(Yicai) Aug. 4 -- Chinese carmaker Chery Automobile has agreed to invest USD75 million in South Korean peer KG Mobility to deepen their two-year partnership.

Chery Auto and KGM will combine the former's new energy powertrain and global platform technology with the latter's product planning, design, and vehicle deployment experience to speed up the development of new models, the South Korean firm announced yesterday.

They will also expand cooperation in autonomous driving and cutting-edge electrical/electronic architecture, based on software-defined vehicles.

The first car model under the agreement will be the SE-10, a mid-sized sports utility vehicle that carries on the heritage of KGM's Rexton series. It will hit the market early next year in two versions, a plug-in hybrid and a 2.0-liter gasoline engine.

After the SE-10, Chery Auto and KGM will also explore the joint launch of a second vehicle model that can be sold in China, South Korea, and Europe. They plan to build in regional regulations, safety standards, and customer requirements from the product-planning stage, and will negotiate specific vehicle types, specifications, production and sales regions, and division of roles at a later stage.

Moreover, the pair discussed cooperation on robotics and semiconductors, agreeing to explore joint research, verification, and commercialization, based on each side's technologies and capabilities, as well as the joint investment and development of automotive chips.

To expand globally, KGM and Chery Auto agreed to discuss joint investment in overseas production and business sites, planning to make mutual use of global manufacturing facilities, supply chains, and sales and service networks.

They will review specific investment structures for overseas markets where commercial viability has been confirmed and form task forces led by their top managers, with senior leaders from both sides regularly reviewing progress.

The two companies first teamed up in 2024, when they signed a platform licensing deal. The following year, they agreed to jointly develop mid-to-large-size SUVs.

Chery Auto was China's largest vehicle exporter for the 23rd consecutive year in 2025, as it exported 1.3 million vehicles, up 17 percent from the previous year. In July, its monthly exports topped the 200,000 milestone for the first time, bringing the total for the first seven months of the year to 1.1 million units.

Chery Auto's shares [HKG: 9973] were trading down 2.6 percent at HKD26.80 (USD3.42) as of 3.30 p.m. in Hong Kong today.

KGM was previously known as SsangYong Motor. It teamed up with SAIC Motor from 2004 to 2009, when the Chinese carmaker withdrew after the partner was put into receivership. In 2011, SsangYong was acquired by India's Mahindra, but it filed for receivership again in 2020 after Mahindra cut funding. South Korea's KG Group took over in 2022 and renamed SsangYong to KGM the following year.

KGM's stock [KRX: 003620] closed 5.9 percent up at KRW2,855 (USD1.99) today.

Editor: Futura Costaglione