On September 3, the 2026 World Power Battery Conference was held in Yibin, Sichuan Province. Yin Tongyue, Party Secretary, Chairman, and President of Chery Automobile Co., Ltd., stated in his address that while China's new energy vehicle (NEV) industry has reached a critical milestone, it simultaneously faces two core challenges: profitability pressure and insufficient green transformation across the entire value chain. He emphasized that the company will leverage multi-pathway battery technology innovation, synergize with the industrial chain, and expand its global footprint to seize the development opportunities presented by new quality productive forces.
On the data front, China's NEV market has crossed a critical watershed. In July this year, the country's monthly NEV penetration rate surpassed 60%, with the cumulative penetration rate for January through July exceeding 50%. "This is a watershed moment," Yin Tongyue emphasized, noting that new energy vehicles are no longer confined to their role as mere transportation - they have evolved into mobile intelligent spaces, distributed energy units, and computing power carriers. Power batteries, too, have transcended their identity as auto parts, becoming an industrial foundation that empowers a wide range of sectors.
Yin noted that Chery has completed its full-scenario electrification layout. Its electric passenger vehicle monthly sales have reached 160,000 units, ranking fourth nationally. Its electric commercial vehicle and electric inland waterway vessel businesses rank second and first in the country, respectively. The company has also expanded into electric motorcycles, electric agricultural machinery, and smart energy, putting into practice its "electrifying everything" industrial vision.
Behind the rapid growth, however, the industry faces a mix of gains and concerns. Yin pointed to two pressing challenges: first, intensifying competition has driven the overall profit margin of the auto manufacturing industry below the manufacturing sector average, with a large number of companies falling into losses; second, electrification does not equal decarbonization - many electric vehicles still rely heavily on thermal power for both production and usage, resulting in high full-lifecycle carbon emissions.
To address the green transition shortfall, Chery has aligned itself with the low-carbon development goals for the auto industry under the 15th Five-Year Plan, advancing carbon reduction across manufacturing, supply chain, and product lines. According to Yin, green electricity now accounts for over 52% of Chery's national production base energy consumption, with more than half of its production power sourced from solar and wind energy. The company has established a green supply chain management system enabling real-time monitoring of supplier carbon emissions, achieved 100% coverage of carbon footprint accounting for all models currently on sale, and built an integrated "vehicle–storage–charging–grid–cloud–carbon" smart energy ecosystem. Chery will join forces with the team led by Academician Ouyang Minggao to tackle key technological challenges, leveraging its Rhino Battery, V2G technology, and distributed energy systems to build a competitive edge in low-carbon development.
On next-generation battery technology, Chery adheres to the principle of "pursuing multiple solutions in parallel - nothing goes on a vehicle unless it is safe enough." Its Rhino Battery covers three product lines: hybrid, pure electric, and solid-state, with solid-state cells achieving an energy density of 400 Wh/kg. The hybrid solid-liquid version is scheduled for vehicle installation in Q4 2026, while the all-solid-state battery is expected to begin on-vehicle validation in 2027.
"On the R&D front, we plan to grow our dedicated solid-state battery team to over 1,200 people within two years, with cumulative dedicated R&D investment exceeding 10 billion yuan," Yin said. He added that the Rhino Battery is equipped with a 360-degree safety protection system - from cell to pack to complete vehicle, every unit must meet the highest safety standards. Each battery undergoes rigorous validation across extreme scenarios including high temperature, extreme cold, high salinity, collision, underbody scraping, and water immersion, ensuring that every battery charges fast, lasts long, and is safe.
In addition, leveraging the power battery industry cluster advantage in Yibin, Chery plans to coordinate with upstream and downstream partners to build a complete industrial loop, while continuing to deepen its local presence - aiming to make Yibin the company's primary battleground for new energy across western China and a core global export base. It is worth noting that as early as March 2024, Chery signed a strategic agreement with Yibin, under which it would utilize its subsidiary Kaiyi Auto as a platform to carry out in-depth, multi-level cooperation in areas including connected vehicle R&D and demonstration operations, power battery and zero-carbon auto industrial parks, and the development of a high-caliber automotive industry cluster.
Yin projected that China's auto exports are expected to surpass 10 million units this year, with new energy vehicles accounting for more than half. "Chery's overseas expansion is not about 'harvesting' - it is about 'cultivating,'" Yin said, adding that the company will work to enable Chinese battery and vehicle technologies to support the low-carbon upgrade of the global auto industry, establish industrial operations in major overseas auto-producing nations, and practice industrial integration and coexistence in the automotive sector.