CHERY AUTOMOBILE: A NEW ASTANA FC SPONSOR

On March 1, 2023, at the Astana Arena stadium, a partnership agreement was solemnly signed between Astana Football Club and the authorized Chery distributor in Kazakhstan – First Motor Group, a subsidiary of Astana Motors.

The partnership with sports teams is a part of Chery’s global initiative. Similar contracts were earlier concluded between the brand’s regional representatives and Santos FC (Brazil), Independiente del Valle (Ecuador), Universidad Católica (Chile), and Spartak (Russia). In 2022, the brand became an automobile partner of the FIFA World Cup Qatar.

In his welcoming speech, Arslan Besspayev, Astana FC General Director, mentioned his expectations for this new partnership, “My team are definitely warriors, they do their utmost to achieve success, but good results require not only personal efforts but also financial support. I believe that cooperation with a reputable company will provide our team with even more ambitions and lead to great and resounding victories.”

According to the agreement, statutory activities of Astana FC will be financed in the amount of 100 million tenge, and Chery will get information and image collaborations.

In his speech, Nurlan Shamgonov, First Motor Group Director, said that “supporting sports activities is an important element of the brand’s social policy. Sport unites countries and continents and creates healthy competition. This meets the values of both Chery and Astana Motors, our parent company.

Aigul Temeshova, Marketing Director at First Motor Group, also commented on this sports initiative, “We see a great potential in this cooperation. The agreement will attract car enthusiasts to Kazakhstan’s sport, promote it, make our players extremely popular and, of course, inform fans and a wider audience of the club of Chery cars’ advantages.”

It is worth mentioning that Chery officially entered Kazakhstan’s market in 2021. The brand has already gained customers’ trust as well as a significant market share among other Chinese brands. Thus, according to the official AKAB (Association of Kazakhstan Auto Business) statistics, in 2022, the brand sold more than 4.4 thousand cars, gained 38 % in the “Chinese” segment of Kazakhstan’s automobile market and ranked 6th in the top 10 most popular car brands in Kazakhstan.

In 2023, Chery is planning to become one of the top 5 best-selling brands in Kazakhstan and develop its social initiatives, i.a. in the sphere of inclusivity. The first steps in this direction were made by the brand’s Kazakhstan distribution department in December 2022; Chery delivered the Chery Tiggo 8 PRO, a seven-seat crossover, to ERZY Association of Persons with Disabilities.