Expected to make its first public appearance at the upcoming Guangzhou Auto Show, Tiggo’s all-new generation is part of Chery’s latest plans to improve its image, not only in China but specially in the rest of the world – this is also the reason why the Qoros division was founded, by the way. Like Arrizo 7, the crossover intends to take its automaker each time closer to the standards of most globally-established ones. This is what the Japanese did around the 1970s and the Koreans around the 2000s, which ended at taking Honda, Mitsubishi, Toyota, Kia and Hyundai, to give some random examples, to the same “level” of Chevrolet, Fiat, Ford, Renault and Volkswagen.
In other words, Chery is about to enter that delicate moment of speculating what would please a group of clients with which it had never worked intensely before… and what wouldn’t. Acura, Infiniti and Lexus had to work like that during their first years at North America, for instance. Their first vehicles were based on high construction quality and nice powertrain sets, but their design was as neutral as a ‘1990s Chevrolet Malibu’s. However, being so conservative with that managed to redirect people’s attention to their other aspects, which were mostly very positive, and therefore feel confident about leaving other cars in favor of these. This is what gave these marques their initial consolidation, which only now is kept by working with the emotional side.
Looking at these pictures will make you conclude that Tiggo 5 could be considered a “modern version” of those examples. Instead of trying to provoke any kind of surprise, the car’s styling seeks an overall balance. You won’t see anything oversized, undersized, with more or less units than usual or any other attempt of standing out of the crowd, and yet it looks very good. It doesn’t even look futuristic or old-fashioned, actually: Chery’s crossover is just a mélange of several style elements that have been used in the latest releases, but whose result looks good enough to motivate choosing a Tiggo 5 for its styling, for the first time.
However, expressing quality means more than working at the exterior, but fortunately Chery knows that. Tiggo’s cabin starts to impress with the elegant look, created with two-tone materials, good-looking element shapes and the right amount of chrome items. Once again, the intention was to follow most of the “current trends”, such as using a big touchscreen between the central air outlets. Like most all-new generations, Tiggo’s took the chance and received some dimension increases, reaching 1.74-m height, 4.50-m length, 2.61-m wheelbase and 1.84-m width. Such numbers place it above the old car (which won’t be dropped in China, at least for now) and directly against vehicles like Honda CR-V. It’ll debut with a 138-hp 2.0L engine, with the option of a CVT transmission.