Now, looks like Chery is back with a bang! Up till March this year, the brand has maintained a monthly global sales figure of more than 100,000 units for 10 consecutive months. The brand also saw a new sales record in the first quarter, as its cumulative sales increased 44.1% year-on-year. With these exciting figures in the background, this month also saw the brand making a long-expected return to Malaysian with the double launch of the Chery Tiggo 8 Pro SUV, and the Omoda 5 Crossover recently.
Interestingly enough, unlike how fellow China brand Geely did with its own Proton partnership to launch its products here in Malaysia, Chery is introducing both of its new cars in Completely Knocked Down (CKD) form, with no initial small Completely Built Up (CBU) batch to ‘test the waters’! Instead, both its new cars will be built locally at the Inokom assembly plant in Kulim, Kedah, right from the start. This marks the first step in turning the facility into Chery’s very own ASEAN production hub! And to round off the excitement here in Malaysia, the Chinese automaker now offers a 10-year or one million km engine warranty for the first 3,000 buyers of either launch model. Of course, the standard warranty reverts back to seven years afterwards.
Compared to the original Tiggo 8 Pro launched globally last year, the seven-seater, three row SUV previewed in Malaysia gets an updated look featuring a new “galaxy” grille, with the rear end sporting a full-width LED bar and fancy T-shaped third brake lights. The wheels are now 19-inch items, wrapped with 235/55 tyres. Under the hood is a 2.0 litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine with 250 hp and 390 Nm of torque. Power from the GDI engine goes to the front wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, and there are three drive modes – Eco, Normal and Sport.
Priced at RM159,800, the car also gets an electronic parking brake with auto hold, automatic LED headlamps with LED daytime running lights, LED tail lamps, welcome lights and multi-colour ambient lighting, electric front seats with ventilation/heating, driver’s seat memory, dual-zone auto air con with rear vents, hands-free powered tailgate, electronic panoramic sunroof and a wireless phone charger.
Apple CarPlay and Android Auto is available, too, alongside a full ADAS suite with lane departure warning, blind spot detection, door open warning, rear cross-traffic alert, adaptive cruise control, and front collision warning with auto braking (AEB). Finally, parking is aided by an all-around view camera.
Meanwhile, the RM118,80 Chery Omoda 5 compact crossover is perhaps perfectly positioned to rival segment mates like the Honda HRV or Proton X50! Sitting on 18-inch wheels, its powered by a 1.5-litre, turbocharged inline four-cylinder petrol engine, paired with a CVT transmission with nine virtual gears delivering 156 hp and 230 Nm to the front wheels. The Omoda 5’s sculpted shape with blacked out rear pillars and a full-width strip for the tail is part of the brand’s ‘Art of Motion’ design language that Chery says is meant to appeal to “young consumers in the 25-30-year-old age group”.
Inside, the dashboard also sports co-joined 10.25-inch multi-function screens and you don’t need to dive into the touchscreen for vital controls like AC functions. Control dials are instead stealthily embedded in the trim – an important safety consideration the as drivers can easily adjust a multitude of settings without looking away the front. There’s also a full ADAS suite, as with the Tiggo 8 Pro, along with wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto and wireless charging for devices, too.
For more information, visit Chery Malaysia’s website
