New Chery Tiggo 7 review: low price makes flaws more easily overlooked

Verdict

The Chery Tiggo 7 is a very strong introduction to the UK market. Established rivals are better to drive and we hope build quality will improve in time, but the Tiggo 7 has a lot to offer with extremely competitive pricing, stacks of equipment and enough practicality for most family SUV buyers. 

It’s hard to keep track of all the new Chinese brands entering the UK market right now, but as our deep dive into Chery at its launch event at the O2 arena suggested, this is one to be reckoned with. Our experience of the company begins with the Tiggo 7, which enters the market as a rival to the likes of the big-selling Nissan Qashqai and Kia Sportage. 

Plus there are plenty more alternatives to the Tiggo 7 from within the wider ‘Chery Automobile’ group, which also contains the Omoda and Jaecoo brands. The three are looking to consolidate on very strong recent sales figures, with the Jaecoo 7 becoming the sixth best-selling car in the UK this August and the group growing its market share to 2.96 per cent - up from 2.1 per cent as recently as June. 

On the face of it, there’s no reason why the Tiggo 7 shouldn’t achieve similar success or even eclipse the Jaecoo 7 because the two share the same platform, technology and engines. Even more crucially, the Chery brand is focusing on affordability and the Tiggo 7 costs from just £24,995. 

That price is for the 145bhp turbocharged 1.6-litre pure-petrol; if you want that engine in the Jaecoo 7, you’re looking at a touch over £30,000. The plug-in hybrid Tiggo 7, which Chery calls ‘Super Hybrid’, uses the same system as the £35,165 Jaecoo 7 - except it costs just £29,995 here. That makes the Tiggo 7 Super Hybrid the UK’s cheapest plug-in hybrid. 

Don’t go thinking Chery has achieved this price by stripping the Tiggo 7 of the essentials. As we’ve come to expect from Chinese cars, the Tiggo 7 is packed with equipment. The entry-level Aspire has twin 12.3-inch screens with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, LED lights front and rear, a six-way powered driver’s seat, dual-zone automatic air-conditioning and a wide-view rear camera.

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The only other trim level on the Tiggo 7 is Summit, which costs £3,000 extra. This adds a powered bootlid, a four-way powered passenger seat, a dual-panoramic sunroof, an upgraded Sony sound system and an around-view camera system that includes a ‘view’ through the chassis. 

Step inside the Tiggo 7 and you’re met with a cabin that on the surface at least, belies its budget price tag. The steering wheel is the most obvious indication of parts-sharing, given that it’s the same one you get in the Jaecoo 7, but elsewhere the faux-carbon on the dash and some detailing (such as the silver window switches, pronounced panels for the speakers and door handles) has more than a whiff of Mercedes about it. 

There were quite a few creaks and squeaks in the Tiggo 7, but we’re hoping this is an issue that only afflicts these early test cars. In comparison, we found the Tiggo 8 to be better screwed together.

Another part of the Chery’s interior that seems inspired by other brands is the wood-style panel on the centre of the dash. It looks very similar to the Nissan Ariya’s and has pretty much the same bank of climate controls. The Nissan’s respond better, however, and the Tiggo 7’s often require a couple of touches. 

The driver’s display isn’t without fault either. It’s a big screen, which is hidden behind the steering wheel, with key information (such as the speedometer) pushed to the corners for some reason. Even for a fairly young company like Chery, this seems like an astonishing oversight to us. 

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The Chery’s central touchscreen with its Snapdragon processor responds exceptionally well, though, and is ready to load up menus almost instantly. The infotainment itself is pretty easy to navigate, although the shortcuts at the button are a little small – bigger buttons for these frequently used functions would save some hassle. We also found Apple CarPlay connectivity to be a breeze, managing to connect in a matter of seconds. 

If you go to push the starter button in the Tiggo 7 Super Hybrid, as you would in the pure-petrol model, you’ll find Chery has blanked over the button. Instead, the car is ready to go on electric power as soon as you’ve shifted into drive. What is immediately obvious is that the plug-in hybrid system heavily prioritises electric-running, to the extent that the Tiggo 7 somewhat feels like a range-extender to drive.

Chery’s new fifth-generation plug-in hybrid system features a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine supplemented by an 18.3kWh battery sending power to an electric motor for a total of 201bhp and 365Nm of torque. The electric motor is designed to do much of the heavy lifting and we tried mashing the throttle several times with no audible interruption from the petrol engine, which is drowned out by tyre and wind noise well before. 

A selection of drive modes can be selected by the rather large dial on the centre console, but we didn’t notice much difference between the three (Eco, Normal and Sport). With a kerbweight of 1,795kg, the Qashqai-sized Tiggo 7 isn’t particularly light, but it’ll sprint to 62mph in a perfectly adequate 8.5 seconds and the electric motor and petrol engine worked together smoothly. The three-speed gearbox, which is bespoke to the plug-in hybrid, felt a little hesitant at points. 

The Tiggo 7 Super Hybrid’s preference for electric propulsion does pose the question of EV range - which is a claimed 56 miles. That’s 13 miles more than a Kia Sportage PHEV and even three miles more than the new Citroen C5 Aircross, which packs a larger 21kWh battery. During our test we saw a very impressive range of 45 miles. Plus the Tiggo 7’s clever packaging means the battery doesn’t impact on boot space, which stands at a whopping 565 litres. 

Thanks to the electric motor taking over much of the time, the refinement levels are pretty decent. All models get double-glazed windows, which helps dampen exterior noise - though at motorway speeds we could hear plenty of tyre roar. The ride itself was a slight let-down, because while the Tiggo 7 has rightly been set up for comfort over any kind of sharp dynamics (and wallows around on country roads as a result), there’s an underlying harshness too. It’s not something that would put us off a long journey, but a Kia Sportage or Hyundai Tucson would probably leave you feeling more refreshed after several hours. 

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