Our opinion on the Chery Tiggo 9
As we’ve become quickly accustomed to from a Chery, the Tiggo 9 offers great equipment levels, competitive pricing and an impressive plug-in hybrid system. The driving experience lets the Tiggo 9 down slightly, but most big families will happily overlook that aspect. Being a family-oriented SUV, it faces competition from within the Chery stable, because the Tiggo 8 PHEV is almost as practical, but costs a lot less. We’d also like a bit more choice when it comes to the Tiggo 9’s trim levels, paints and options in general – but for a first-time flagship the Tiggo 9 is a compelling offer.
About the Chery Tiggo 9
Chery’s attempt to take on the UK market started with the Tiggo 7 – a family SUV designed to rival the likes of the Nissan Qashqai, which was followed by the larger Tiggo 8 SUV. Soon, we’ll have the B-segment Tiggo 4 SUV to challenge cars such as the VW T-Cross and act as an entry-point to Chery’s range, but at the other end of the spectrum is the new Tiggo 9, a range-topping SUV which comes exclusively with plug-in hybrid power and a seven-seat capacity.
There are a few SUVs that occupy a similar space to the Chery, including the Peugeot 5008, Volkswagen Tayron, Skoda Kodiaq, Hyundai Santa Fe and Kia Sorento. Of these, only the Peugeot, Hyundai and Kia come with the combination of seven seats and plug-in hybrid technology.
While it might seem difficult to keep up with the masses of new models coming out of China, Chery has at least kept the structure of the Tiggo 9 line-up simple. There’s just one ‘Summit’ specification and one plug-in hybrid powertrain.
Chery Tiggo 9 prices and latest deals
The Chery Tiggo 9’s price tag of around £43,100 means it’s roughly £15,000 cheaper than the Santa Fe plug-in hybrid and over £5,000 less than the Sorento, so its closest rival on price is the cheapest version of the Peugeot 5008 PHEV, which costs around £43,400. The Tiggo 9 is also just over £10,000 more expensive than the plug-in hybrid version of the Tiggo 8 – another seven-seater and well worth a look if you don’t want to sacrifice practicality while saving money.
Being the biggest Chery yet, it’s only right that the Tiggo 9 comes with the biggest discounts and right now you can save on a brand-new Tiggo 9 when buying through the Auto Express Buy A Car service.
Performance, 0-60mph acceleration and top speed
The Tiggo 9 mostly feels like an EV to drive, which shouldn’t be too much of a surprise when you factor in the colossal (for a PHEV) 34kWh battery, which provides a WLTP range of 91 miles on electric power only. The powertrain prioritises electric-only running in all of its modes, so there’s always instant yet smooth power available.
Town driving, visibility and parking
The Tiggo 9 is a big car and it feels its size from behind the wheel – a sensation emphasised by the overly light steering, long bonnet and hyper-responsive brake pedal. The softly sprung suspension doesn’t help in this regard either, because at low speeds the Tiggo 9 can wallow around. However, the turning circle (11.2 metres) is very compact for a car like the Tiggo 9, so we didn’t find it too much trouble to manoeuvre it around tight spots.
Country road driving and handling
Chery has clearly set the Tiggo 9 up to provide a comfortable, refined driving experience rather than one that bristles with feel and excitement. The driving mode selector takes up a rather large piece of the centre console, although switching between the usual mix of Sport, Normal and Eco modes doesn’t have much effect on how the Tiggo 9 drives; Sport mode makes the throttle response a touch too keen and that’s about it. The ‘EV’ and ‘HEV’ buttons for pure-electric driving or to force the petrol engine to kick in will see more regular use, we think.