Chine
Kaiyi
Kaiyi is a Chinese automaker founded in January 2014 under the name Cowin Auto (Kaiwen in Chinese), as a wholly owned subsidiary of Chery Automobile, China's third-largest automotive group and the leading exporter of Chinese-brand vehicles. The brand initially served as a low-cost entry-level line within the Chery ecosystem. In December 2017, following a capital restructuring, control of the company passed to the municipality of Yibin, in Sichuan province: city-affiliated subsidiaries acquired a majority stake (51%) while Chery retained 49%, with the company being relocated to Yibin and renamed Yibin Kaiyi Automobile Co., Ltd. In 2022, Chery continued to scale back its involvement and the ownership structure stabilized around a majority held by the Yibin municipal government (through a public investment company) and a minority stake of roughly 18% retained by Chery. That same year, 2022, the commercial brand changed from Cowin to Kaiyi, marking a repositioning toward more modern products. The main Yibin plant, inaugurated in 2019, became the brand's industrial heart, complementing Chery's historic facilities in Wuhu. Also in 2022, Kaiyi created Kaiyi International to drive its overseas expansion: the brand established itself in more than thirty markets across Africa, South America, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, with a network of hundreds of dealers and service points. Local assembly sites were opened in Russia (2023) and Cambodia (2024), and the brand entered the Philippine market in April 2025. Kaiyi remains a young brand, backed by Chinese public capital, designed to offer affordable vehicles. To date, it has no official presence or distribution network in North America: its vehicles are neither sold nor certified in Canada or the United States, making it a brand that is essentially unknown in the Quebec market.
ActiveÉlectrique / hybrideCamion / utilitaireChinoises
History
History of Kaiyi
Kaiyi is a Chinese automaker founded in January 2014 under the name Cowin Auto (Kaiwen in Chinese), as a wholly owned subsidiary of Chery Automobile, China's third-largest automotive group and the leading exporter of Chinese-brand vehicles. The brand initially served as a low-cost entry-level line within the Chery ecosystem. In December 2017, following a capital restructuring, control of the company passed to the municipality of Yibin, in Sichuan province: city-affiliated subsidiaries acquired a majority stake (51%) while Chery retained 49%, with the company being relocated to Yibin and renamed Yibin Kaiyi Automobile Co., Ltd. In 2022, Chery continued to scale back its involvement and the ownership structure stabilized around a majority held by the Yibin municipal government (through a public investment company) and a minority stake of roughly 18% retained by Chery. That same year, 2022, the commercial brand changed from Cowin to Kaiyi, marking a repositioning toward more modern products. The main Yibin plant, inaugurated in 2019, became the brand's industrial heart, complementing Chery's historic facilities in Wuhu. Also in 2022, Kaiyi created Kaiyi International to drive its overseas expansion: the brand established itself in more than thirty markets across Africa, South America, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, with a network of hundreds of dealers and service points. Local assembly sites were opened in Russia (2023) and Cambodia (2024), and the brand entered the Philippine market in April 2025. Kaiyi remains a young brand, backed by Chinese public capital, designed to offer affordable vehicles. To date, it has no official presence or distribution network in North America: its vehicles are neither sold nor certified in Canada or the United States, making it a brand that is essentially unknown in the Quebec market.
Public founding or origin of Kaiyi.
Technologies
Technologies, innovations and platforms
Kaiyi develops its vehicles on three in-house platforms: i-FA (upper-segment gasoline and plug-in hybrid models), i-EA (electric models), and i-XA. The gasoline powertrains are built around turbocharged engines from the Kunpeng family (1.5T, 1.6T, and 2.0T), often paired with CVT or automatic transmissions, along with naturally aspirated 1.5L engines on entry-level models. The lineup is electrifying through plug-in hybrid versions, such as the Kunlun iHD combining a 1.5T, an electric motor, and a CATL lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery, and through fully electric models (X3 Pro EV, Shiyue) with LFP batteries. The safety and driver-assistance equipment follows common Chinese standards (ABS, ESC, ADAS aids on recent versions), without distinctive cutting-edge technology.
Brand image
Identity, reputation, strengths and weaknesses
Positioning
An affordable Chinese brand from the Chery group, focused on accessible SUVs and sedans—gasoline, hybrid, and electric—for emerging markets.
Reputation
Because Kaiyi is a recent brand with limited distribution, mainly present in emerging markets, independent data on reliability, resale value, and comparative testing is scarce. Its low-price positioning and its grounding in the Chery world suggest functional, affordable products, but without the historical track record needed to establish a solid reputation. The brand is unknown in North America, where no reliability rating or residual value applies. In its export markets, perception rests mainly on the price-to-equipment ratio rather than on a reputation for durability, and the after-sales network there is still being built out.
Strengths
Kaiyi benefits from the engineering, platforms, and Kunpeng powertrains of the Chery group, which allows it to offer well-equipped SUVs and sedans, plug-in hybrid and electric versions, at very competitive prices. Its backing by a Chinese public shareholder and a major exporter gives it industrial resources and the capacity for rapid international expansion into emerging markets.
Points to watch
A young and little-known brand, Kaiyi lacks a track record on long-term reliability and resale value. Its service network is still developing outside China, and it is completely absent from North America: no certified vehicles, no parts, and no dealerships in Canada. Its name recognition and trust rating remain low, and sourcing replacement parts there would be problematic.
Models
Kaiyi models
Current or active models by market
Production and compatibility
Plants, tires and wheels
Production
Kaiyi is centered on its plant in Yibin, in China's Sichuan province, inaugurated in 2019 and which became the brand's main industrial hub after its relocation; it also benefits from historic capacity tied to Chery in Wuhu (Anhui). To serve its export markets, Kaiyi has set up local assembly, notably in Russia (starting in 2023) and Cambodia (2024). The brand has no plant or assembly line in North America and neither produces nor sells vehicles there. Its manufacturing remains concentrated in China, supplemented by a few assembly sites abroad intended for emerging markets.
Tires and wheels
Kaiyi models are mostly compact to mid-size SUVs and sedans—formats associated with wheels typically ranging from 16 to 19 inches depending on the model and trim. Family-segment SUVs tend toward the larger diameters, while sedans and city cars lean toward the smaller ones. As with most passenger vehicles built on Chinese platforms, common bolt patterns such as 5x114.3 can be expected on the larger models. Since the brand is not distributed in Quebec, these reference points remain indicative. In the Quebec context, dedicated winter tires would remain essential for any vehicle of this size, and the choice of sizes should follow the manufacturer's placard on the specific vehicle concerned.