DHL Supply Chain has partnered with Chinese-owned Omoda and Jaecoo on a three-year warehousing contract that will enable specialist storage of parts and components including batteries for electric and hybrid vehicles.

Omoda and Jaecoo, both subsidiaries of Chery Automobile, appointed DHL ahead of their first entry into the UK market. DHL will support aftermarket services for both companies through its warehousing capabilities. Operating from its site in Valley Cross, Rugby, both brands will have access to DHL’s ‘EV Centre of Excellence’, providing them with circular solutions for EV batteries, as well as safe handling and storage.

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DHL Supply Chain will provide Chery’s Omoda and Jaecoo subsidiaries with warehousing for their entry into the UK market

“To ensure both brands thrive in this new market, it’s critical that customers and prospective customers feel confident about having good access to aftermarket services,” said Victor Zhang, executive vice-president, Omoda & Jaecoo UK. “The reliable warehousing solutions provided by DHL will play a key role in helping us to demonstrate an efficient service that customers can trust.”

Mike Bristow, managing director of manufacturing logistics, DHL Supply Chain said: “Our specialist services, decades of experience and consistently high quality make u sthe ideal partner for any manufacturer entering the UK market. As experts in ensuring regulation compliance and driving operational efficiencies, our team is supporting Omoda and Jaecoo with market-leading warehouse solutions.”

Last year, it was reported that a former Volkswagen plant in Kaluga, western Russia was negotiation plans to assemble kits for from Chery for the Omoda S5, a compact SUV. At the time, reports said that the SUV was likely to be marketed under a newborn brand before officially withdrawing the model from the Russian market to return it in the form of a localised version under a new brand name. It seems that the entrance into the UK market may be part of these plans.

China has been a threat to the UK, and wider European, market over recent years. The latest research from the Association of European Vehicle Logistics (ECG) reveals that vehicle exports from China have increased to above 1.3m in the first quarter of the year, up 33% compared to last year. For the whole of 2023 Russia took the majority of vehicle exports from China. China exported 909,000 vehicles to Russia across the year, equal to a 90.9% share of all exports, and an increasing volume are being exported there by rail.

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