Chery starts teasing muscled-up, aggressive looking Omoda C5 GT

Announced as heading to South Africa following a media discussion after the Shanghai Auto Show in April, Omoda parent brand, Chery, has provided the first image, and also details, of the incoming C5 GT.

Returning from the gym

At the time of its confirmation still largely under wraps with Chery only saying it will have more power than the standard C5 and also the option of all-wheel-drive, the now released image shows the GT being the recipient of Subaru-style gold alloy wheels, a lip splitter underneath the bumper and a just visible more prominent bootlid spoiler.

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Dropped though is the central LED light bar connecting the main headlight clusters in favour of a gold strip.

Not seen are images of the rear or the interior, both set to be detailed, along with the full array of exterior changes, once the C5 GT is revealed to the public on Saturday, 11 November as part of Chery’s sponsoring of the Mr South Africa event.

Heart transplant

Approved though is a switch in power with the 1.5 T-GDI engine making way for the 1.6 T-GDI used in the Chery Tiggo 8 Pro and the Chery Tiggo 7 Pro Max.

A change which also sees the CVT making way for the seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, the bigger T-GDI has not been upgraded for use in the GT, meaning unchanged outputs of 145kW/290Nm.

Claimed to get from 0-100 km/h in 7.8 seconds, the Omoda C5 GT is further expected to follow the Tiggo 7 Pro Max in becoming available with all-wheel-drive, however, this wasn’t confirmed and will only be announced once the official media event takes place before the end of the year.

No pricing yet

Topping the C5 range until the arrival next year of the all-electric E5 shown at Chery’s New Journey, New Life International User Summit in Wuhu last month, the Omoda C5 GT will be a limited edition model with only 100 units confirmed for the local market at an undisclosed price tag.

Given that the standard C5 tops out R509 900, and with Omoda also debuting the new C9 next year, expectations are that the GT will have a likely starting sticker of around the R550 000 mark.

For the moment though, this is purely speculative and will only be confirmed once an announcement is made by Chery.

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