Chery could bring a ute and Toyota Prado-style 4WD wagon to Australia

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Chinese car manufacturer Chery is making its grand re-entrance to the Australian market with the Omoda 5 small SUV and its line-up could soon expand to include a ute and a Toyota Prado-style 4WD wagon.

Although Chery hopes to sell around eight percent of every segment it’s targeting in its first year on sale, that will only make up a fraction of the cars produced in 2023. Last year, Chery manufactured some 1.2 million cars with 450,000 delivered to countries outside of China.

Speaking with Chasing Cars, Chery Australia CEO Andy Zhang noted that the global brand has extensive R&D divisions around the world and said there were currently a number of vehicles in development that we would see rolled out over the next few years.

“Chery, as a company has a full suite of vehicles prepared for the future,” he said

Zhang said this includes sedans, and even hatchbacks available under its sister brands, but noted he wasn’t privy to all future vehicle plans.

“I think there was a ute mentioned as well, I’m hoping to see a ute, I do like bigger cars”, he said.

“I think the largest size [vehicles] will be one I’m looking forward to, we’ll see where the Tiggo 8 Pro lands and, maybe if we need more, something bigger like the Prado or something of that calibre”.

What would a Chery ute look like?

Chery’s commercial vehicle-focused Karry sub-brand currently offers one ute, which is known as the ‘Yoki’.

The ‘Karry-Yoki’, as it is known, is available in both single- and dual-cab forms, and even a van body style, though it’s a little different from what many off road ute-loving Aussies will be used to and is unlikely to come to Australia.

The Karry Higgo and Aika were previously offered and are more akin to Australian-style utes but with the rise of the GWM Ute Cannon and LDV T60 utes in China, Chery’s new ute will bear some resemblance in terms of rugged capability to these rivals.

What are Chery’s plans for Australia?

The Omoda 5 small SUV will officially go on sale at the end of March 2023 with a choice of two grades, both paired with a 1.5-litre turbo engine, CVT transmission and FWD driveline.

In the second half of the year, Chery plans to introduce a larger 1.6-litre turbo engine, utilising a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission that can be paired with either a FWD or AWD setup.

This period will also see the arrival of the Tiggo 7 Pro midsize SUV and the Tiggo 8 Pro large SUV, with the latter accommodating a seven-seat option in overseas markets. 

However, many buyers will be more interested in the fully-electric Omoda 5, which is set to arrive in the first half of 2024, with no official specs currently available.

The ‘Tiggo’ and ‘Omoda’ names are sub-brands underneath the Chery brand, with the latter a more style-focused nameplate that will see further expansion beyond the ‘5’ SUV in the coming years.