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Chery-owned brand heads for the UK with a competitively priced Kona rival

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The dearth of low-priced petrol cars on sale today can’t have escaped many of us, so it is with interest that we run the road test rule over the Omoda 5 – a decently powerful Chinese answer to the Volkswagen T-Roc and Nissan Qashqai that costs about £25k.

If you’ve not yet heard of Omoda, there’s every chance you’ll know of its parent company. State-owned Chery was founded in 1997 and is China’s most prolific exporter of cars, even if BYD has now overtaken it domestically. The Omoda sub-brand is one half of a two-pronged attack on overseas markets. It will offer crossovers with “statement” designs while Jaecoo will look to undercut rivals in the more SUV-flavoured sphere, starting with its Range Rover Velar-aping 7. The marques will share dealerships, of which 100 are planned in the UK by 2026, with 60 already in place.

More than that, while Omoda’s cars are currently made in Wuhu, in eastern China, discussions are taking place as to whether a UK plant would be advantageous. The company is already committed to taking over an old Nissan plant in Barcelona, and the 5 itself has been tuned by a team based in Frankfurt – one led by a former JLR engineer.

On paper, the 5 therefore looks a credible threat to the incumbents. What we will now learn is whether that also happens to be the reality.

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DESIGN & STYLING

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Omodo 5 review 2024 02 pannning

The 5 comes in two flavours: the four-cylinder petrol car seen here and the electric Omoda E5. Both use the same steel monocoque and suspension layout (in some markets the rear axle has a torsion beam, but not in the UK) and have a similar level of performance. The platform is Chery’s modular ‘T1X’, introduced in 2017 and for which the wheelbase can range from 2560-2800mm.

In the case of the 5, that distance is 2630mm. In its dimensions, the car almost perfectly splits the difference between the T-Roc and Tiguan VW crossovers, and is very closely matched to the Nissan Qashqai.

Power comes from a 1598cc turbo engine made by AVL, based in Graz, Austria. It develops a decent-bang-for-buck 183bhp and drives through a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox built by Getrag, and that’s similar to what you will find in a Mercedes GLA. Cars destined for the UK are front-wheel drive for now, though Omoda does pair this motor with four-wheel drive elsewhere.

Kerb weight for our base-spec Comfort model is claimed at 1430kg and tested at 1474kg with the 51-litre fuel tank full. This makes it around 5% heavier than the mechanically similar Qashqai we tested in 2021, with an almost identical weight distribution, at 60:40 front to rear.

Meanwhile, the Omoda has a very competitive turning circle at 10.2m (versus 11.1m for the Qashqai and 10.6m for the even smaller T-Roc). The 5 also achieved a five-star safety rating from Euro NCAP.

INTERIOR

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Omodo 5 review 2024 08 dash

You might expect the cabins of the 5 and the E5 to be identical, but the electric car’s interior is “half a generation” ahead, in the words of one Omoda exec.

The differences are small but they add up: the E5’s dash has softer trim, the transmission tunnel has a cleaner design, and there is smarter integration of things like window switches and speaker covers. Inside, the electric car feels quite a bit more plush, as well it might with prices starting not at £25k but £33k.

The essential layout is the same for both cars, however, and it is a reasonably successful one. The driving position is a touch high but there’s just enough adjustability in the steering column and the seats (electrically adjustable, no matter the trim level) themselves are more sculpted than you would typically find on a car at this price. You can get comfortable and on acquaintance the 5 feels grown-up for the money, especially with its side-by-side 10.3in displays, which perch atop the dash but aren’t at all intrusive, as is often the case. Full-width vents and a steering wheel squared off at its base are straight from the Audi playbook.

Underneath all the superficial slickness, this cabin is obviously built to a price, and you would expect nothing less. Every material, no matter how it appears, is made of plastic, and there’s play in some of the switchgear. Plastics outside of direct view are also often hard and unsculpted and feel very basic.

Oddment storage is fine, and the central cubby is deep and can be fed by the air-conditioning system, should you want to keep, for example, a sandwich in there. The sloped section of the centre console also cradles phones, and that’s useful if, for whatever reason, you don’t want to link up and use Apple CarPlay or Android Auto via the central display. The graphics and menus of the native system are fine but do feel a touch ‘aftermarket’.

Where the 5 struggles to be competitive is from the second row back. That rakish, sloping roofline comes at the expense of head room in the back (not to mention a very small rear window, inhibiting visibility). At 680mm, rear leg room is also short of what you would find in a Nissan Qashqai and even some smaller cars such as the Hyundai Kona. The shortfall isn’t too marked, but along with the way the side rails sit low, it creates a sense of tightness.

Boot space is also poor, at an official 380 litres – or 76 litres less than in the considerably smaller Ford Puma. A Qashqai offers 504 litres and an MG HS 463 litres. We suspect that Omoda’s figure doesn’t factor in the shallow cavity beneath the boot floor, but this is still a small space.

When taken with the constraints of the second row, it’s clear that the 5 isn’t particularly clever in packaging terms, given its near-4.5m of length to work with.

ENGINES & PERFORMANCE

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Omodo 5 review 2024 22 engine

For a car in this class, dispatching the sprint to 60mph in anything less than eight seconds is fair going. On our watch the 5 needed only 7.3sec, which is better than the maker’s claim and just about anything else in the crossover sphere at this price. The more expensive Nissan Qashqai, in 156bhp form, clocked 10.0sec, while the similarly priced Hyundai Kona 1.0 took 10.4sec.

Raw performance is about the extent of its appeal, however. While not outright uncouth and passably refined under light loads, this motor has a heavy-set, blaring manner when you ask a lot of it and lacks the peppy character of this segment’s various three-cylinder options or the linear, clinical delivery of something like VW’s 2.0 TSI, which you can have in the T-Roc. It is purely, remorselessly functional as a means of powering the 5.

The gearbox is also a frustrating device. It starts with the lever itself, which often requires a second, very deliberate input from the driver if you want to move from forward drive and into reverse, or vice versa. A by-wire command like this should not be vulnerable to such an issue. When you pull off the mark, the handbrake is often all too slow to automatically release, meaning you set off with a lurch and pointless swell of revs. Again, this is just poor calibration and it sets a tone of general irritation.

At low speeds, under low loads, and if you have a bit of lock on (pulling out of a T-junction, for instance), the driveline also sometimes has the peculiar feeling of not fully engaging, as if the clutch is slipping. We won’t attempt to diagnose the problem here, but it is another example of the 5 feeling unfinished. 

When you’re up and running, this ’box never seems happy with whatever ratio it has chosen, in the words of one tester. Indeed, it is only settled once you’re on the motorway, when it can slot into seventh and doesn’t overthink.

The lack of drivability really hurts the overall appeal of the 5. As we have seen, it is an impressively quick crossover for its class, but it constantly frustrates and urban drivers in particular will quickly grow tired of the driveline’s evident rough edges and its over-exertions.

Braking performance follows a similar pattern. The data isn’t bad, and figures of 44.4m and 8.5m for stops from 70mph and 30mph respectively are not to be sniffed at. But the 5’s vicious pitch and shimmying under hard braking was unusual, and the system also exhibited a notable level of fade. It all builds a picture of this car not being as robust as you would like.

RIDE & HANDLING

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Omodo 5 review 2024 23 urban

Ask little of the 5 and it is passably inoffensive. In its steering and body control it has a languid manner that ought to suit the use case for which it will be bought. Its long-wave gait is reasonably slick on smoother roads. It is Qashqai-quiet.

Alas, it doesn’t take long for a fundamental lack of cohesiveness to become apparent. Discernible roll isn’t necessarily to be feared, especially in a car like this, but when it is so ill-matched to the steering’s rate of response, it makes for a tiring driving experience.

The 5 isn’t exactly cantankerous, but it lacks the precision and verve that Ford, Kia and VW do well. The steering, in particular, is wearisome. It has a woolly, elastic action that makes the car hard to place if the road narrows. Turn in to a corner quickly and you also have to wait a moment for the body to take up the slack in the suspension before the nose bites and the car begins to change direction.

The result is a car that constantly feels not only indirect but also bigger and heavier than it really is.

As for ride, the 5 is fine on the motorway, especially with its comfortable seats. But slower, coarser roads quickly generate a brittleness underwheel that feels unsophisticated in 2024. This is not only unpleasant but also incongruous in a car with such soft springs. The set-up seems jumbled.

MPG & RUNNING COSTS

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Omodo 5 review 2024 01 front cornering

The 5 is cheap to buy, should be straightforward to own and service with Omoda/Jaecoo’s rapidly expanding dealer network, and is well equipped as standard (the base Comfort model gets plenty of ADAS, a Sony sound system and heated seats, to which Noble adds a 360deg camera, two-zone air-con and a power sunroof).

However, it isn’t in a class of one in terms of value: Citroën’s C5 Aircross and the new MG HS are similar, and are also more rounded cars in the main.

As for economy, the 5 returned 42.2mpg in our new everyday test and 38.2mpg for touring.

VERDICT

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Omodo 5 review 2024 25 static

There is currently much demand for keenly priced practical cars, and with decent equipment levels, a grown-up persona and segment-leading performance, Omoda’s first UK model should be well placed to meet that demand. In some ways, it delivers. For the price, this cabin is hospitable and the technological array is strong enough.

But in a crowded field, it’s also nigh-impossible to recommend this new crossover because of its poor drivability, seeming collection of teething problems and so-so efficiency. It frustrates too often, and there is too much quality elsewhere.

Richard Lane

Richard Lane, Autocar
Title: Deputy road test editor

Richard joined Autocar in 2017 and like all road testers is typically found either behind a keyboard or steering wheel (or, these days, a yoke).

As deputy road test editor he delivers in-depth road tests and performance benchmarking, plus feature-length comparison stories between rival cars. He can also be found presenting on Autocar's YouTube channel.

Mostly interested in how cars feel on the road – the sensations and emotions they can evoke – Richard drives around 150 newly launched makes and models every year. His job is then to put the reader firmly in the driver's seat.