Chery Tiggo 4 Pro: Remarkable

What is it?

Chinese carmaker Chery has come up with a clever marketing ploy, by partnering with the McDonalds fast-food chain.

So, every time you see a Maccas TV commercial, the Chery name gets the sort of exposure that emerging brands can only dream about.

It’s fair to assume that a large percentage of people who see the ads have never heard of Chery as a brand and even less of the Tiggo 4.

What’s it cost?

We’ve just tested the Tiggo 4 Pro.

It’s the smallest of the three SUVs in the Tiggo range and sits behind the mid-sized Tiggo 7 Pro and seven-seat Tiggo 8 Pro Max.

A new hero model, the Tiggo 9, will be added in 2025.

Tiggo 4 Pro comes with the choice of two variants, Urban and Ultimate, with driveaway prices of $23,990 and $26,990.

Overall, there’s not much to make Tiggo 4 standout from the mid-sized SUV crowd.

The vertical grille and squared off rear, together with a longer than average bonnet, give it a chunky look.

The grille is flanked by narrow wrap-around LED headlights above long narrow LED daytime running lights.

Ultimate can be distinguished by 18-inch alloy wheels with red trim and brake callipers. Urban has 17-inch gloss black alloys.

Five heavenly exterior colours are available: Martian Red, Lunar White, Star Silver, Mercurial Grey and Space Black.

Martian Red is standard, the other four are $500 options.

There are two 10.25-inch colour screens at the top of the dashboard, a driver information screen behind the steering wheel and a multimedia screen in the centre.

Both variants get two USB ports in the front and a third in the rear.

Urban comes with a four-speaker sound system, Ultimate steps up to a six-speaker Sony system.

A big plus is that both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are wireless, although there isn’t a wireless charger.

Voice control can be accessed by saying ‘Hello Chery’.

Tiggo 4 Pro has yet to be crash tested by ANCAP but, given its long list of active and passive safety features it’s likely that it will achieve the maximum five-star rating.

Both variants get seven airbags, rear parking sensors, reversing camera, forward collision warning, autonomous emergency braking, emergency lane keeping, lane departure warning, lane departure prevention, adaptive cruise control, traffic jam assist, integrated cruise assist, blind spot detection, lane change assist, rear cross traffic alert and braking, door opening warning, speed limit information function, speed control assist, driver monitoring system and two Isofix child seat anchors.

Ultimate adds a 360-around view camera.

Tiggo 4 comes with a 7-year unlimited kilometre warranty, seven-year/105,000km capped priced servicing, and seven-year roadside assistance if the vehicle is serviced at a Chery dealership.

What’s it go like?

Inside the Tiggo 4 has a high-quality look and spacious feel.

For a sub-$28,000 vehicle it could easily be mistaken for something twice the price.

Entry is easy and there’s plenty of front headroom despite the sunroof in the Ultimate that we tested.

The seats, cloth in the Urban and faux leather in the Ultimate, are large, supportive and comfortable.

The driver’s seat in the Ultimate has six-way power adjustment and heating, all others are manual and unheated.

All variants get an artificial leather steering wheel with tilt and reach adjustment.

Interior storage is disappointing. Apart from two cup holders and a narrow opening for the key fob there’s nothing in the central console for phone, wallets and the similar small items.

Rather, the area that could be used on either side of the gear selector is just a bare piano black surface.

To compensate there is a space underneath the console where items can be kept out of sight.

In line with the growing trend most features in the Tiggo 4 are accessed through the media touchscreen, meaning far too much of the driver’s time has to be spent looking there rather than the road ahead.

Fortunately, Chery has partially addressed the issue by providing two small levers on the driver’s side of the central console to allow for easy adjustment of the air conditioning.

Likewise, the audio can be adjusted easily with physical buttons below the touchscreen.

Other features can be turned off through the multimedia screen but this needs to be re-done every time the engine is re-started.

Luggage capacity using the VDA criteria is 380 litres with the rear seats in place expanding to a maximum 1225 litres when folded.

There’s a space-saver wheel below the boot floor.

Both variants are powered by the same 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine. Outputs are a reasonable 108kW and 210Nm.

It’s front wheel-drive only and comes with CVT continuously variable transmission.

A hybrid variant will be added to the range next year.

There is also a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) available but whether it comes here has yet to be decided.

Despite its modest engine outputs, Tiggo 4 provides capable if unexciting performance.

Around town, which is likely to be its natural habitat, it’s easy to manoeuvre especially in the Ultimate with its 360-degree split screen monitor.

Steering is relatively heavy especially in urban conditions.

Ride is relatively firm but still comfortable enough.

See also

Test drive

5 min read

MG3: Bring on the hybrid

There are two drive modes: Eco and Sport.

Eco is the default setting and is fine for routine driving while Sport does sharpen performance

The lane correction feature is quite severe and we quickly included it in our turn-off sequence together with the speed limit and driver attention alerts before taking off.

Fuel economy isn’t great.

Listed at 7.3L/100km, we averaged 8.7L. If that’s a major issue then it may be worth waiting for the hybrid version although the bargain prices in place now may well have changed by then.

What we like?

• Great price
• Great warranty
• Could easily be mistaken for something twice the price

What we don’t like?

• No wireless charger
• Interior storage is disappointing
• Too many features accessed via touchscreen
• Lane correction quite severe
• Fuel economy isn’t great

The bottom line?

Chery Tiggo 4 is another example of how much and how quickly the quality of Chinese vehicles has improved in recent years.

While prices have risen with the arrival of new generation models in brands such as MG and GWM they still remain cheaper than most of their competitors.

Tiggo 4 Pro is likely to quickly become Chery’s biggest-selling vehicle.

The combination of its convenient size, premium quality cabin, excellent safety features, the latest in technology, long warranty at driveaway prices starting below $24,000 is remarkable.

CHECKOUT: Chery Tiggo 8 Pro Max: It’s a mouthful

CHECKOUT: Chery Omoda E5: That’s more like it