Despite COVID-19 challenges and global shortage of semi-conductor chips, Chery sold 961,926 units, which is not only a massive 37% year-on-year increase but also a record-breaking figure for the Chinese automaker.
Among nearly 1 million vehicles it sold last year, Chery exported 269,154 units, which is 136.3% higher when compared to exports from previous year. With that, Chery has retained its title as the leading exporter of Chinese passenger vehicles for 19 consecutive years.
Chery claims a global user base of over 10 million consumers, including 1.95 million users outside of China. Chery attributes its popularity in global markets to the “Pro/ Plus” series of models which boasts enhanced looks & features compared to regular models.
Two of such Pro models– Tiggo-4 Pro and Tigg-8 Pro were unveiled recently as Chery having teamed up with Ghandhara is in process of making a comeback by introducing a range of passenger vehicles in Pakistan. As revealed by the company officials during the event, Chery will launch at least 6/7 more products in the country within the next 2/3 years including sedans and new energy vehicles. The move is part of Chery’s strategy to engage with emerging automotive markets around the world, tailoring brands and products to meet the rising consumer demand.

British sports car maker Lotus now under the influence of Chinese automaker Geely, has commemorated the last examples of the Elise, Exige and Evora as it embraces the new era of its product line. Lotus Elise was launched in 1996, the Exige followed it four years later in 2000 and then came the Evora in 2009.
The three nameplates saw a total of 51,738 units sold over the course of 26 years and represent almost half of the total production of Lotus in its 73-year history. In addition, 9,715 sports cars were built for Lotus’ third-party clients, including GM and Tesla.
The 35,124th and final unit of Elise was a yellow Sport 240 Final Edition, while the 10,497th and final Exige was a heritage racing green Cup 430 Final Edition. Production of the Evora ended at 6,117 units with the final unit being GT430 Sport painted in a dark metallic grey. The last examples of the Elise, Exige and Evora models won’t be up for sale but are instead reserved for Lotus’ heritage collection.
From 1996 to 2000, the first-generation Elise and Exige sports cars were built in a small assembly hall at Hethel alongside the Lotus Esprit. The current assembly lines, which were installed in 2000, will be dismantled and replaced with all-new state-of-the-art facilities to support the manufacturing of Lotus’ final combustion engine model – Emira, with an increased capacity of up to 5,000 units per year on a single shift basis.
Emira which is slated to go into production next spring, is currently undergoing its testing phases. Managing director of Lotus, Matt Windle thanked the team that worked on the production of these models over the year. He said:
“As we say farewell to the last few cars, we look forward to the Emira and Evija in the all-new factories at Hethel and sub-assembly facilities in Norwich.”
The mid-engined sports car Emira will be joined by the first electric Lotus – the Evija hypercar and the most powerful production car in the world – will be the all-electric Type 132, Lotus’ first SUV, which will be revealed to the world in the spring. Under its Vision80 strategy, Lotus plans to launch four new electric vehicles by 2026.

The Kia EV6 has set a new Guinness World Record by driving across the United States with the shortest amount of charging time of any electric vehicle.
The EV6 made history by traveling 2,880.5 miles (4635.7 km) from New York City to Los Angeles over 7 days, and was only plugged in for 7 hours, 10 minutes and 1 second, beating the previous record set by Tesla at 12 hours, 48 minutes and 19 seconds.
Commenting on the achievement, Russell Wager, vice president marketing at Kia America said:
“The EV6’s record-setting run is the latest signal that Kia will be a leader in the popularization of electric vehicles. All of Kia’s world-class engineering and experience in electric vehicles will be applied in the move to electrification. The same attention to detail, design, quality, technology and driving dynamics that Kia has become known for will be found in every new electric vehicle we bring to market.”
The EV6 is the first model to be launched under Kia’s Plan S strategy which puts electrification at the forefront of the company’s future. Kia’s first dedicated electric vehicle has also achieved product carbon footprint certification and ‘Carbon Measured’ label from the global climate change and sustainability consultancy the Carbon Trust, becoming the first Korean vehicle manufacturer to achieve the certificate.