CHERY TIGGO 7

Chery comes to UK as stand-alone brand with cut-price Tiguan rival

- KRIS CULMER

Jaecoo and Omoda have been in the UK for only a year, yet the sibling brands’ respective 7 and 5 mid-sized SUVs have already grabbed them a combined market share of 1.5%. In an arena infamous for brand snobbery and suspicion of the unfamiliar, this is unprecedented and astonishing. Buoyed by the success, their parent company, Chery, is now introducing Brits to its eponymous brand too.

Chery the brand arrives with two SUVs, the Tiggo 7 and seven-seat Tiggo 8, which are closely related to the aforementioned 7 and 5 – same platform, same powertrains, same interior technology – and have similarly head-turning pricing.

So, just more of the same?

Not quite, because a separate dealership network is being built and each brand has a distinct positioning: Chery is the most affordable and meant to make families happy, while Jaecoo seeks off-roady adventure and Omoda has its finger on the fashion pulse.

At 4.55m long, the Tiggo 7 is comparable to the Ford Kuga, Vauxhall Grandland and Volkswagen Tiguan, except it is many thousands of pounds cheaper: £24,955 as a petrol or £29,995 as a plugin hybrid – and that’s with all the standard kit you would expect and some you might not.