The flood of cut-price Chinese vehicles continues with the Tiggo 7 Pro, a five-seat mid-sized SUV targeting big names such as the Toyota RAV4, Mazda CX-5 and Nissan X-Trail.
VALUE
As with any newcomer, offering more for less is a key part of the appeal of the Tiggo 7.
It’s available in three flavours and we’ve tested the entry-level Urban here.
Priced from $39,990 drive-away, it’s in the meat of the medium SUV segment, but the list of equipment trounces many big players.
There are 18-inch wheels, a panoramic sunroof, imitation leather trim, heated and powered front seats, wireless phone charging and dual curved 12.3-inch screens incorporating wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
There’s also some carbon-look trim, quality plastics and silver highlights to reinforce the up-market feel.
Impressively, it also comes with a full-size spare wheel, although one omission is digital radio tuning.
COMFORT
It’s clear Chery is trying to impress with attention to detail, although sometimes it’s misplaced. The 15 seconds of welcome music when you first sit inside is over the top.
You can select between three very different layouts for the screen, each of which changes the look markedly. In any mode, though, there’s the occasional frustration; adjust the air flow, for example, and the AC display temporarily takes over the screen.
We also had Apple CarPlay fail to activate sometimes, forcing a dive into the menus to reconnect it manually.
The system wants to talk at you for some functions, including when changing drive modes. The warnings of not concentrating are also occasionally overeager.
But the front seats have fixed headrests for a sporty look and back it up with support in the right places.
A tall centre console up front houses a deep storage bin as well as an open area beneath its main floating section.
Those in the rear have great headroom and foot space, so even adults will have little to whinge about. There are air vents and a single USB-C for gadgets.
The tall boot does without a luggage cover but has a decent flat space along with 60/40 split-fold functionality.
SAFETY
The Tiggo has eight airbags and a lengthy list of driver assist tech that includes blind-spot warning, speed-sign recognition, auto braking in forward and reverse, rear cross-traffic alert ...
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