What is Omoda? Complete brand, model and tech guide for UK car buyers

The first of three closely related companies, Omoda has hit the ground running in the UK since its arrival halfway through 2024, outselling brands including Citroen and Lexus this year. Aimed at a younger audience than sister brands Chery (mainstream) and Jaecoo (more upmarket), Omoda’s cars are more crossover-styled than the boxier SUV-like siblings on the same underpinnings from its stablemates. 

The first model to land here was the Omoda 5 – like most other Chinese car companies, the brand employs a very clinical numeric strategy for its car naming. Less clinical than the roots of the Omoda name itself, though, which according to the brand, is a combination of the letter ‘O’, meaning “life and vitality, a symbol of the essential element of life, oxygen”, and Moda, derived from modern fashion.

The 5 is either petrol or electric – called the E5 in another imaginative naming move – and aims squarely for the Nissan Qashqai in petrol form, and Renault’s Scenic with the battery- electric car. The petrol version is the more popular of the two, grabbing around 70 per cent of Omoda 5 sales, through a dealer network still growing from its current 81 out towards 100 by early next year. All are joint Omoda and Jaecoo sites, with Chery also being added alongside them as the parent brand lands in the UK. 

Illustrating how quickly the Chinese brands can react, Omoda has already revamped the 5 in response to criticism of its ride and handling, as well as some infotainment headaches. The front suspension geometry and steering have been updated, alongside a series of small engineering tweaks, and the petrol version has taken on the same infotainment displays, gear selector and wireless charging pad as the EV. All despite the car being well under two years old. 

Following on from the 5 is the 9, a predictably larger model that costs from £45,000 and is looking to steal sales from the Volvo XC60 and Toyota RAV4. The new model joined the range this summer and adds a third different powertrain courtesy of a high-power plug-in hybrid set-up that offers a huge 93 miles of electric range, as well as 443bhp for a sub-five-second 0-62mph time. 

Next up is the Omoda 7, potentially arriving late this year, which slots in the same hybrid powertrain as the larger 9, but should cost from around the £35,000 mark. 

In typically relentless fashion, Omoda won’t stop there. Plenty of other numbers are still spare, with the baby Omoda 4 having been revealed in China earlier this year and making a logical case for being next off the chart. The Kia EV3 rival, which is likely to come here in the second half of next year, would represent a new design dawn for the fledgling brand, being more angular than Omoda’s cars to date.

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