Written by Matt de Prez Published: 10 September 2025

Overview

Should you buy a Chery Tiggo 7?

If price is your primary objective then the Chery Tiggo 7 is likely to be a very attractive family SUV. It’s the cheapest car in its segment, comes well equipped, and it’s available as an efficient plug-in hybrid. But there are some extremely credible rivals in this segment – most of which are more modern and better to drive.

The Tiggo 7 feels like it was built to compete with cars from a previous generation. The latest Hyundais, Kias and MGs feel more honed for UK roads, but they do all cost more.

To compensate, Chery has loaded the car with spec, ensuring you can’t get more for your money anywhere else. There’s also an impressive seven-year/100,000-mile warranty. Early PCP deals look promising, at around £300 per month and the low list price of £24,995 will undoubtedly secure plenty of sales.

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What’s new?

Everything. Chery is a brand new manufacturer in the UK and the Tiggo 7, along with the larger Tiggo 8, are its debut models. Who is Chery, you ask? Well, it’s part of the group behind the Omoda and Jaecoo brands. The latter, of course, bringing us the unfortunately-nicknamed ‘Temu Range Rover.’

Using a stack them high and sell them cheap mentality, Chery is looking to take a decent chunk of the budget car market, filling the gaps left by brands such as Hyundai and Kia as they have moved upmarket.

The Tiggo 7 and Tiggo 8 will shortly be followed by two more SUVs – the smaller Tiggo 3 and the larger Tiggo 9. A dealer network with 26 sites has already been established and a further 24 are poised to open imminently. Within 18 months, Chery plans to have more than 100 retail sites in the UK.

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On to the car. As a family SUV, the Tiggo 7 competes with some of the UK’s best-selling models. That includes the Nissan Qashqai, Kia Sportage, Ford Kuga and Skoda Karoq – to name but a few. This segment is the nation’s favourite and it’s brimming with very impressive competitors.

Chery is targeting the bottom-end of the market, undercutting pretty much everything. The MG HS is the closest rival on price, but it still carries a £1,250 premium. That Qashqai? It’s almost 30 grand, as are the Kia and the Skoda. So, you stand to save a fair bit of money by opting for a Chery Tiggo 7.

It’s a smart looking thing, although you’d be forgiving for thinking it was launched about 10 years ago. Chery doesn’t have any distinct brand identity, so the Tiggo 7 looks like mishmash of Ford, Mazda and Skoda bits, with lashings of chrome trim for good measure.

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What’s it like inside?

While the Tiggo 7 looks a little dated on the outside, it has a modern and tidy interior that’s well suited to family needs. Robust imitation leather upholstery comes as standard, while the quality of interior plastics and materials exceeded our expectations for a car at this price point.

A wide centre console separates the two front seats and houses a ‘proper’ gear selector level (remember those?) along with an array of switches and controls, two cupholders and a wireless phone charging pad. There’s a pair of 12.0-inch displays at the top of the dashboard. One serves as the infotainment touchscreen and the other a digital instrument cluster.

Chery has taken plenty of inspiration from other car makers when it comes to interior design. The interior door handles and speaker arrangement is very Mercedes-Benz, while the the touch-sensitive trim panel that’s used to control the climate functions reminded us of the one in a Nissan Aryia. But imitation is the greatest form of flattery, right? Chery needs to appeal to buyers by offering them the things that they’re used to in other cars. A quick glance at the sales figures for the Jaecoo 7 suggests the strategy is working.

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We were pleased to see an array of buttons and controls within the Tiggo 7’s cabin, giving quick access to important functions including the heating and aircon, as well as a volume control for the audio system.

You sit quite high in the car. Taller drivers might find the driving position a little uncomfortable as a result. The steering wheel is adjustable for both height and reach, but it doesn’t come out very far.

Rear seat space is more than ample, with generous legroom for adult passengers. In fact, Chery could probably have moved the rear seat bench forward by a few centimetres to expand the luggage capacity, which is behind rivals at just 426 litres.

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Chery Tiggo 7 engines

The entry-level Tiggo 7 is powered by a 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol engine, paired with a seven-speed automatic transmission. It serves up 147hp, with 275nm of torque (pulling power), and accelerates the Tiggo 7 from 0-62mph in a brisk 9.4 seconds. Top speed is 112mph and official WLTP fuel economy is 40.3mpg

Chery expects the majority of buyers to opt for the plug-in hybrid, or ‘Super Hybrid’ as it’s officially named. This powertrain, costing an extra £5,000, combines a 1.5-litre petrol engine with an electric motor. What makes it interesting is that the electric motor does most of the work, with the engine mainly working in the background to keep the 18.4kWh battery charged.

If you plug the car in and recharge the battery, you can expect a range of around 56 miles of electric-only driving. Combine that with the petrol engine, with a full tank of fuel, and Chery says the car can travel a total range of 750 miles. In hybrid mode, the official fuel consumption figure is 47mpg.

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What’s it like to drive?

Chinese car makers have come a long way in a short amount of time, but they still struggle to dial in the ride and handling to suit UK roads. The Tiggo 7 is no exception. It’s not a million miles off the mark, but against such fierce competition, the Tiggo 7 doesn’t feel as polished as its key rivals.

Ride quality errs on the firm side and this is particularly noticeable on rutted and potholed B-roads where the car feels too jiggly and firm. Pushing harder into a corner highlights the limits of grip quite easily and a degree of body lean that gives an uncomposed drive on anything but super-smooth tarmac.

Petrol models are lively off the mark, easily overwhelming the Kumho Ecsta tyres and generating wheelspin. But once moving the 1.6-litre engine feels underpowered and is a little on the noisy side. Switching out of the default ‘Eco’ mode into ‘Normal’ wakes it up a little, but working the engine hard is an ungratifying experience. The gearbox is eager to downshift but the car doesn’t gather pace with much urgency.

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We prefer the Super Hybrid. Power delivery is more linear and the engine, when running, is much quieter and more refined. You drive it much like an electric car, in that there’s no noticeable gear shifts, just seamless power.

With either powertrain, the Tiggo 7’s steering is very light and quite vague, which makes manoeuvring and parking straightforward. But once you’re carrying speed it lacks precision. There’s almost no resistance when turning into a corner, making it difficult to judge how much you actually need to turn the wheel.

More positively, the Tiggo 7 is very quiet on the move, thanks to double-layer glass, and on motorways or smoother surfaces it settles down a provides decent levels of comfort.

What models and trims are available?

Chery offers the Tiggo 7 in two trim levels: Aspire and Summit. The Aspire comes with a lengthy equipment list that includes LED headlights, heated front seats, dual zone climate control and a reversing camera. There’s also a proximity-based keyless entry system that allows you to access and start the car while keeping the key in your pocket.

Summit versions command a £3,000 premium and gain an electrically opening and closing tailgate, ventilated front seats and heated rear seats, a panoramic sunroof and an upgraded Sony audio system.

A full suite of driver aids comes with all Tiggo 7 models and includes adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, blind spot monitoring and automatic braking if the car senses an imminent collision.

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What else should I know?

Euro NCAP has awarded the Tiggo 7 a four-star safety rating in its official test, which is a lower score than some of the safest family cars on sale. The Kia Sportage, Nissan Qashqai and MG HS all achieved a five-star rating, with better protection for adult and child passengers recorded.

The Tiggo 7 does come with plenty of technology to help mitigate collisions, though, and there’s eight airbags on board for if the worst does happen.

Now, click through for our ratings to to help you decide whether you should consider buying a Chery Tiggo 7 now that it’s on sale in the UK. You can find out more about how we test on Parkers via our dedicated explainer page.