(Yicai) Oct. 19 -- Chery Automobile, the Chinese owner of brands Tiggo and Exeed, will keep making gas-powered cars while its new energy vehicle strategy will focus on hybrids amid tightening competition, according to the deputy general manager.

All of Chery's four major car brands will gradually develop NEVs, Li Xueyong from the Wuhu-based company said in a recent interview with Yicai. But the future is not only electric as by 2025, hybrid cars should make up 40 percent of the market whereas the two categories of gas cars and NEVs are both likely to occupy 30 percent shares, the brand predicted.

The competition is heating up as only three to five Chinese car marques are expected to survive in the future and the same is true for three to five joint ventures, Li said, adding that the next two years are critical in assessing the winners.

China is a big country and electric vehicles have their limitations in terms of mileage so gas cars are here to stay, Li said. Within Chery's export markets, fuel vehicles dominate over 80 percent of sales so the firm needs to respond to international demand, he added. Chery exported 648,000 vehicles in the first nine months of this year, more than doubling from a year ago, according to public information.

Chery will continue to increase its efforts to attain 25,000 research and development talents in the next five years with an investment of no less than CNY100 billion (USD13.7 billion), the company said during the Chery Technology Day on Oct. 16.

Editor: Emmi Laine