Chery Tiggo Cross has enough going for it to make up for its flaws

While it is Toyota that remains top of the passenger car sales race by a large margin, leaving Suzuki and VW to fight it out for a somewhat distant second and third place, it is Chinese brand Chery, who are making the most waves in South Africa by looking to leapfrog over Hyundai and grab fourth place on the table in the near future.

This is a charge up the table that will continue because the ambitious carmaker just keeps bringing the right product at the right price and one of these products is the recently launched Chery Tiggo Cross.

This new compact SUV is based on Chery’s number one seller, the Tiggo 4 Pro, and with pricing that starts at R399 900 for the Comfort derivative and tops out at R449 900 for the Elite, this is another pair of offerings that are going to be extremely hard to ignore.

Chery Tiggo Cross not perfect

The Citizen Motoring spent a week driving around in the Elite. While I completely agree with my own sentiment, this vehicle is not without its flaws.

The first flaw is the one that makes every person involved with importing Chinese cars into South Africa’s eyes roll back in their head with frustration because of the motoring media’s constant whining about the poor throttle calibration on these cars. Unfortunately, this issue persists, and for me, it is the most frustrating aspect within a very good product

ALSO READ: Incoming: Plug-in hybrids leading Chery products plans for 2025

Eco mode provides no real initial response from the throttle and then when it starts to come alive, not much happens again. In Normal mode, the throttle is still dull but it does wake up a little more. In Sport mode, bizarrely, the dull initial response remains, but things are then over compensated for and the front wheels go scrabbling for grip all over the place.

Too heavy on the juice

Next up is the poor fuel consumption issue. This is something that also seemingly plaques all the current Chinese importers who make use of the 1.5-litre turbocharged engine. I don’t care what is claimed, but an average that is hard to keep under 10 litres per 100 km is nothing to brag about for a small SUV like the Chery Tiggo Cross. Especially when competing against a Toyota hybrid that will dip into the fives and lower without too much effort.

My final gripe is the brakes on this Chery Tiggo Cross. I don’t know if it was just this car or all of them, but the pedal was spongy with no real feel. I felt like if I had to climb on them in a hurry, things could have got more interesting than I would have liked. It’s not something that I have noticed on other Chery products, so maybe it was just the car itself. Either way, if I owned one, it would be at the dealer for repair as we speak.

ALSO READ: Chery, GWM, Foton and BAIC: Who’s who in Chinese car zoo?

That’s enough of the bad stuff, so let’s move on to the good stuff. With styling straight out of the Tiggo 7 Pro playbook, the Tiggo Cross is a good-looking SUV. You have vertical daytime running lights, triple-element automatic LED headlamps at the front, and a “tiger inspired” jewel-like light bar at the rear riding on 18-inch alloy wheels that cover red coloured brake callipers specific to the Elite.

Lots to like

Inside is a luxury and tech fest that puts the Chery Tiggo Cross at the top of the pile. You get a soft-touch dashboard, a leather-trimmed steering wheel, black leather upholstery for the heated and electrically operated seats, dual-zone climate control, keyless entry, push-button start, cruise control, ambient lighting, automatic windscreen wipers, a high definition 360-degree camera, and intelligent high beam control to name some of the features.

Very much standard fare now is the 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system that features Bluetooth and wireless Android Auto/Apple CarPlay connectivity to go with a wireless charger and four USB ports.

There is also a smart voice assistant that allows you to control various vehicle functions, but there will be a period of bonding required before the two of you understand each other clearly and agree on exactly what is that you want, but once you do, it works like a charm.

ALSO READ: Chery Tiggo Cross makes Chinese carmaker’s stock even sweeter

Getting out on the road, the 108kW/210 Nm 1.5-litre four-pot blown mill is more than up to the task. The six-speed dual-clutch transmission (DCT) does its job too without ever feeling over sporty or abrupt like some DCT setups can be. The ride is probably a bit firmer than I would have liked on what is a relaxed type of family car, but it was nothing worth fussing over and something I doubt any owner will even notice.

Chery Tiggo Cross safe as a house

On the safety side of things, the Chery Tiggo Cross comes equipped with dual front airbags, front side airbags, and side curtain airbags, a centre airbag between the front seats, traction control, emergency brake assist, electronic stability control, hill assist, auto-hold function, tyre pressure monitoring and a speed limit reminder. Advanced driver-assistance systems come in the form of adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking, blind-spot detection, front collision warning and lane departure warning.

The Chery Tiggo Cross Elite retails for R449 900 and comes standard with a five-year/60 000km service plan, five-year/150 000km warranty 10-year/1-million km engine warranty.