Chery Sets ~20% Overseas Growth Target for 2027, Days After Posting Record Nine-Month Revenue
On 31 October, Chery Automobile executive vice president Qi Shilong told Yicai that the company has set an internal target of around 20% overseas growth for 2027. The statement came a day after Chery filed unaudited nine-month results: revenue up 12.29% to RMB 241.234 billion and gross margin up to 16.17%, while net profit attributable slipped 2.8% on heavier R&D spending and foreign-exchange losses.
A Target From China's Export Leader
On 31 October, Chery Automobile (9973.HK) executive vice president Qi Shilong told Yicai (China Business News) and other media that the company has set an internal target of around 20% growth in overseas markets for 2027. No absolute volume figure accompanied the statement. Chery has been China's largest passenger-car exporter for years, so its internal targets are a reasonable proxy for where the industry's export momentum is heading: still growing, but at a more measured pace than the triple-digit surges some rivals posted this year.
The timing matters. The target was disclosed one day after Chery's third-quarter filing, which gives the number a financial context rather than leaving it as a slogan.
The Quarter Behind the Target
Chery's unaudited results for the nine months ended 30 September 2026, filed with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 30 October, show a company whose revenue machine is working and whose profit line is paying for investment:
- Revenue: RMB 241.234 billion, up 12.29% year on year.
- Gross profit: RMB 39.004 billion, up 32.38%; gross margin reached 16.17%, about 2.46 percentage points higher than a year earlier.
- Net profit attributable to shareholders: RMB 13.963 billion, down 2.8% (profit for the period was RMB 14.595 billion).
The two drags Chery disclosed are specific rather than structural. R&D spending rose 40.21% to RMB 11.046 billion, and the accounts swung from a net foreign-exchange gain of RMB 2.974 billion a year ago to a net loss of RMB 3.171 billion — a swing of roughly RMB 6.1 billion hitting the profit line. In other words: margins on the cars themselves improved; the earnings dip came from engineering budgets and currency, not from discounting.
Three Read-Throughs for Vehicle Exporters
- The export channel keeps expanding. The largest Chinese exporter is planning for more overseas volume in 2027, which implies continued spending on shipping, distribution and aftersales abroad. For used-car exporters this is a tailwind for logistics and parts availability, and a headwind for attention: new-car marketing in destination markets will get louder.
- Price discipline at the top matters for residuals. In the same interview series with Yicai, Qi said Chery does not want to compete simply on price. If the export leader holds that line, new-car price stability abroad supports used-car residuals — including the Chinese-brand used stock moving through markets in Central Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.
- Currency is a real line item. Chery's RMB 3.17 billion exchange loss is a reminder at scale: anyone settling vehicle trades across currencies carries the same exposure in miniature. Contract currency, settlement timing and hedging deserve the same attention as the purchase price.
The Accuracy Note
The ~20% figure is Chery's internal target for 2027 as described by Qi Shilong to Yicai on 31 October 2026, carried by Sina News, QQ News and NetEase; it is a company target, not an industry forecast, and no absolute volume baseline was published with it. Financial figures are from Chery's unaudited third-quarter report for January–September 2026, filed 30 October 2026 and covered by Sina Finance and Stockstar; all growth rates are year on year.
Sources: Yicai / China Business News interview with Chery EVP Qi Shilong (31 October 2026, via Sina News); Chery Automobile Q3 2026 report filed with HKEX (30 October 2026); Sina Finance and Stockstar coverage of the filing.
