Chinese giant Chery will launch its eponymous car brand in the UK this year with a line-up of two SUVs.
They are understood by Autocar to be the Tiggo 7 and Tiggo 8, a pair of mid-sized crossovers based on the same underpinnings as sibling brand Jaecoo’s 5 and 7 models, and Omoda’s 3, 5, 7 and 9.
The move comes days after Chery’s Chinese compatriot, Geely, also announced it would launch its self-named brand in the UK. The market has proven fruitful for several Chinese brands, most notably Jaecoo, which has already registered more than 8000 cars in the UK this year – its first here. That is more than several established brands such as Fiat (6136 cars) and Jeep (6624 cars), and puts it within touching distance of Suzuki (9499).
Rival BYD, which arrived in the UK in 2023, has registered 19,390 cars so far this year, outselling Mazda, Honda and Seat.
The Chery Tiggo 7 is positioned as a rival for the Dacia Bigster, Kia Sportage and Volkswagen Tiguan, measuring 4.51m long, 1.86m wide and 1.69m tall. In Australia, it is offered with the same selection of pure-petrol and plug-in hybrid powertrains as the related Jaecoo 7, putting out 184bhp and 201bhp respectively.
It is priced from $29,990 in Australia (equivalent to £14,390), though it is likely to have a higher price in the UK, given the cost of shipping in addition to local taxes. Nonetheless, it is expected to be one of the most affordable options in its class when it arrives in showrooms later this year and is likely to trade blows with the £25,515 Bigster.
The seven-seat Tiggo 8 is significantly longer, at 4.72m long, lining it up against European cars such as the Volkswagen Tayron and Peugeot 5008. It can be had with a choice of a 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine that sends 241bhp through a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox, or a 1.5-litre, single-motor plug-in hybrid powertrain, for which a combined power output has yet to be disclosed.
It is priced from $45,990 in Australia (£22,000), though it is also expected to cost notably more in the UK. For reference, the Omoda 9 – with a more potent dual-motor PHEV powertrain – is priced from £44,990.
Chery has yet to officially confirm either the Tiggo 7 or Tiggo 8 for the UK but said it will unveil its first UK-bound car at this week’s Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Bringing the Chery brand to the UK means the firm will have launched five marques here. Omoda and Jaecoo were first to arrive, in 2024, and the value-focused Lepas and off-road-biased iCaur (known as iCar in China) brands are due in the coming months. Chery is also the driving force behind the revival of Freelander with JLR and its T1X platform will underpin the reborn brand’s first model.
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What's the point of Chery launching all these model ranges here in the UK? surely as these names mean little to the average punter so why not use the manufacturers name and have Jaecoo & Omoda as model ranges. within that. Why should the UK prices of the new Tiggo cars be so much higher here than in Australia after all costs of production must be quite similar as they both are right hand drive and the costs of transporting cars here surely be that different can they? or is it just another excuse to rip off motorists here
If we don't watch out our own Western brands are going to disappear,there see to be more and more Chinese brands , America suffered the same demise.
No, America has not suffered any demise in its motor industry due to the Chinese, due to Trump's Tariffs which have prevented Chinese models from selling in the USA. This is the one and only policy of Trump's that I agree with, assuming we want to keep a European car industry?