Chery aims for ‘German feeling’ with new UK-bound Tiggo X SUVs
Chery is priming the next phase in its plan to conquer the British market with four new models, including a new Tiggo X product family and an R&D centre in Bedfordshire.
The Chinese brand is marking a full year of UK sales, during which it has sold some 29,000 cars.
Although that’s behind sibling marques Jaecoo and Omoda (the Jaecoo 7 SUV has alone recorded nearly 53,000 sales since its launch in late 2024), Chery’s UK MD, Farrell Hsu, said it has already exceeded its sales target for 2026.
His ambition, he said, is to challenge brands such as Volkswagen – to sell “people’s cars” to the mass market.
Key to that ambition will be the rapid expansion of its line-up: it currently sells the Tiggo 4, Tiggo 7, Tiggo 8 and Tiggo 9 SUVs here as rivals to the likes of the Ford Puma, Volkswagen Tiguan and Skoda Kodiaq.
Next year it will bring four new or updated SUVs to the market, one of which will be an electric car. Although the Tiggo X name has yet to be finalised, the range is likely to include the Tiggo X SUV that was unveiled at this year’s Beijing motor show.
The Tiggo X is positioned as Chery’s new flagship, being a 5.0m-long, seven-seat SUV with a fashionable boxy design and a plug-in hybrid powertrain.
Chinese media reports suggest it puts out a combined 476bhp and 465lb ft of torque, with an electric-only range of around 124 miles on the generous CLTC test cycle.
Details on any other Tiggo X-branded models remain to be disclosed, but Hsu said they will bring a “different feeling” to the Tiggos 4, 7, 8 and 9. They will have a “lifestyle” focus, hinting at boxier styling and light off-roading capabilities.
Chery has also committed to making sure its cars better suit the British market. Its new R&D centre at the UTAC Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire will initially operate as a “translation centre”, said Hsu, putting feedback from local customers and media into terms that Chinese engineers can act upon.
It will also modify its cars’ steering, chassis set-ups and advanced driver assistance systems to cope with British roads, which are tighter, bendier and generally in worse condition than those in China.
“We will test everything and then tell HQ what they need to do,” Hsu explained. This will give Chery the ability to more quickly test retrofitted modifications, such as new dampers, bushings or software calibrations, and therefore introduce changes at a quicker pace.
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