Chery joins Uk-bound Chinese challengers with Omoda 5 SUV

CHINESE CAR-MAKING giant Chery will launch its new Omoda 5 crossover in the UK in early 2024 as the first of several models from a new fashion-focused and Ev-biased brand.

Chery is China’s biggest car exporter, having sold 450,000 last year in Africa, the Middle East, Oceania, Russia, South America and South-east Asia, in addition to 781,000 at home.

It is best known in the UK as Jaguar Land Rover’s Chinese joint-venture partner and currently handles production of the Jaguar XE and XF, Land Rover Discovery Sport and Range Rover Evoque for China.

Chery is just the latest to join the quickly growing group of Chinese car makers branching out into Europe.

Like rival Great Wall Motor has done with Ora, it has elected to launch here with a new brand conceived with a focus on style, technology and sustainability.

Omoda is coming to the UK after being introduced in Australia, China, Indonesia and New Zealand in 2022.

The first Omoda car to arrive here will be the 5, a 4.4-metre-long crossover.

Although Omoda is an Ev-focused brand, Autocar understands that an ICE

5 will be offered from launch, alongside the EV.

Nothing has been confirmed but the petrol options for the UK may mirror those of Australia: a mild-hybridised 1.5-litre four-cylinder set-up and a turbocharged 1.6-litre four-cylinder unit, the latter making 195bhp and 214lb ft.

Details about the EV are similarly speculative, but reports suggest that it uses a front-mounted motor with 198bhp and 295lb ft, plus a 64kwh battery that nets it a range of 280 miles.

When asked about pricing for the EV, a Chery representative told Autocar that it will be “affordable and competitive”, so a tag of around £45,000 is expected.