Blossoming soon: Chery Tiggo 7 Pro ‘en-route’ to South Africa

Its return to South Africa is continuing to progress at a rapid rate after Chery divulged details of the third Tiggo Pro model due on local soil soon.

Previewed in Russian spec at the brand’s official South African relaunch last year, the Tiggo 7 Pro, as per its nomenclature, slots in between the Tiggo 4 Pro and the flagship Tiggo 8 Pro and according to Chery, will be offered “with a comprehensive range of specifications, above-average luxury and the modern technology that Chery has become known for in South Africa”.

Currently in its second generation, the Tiggo 7 Pro arrives three years after debuting at the Guangzhou International Auto Show brandishing not only Chery’s current styling language but also being underpinned by the T1X platform both the Tiggo 4 Pro and Tiggo 8 Pro ride on.

Like the former, the Tiggo 7 Pro will have seating for five and based on dimensions released at the vehicle’s launch in 2019, measure 4 500 mm in overall length with its wheelbase stretching 2 670 mm. The claimed width is 1 842 mm and height 1 746 mm.

Inside, the interior mirrors that of the Tiggo 8 Pro in that it comes complete with the 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, the Audi-inspired eight-inch touchscreen climate control interface and the 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and voice activation.

ALSO READ: What to expect from Chery’s return to South Africa

Already on sale in South America and the Middle East, South Africa, as was the case with the Tiggo 8 Pro, will be the first right-hand-drive market to receive the Tiggo 7 Pro with initial motivation set to come from a single power unit.

Though powered elsewhere by the in-house developed 1.6 T-GDI engine the Tiggo 8 Pro uses, Chery South Africa has opted for the smaller 1.5 T-GDI that produces the same 108kW/210Nm as in higher-spec versions of the Tiggo 4 Pro.

Unlike its smallest sibling though, the Tiggo 7 Pro will not be made available with a manual gearbox as a CVT will be the solitary option. Like the rest of the Chery line-up, the drive is routed to the front wheels only.

While an official launch date remains outstanding, Chery has confirmed that the first allocation of Tiggo 7 Pros are en-route to South Africa and therefore likely to become available sometime next month.

Pricing will only be announced at a later stage, but expect a likely starting sticker of between R380 000 to R400 000 with the flagship derivative poised to retail from around the R450 000 mark.