From that R&D we can
reduce
production budget and so on,” he explained.
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Rifki gave an example of the results of R&D in the form of the T1X and T2X platforms used on the Tiggo 8 and Tiggo 9. This platform can be used for various types of motion systems, from Internal Combustion Engine (ICE), hybrid and electric.
“Why can one platform be used by several?
powertrain
?Because it has been thought through carefully.If used
plug-ins
where does the cable go, where does it go, install it.If it’s used on an ICE, what’s the cable?
research
and made in such a great way,” said Rifki.
This is said to be an innovation strategy to reduce production costs.
“So actually it’s not a price war, it’s how each manufacturer can innovate so they can offer higher prices
affordable
to the community,” he said.
Currently Chery sells many models, including ICE, hybrid and EV, namely C5, Omoda 5 GT, Tiggo Cross, Tiggo Cross CSH, Tiggo 8, Tiggo 8 CSH, Tiggo 9 CSH, J6 and E5.
According to Rifki, the selling price of Chery cars offered in Indonesia is not ‘really cheap’.He said there was still a balance between price and the features offered.
Even so, he said that Chery has one goal of making technology that was previously only enjoyed by certain groups can be brought to a wider range of consumers.
“if more
affordable
, why does it have to be (expensive)?”said Rifki.
Product selling prices are one of the factors that has caused sales of Chinese car brands to increase this year.During the 10 months, Chery’s retail sales rose almost 150 percent to 16,600 units compared to the same period in 2024.
Other Chinese brands that saw positive growth were BYD jumping 252 percent to 31,000 units, Aion rising 1,000 percent to 5,000 units and GWM increasing 97 percent to 1,000 units.
Meanwhile, compact Japanese brands experienced a decline, Toyota -13.6 percent (209,300 units), Daihatsu -21.3 percent (112,500 units), Honda -29.7 percent (58,700 units), Mitsubishi -9.3 percent (55,400 units) and Suzuki -10.5 percent (50,300 units).
(fea)
[Gambas:huutoanland Video]