Gasgoo Munich- During the Two Sessions in March 2026, Yin Tongyue—deputy to the National People's Congress and chairman of Chery Automobile Co., Ltd.—made headlines with remarks at the Anhui delegation's open media day. Facing a spreading price war in the auto market, Yin made his stance clear: "Chery will not engage in low-level price wars. Instead, we hope to leverage technology, management empowerment, and quality upgrades to move away from the zone of cutthroat competition and enter the zone of profit."
Around the time of this statement, a series of market moves and technological deployments by Chery-affiliated automakers offered a concrete window into their strategic direction. From price adjustments at the EXEED brand to the implementation of an annual R&D budget exceeding 32 billion yuan, these moves represent two sides of the company's current approach to market competition.
Price War Rages, EXEED Raises Prices Against the Tide
On March 5, Chery's premium brand EXEED announced it was raising the official guide price of the EXEED ET5 210 LiDAR Premium Edition by 5,000 yuan, bringing the price to 164,900 yuan. This adjustment came with a configuration change: customers must now pay 5,000 yuan for a full smart driving package originally valued at 28,800 yuan. The package includes the Horizon Robotics Journey® 6P chip, the Falcon 700 high-order smart driving system, and lifetime OTA updates.
Image source: ESEED EXEED Auto
The market backdrop for this price hike is noteworthy. After the Spring Festival holiday, several joint-venture brands launched a new round of price offensives. The Honda Accord e:PHEV saw a direct price cut of 100,000 yuan, while SAIC Audi offered a limited-time 30,000 yuan gift package on the E5 Sportback. Meanwhile, over 20 automakers successively released financial promotion policies such as "seven-year low-interest loans" to vie for market share by lowering the purchase threshold. Brands like Tesla, NIO, and Leapmotor all introduced seven-year ultra-low interest loan schemes, with annualized rates as low as 0.49%.
Regarding the adjustment, EXEED responded that while rising chip costs were a factor, the move was "primarily an active choice based on the brand's long-term strategy." The aim is to ensure the stability and sustainability of long-term R&D investment, product quality, and user service.
NIO founder William Li stated at a media briefing in January: "The auto industry cannot compete with AI and computing centers for chips; their investments run into the hundreds of billions of dollars. Cars with standard smart driving systems and standard smart cockpits will face some hardship in cost control." Xiaomi chairman Lei Jun also mentioned during a January livestream: "Memory prices are rising quarterly. They rose 40% to 50% last quarter, and this year alone, the cost of memory for a single car will rise by several thousand yuan."
Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the CPCA, also offered a relevant analysis, noting that the Chinese auto market in 2026 opened with distinct "zero-sum game" characteristics. As the market enters a channel of micro-growth, the underlying logic of industry competition has shifted from "price gaming" to "value competition."
32 Billion Yuan in R&D: How Chery Plays Its Tech Card
The EXEED price hike can be seen as a short-term market response by Chery to cost pressures and competition, while an annual R&D budget exceeding 32 billion yuan reflects its long-term commitment to investment at the technological level.
Yin Tongyue revealed at the Two Sessions that Chery's total R&D budget for 2026 exceeds 32 billion yuan. It is primarily allocated to 2C technologies (solid-state batteries, high-computing chips), 2R technologies (Robotaxis, AiMOGA robots), 3G technologies (green energy, green materials, green computing), and AI technologies. This budget scale is at a high level among domestic brands.
In 2025, Anhui ranked first nationwide in automobile production, new energy vehicle production, and automobile exports, becoming the first province to exceed 1 million vehicle exports. As a local leading enterprise, Chery's cumulative exports have broken 6 million units, ranking first among Chinese brand passenger vehicle exports for 23 consecutive years.
Image source: Chery Automobile
On January 17, 2026, Chery hosted a "Technology with AI" themed night in Wuhu, showcasing its technological layout in the AI field. At the event, Chery released an upgrade plan for its Falcon smart driving family. The Falcon 500 solution enables urban navigation assisted driving, the Falcon 700 is equipped with 27 high-precision sensors, and the Falcon 900 clarifies the deployment path for L3 and L4 level passenger and commercial applications.
In the smart cockpit sector, Chery launched the super AI agent "Xiao Qi," equipped with over 40 intelligent modules across 8 categories. Regarding privacy protection, the system utilizes a quantum encryption security platform to achieve "privacy that never leaves the car, data that never leaves the cloud," securing the first quantum security certification for the Internet of Vehicles in China.
Notably, Chery's AI layout extends beyond its core automotive business. Its humanoid robot "Mo Yin," developed by subsidiary AiMOGA Robotics, has obtained EU CE certification and has been exported to more than 30 countries and regions. It has been deployed in over 100 scenarios, including exhibition hall reception and urban patrol.
Currently, Chery's cumulative investment in the AI field has exceeded 40 billion yuan, with a force of over 10,000 R&D personnel assembled.
The Chinese auto market in 2026 is undergoing a transition from incremental competition to a zero-sum game. As price wars continue to spread and profit margins narrow, cost pressure is transmitting up the industrial chain. Against this backdrop, how each automaker chooses its path for survival and development will influence the market landscape for years to come.
Chery has stated it will not participate in low-level price wars, aiming instead to enter the profit zone through technology, management empowerment, and quality improvements. The price hike of the EXEED ET5 can be viewed as a specific attempt at this, while the 32 billion R&D budget and the comprehensive layout showcased at the AI Night lay the groundwork for the long term.
For the auto industry as a whole, when "competing on price" becomes the norm, whether there is another possibility of "competing on technology" or "competing on value" may gradually become clear in the financial reports and market share changes of the coming years.
