China's Chery Automobile to set up UK research centre

Aug 19 (Reuters) - Chery Automobile will establish a research and development centre in Britain this year, the company said on Wednesday, as demand for Chinese cars grows in the country.

The facility, which will be at the vehicle development and testing centre UTAC Millbrook in Bedfordshire, is set to open in late autumn 2026, the firm said.

"UTAC Millbrook allows us to turn UK customer insight into product development, from ride and steering to active safety systems," Gary Lan, CEO of Chery International UK, said.

The move follows a pact with Japanese car manufacturer Nissan  to explore manufacturing Chery's UK passenger vehicles at Nissan's Sunderland facility in Britain.

Chinese car brands now account for about 15% of new UK car registrations in the first half of this year, up from about 10% for the whole of last year, according to SMMT data, boosted by competitive pricing.

SAIC Motor's MG, BYD, and Chery's JAECOO and OMODA ‌are the leading Chinese brands among UK customers, according to the SMMT data.

Chery said that the Bedfordshire centre's initial focus will be on building vehicle chassis and driver-assistance systems tailored to British drivers, eventually expanding into autonomous driving and AI.

"This is about much more than testing individual vehicles. We see this as the sustained momentum of a long-term engineering relationship with Chery Automobile," Kirsty Andrew, vice president, UTAC UK, said.

(Reporting by Simone Lobo in Bengaluru; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair)