Chery Tiggo 7 (2025 - ) review

Electric seats, dual-zone climate control, adaptive cruise control and dual 12.3-inch displays for less than £30,000: Chery, you have our attention! Sitting between the MG ZS and Dacia Bigster in terms of size and price, the entry-level Tiggo 7 looks great value even compared to the Omoda 5 and Jaecoo 7 from Chery’s own stable. The Super Hybrid Tiggo 7 may be more expensive than the petrol model, but we’d recommend the upgrade. The improvement in fuel efficiency is substantial (around 50mpg in the real world verses the petrol’s 30mpg), plus the plug-in hybrid is significantly better to drive. The plug-in hybrid will also appeal to company drivers looking for Benefit In Kind incentives, plus all Tiggo 7s fall well below the £40,000 threshold for the hefty ‘expensive car supplement’ on VED (or ‘road tax’).

Chery is new to the UK, and we don’t yet know how reliable its cars will be. That said, the Chery group has existed for nearly 30 years and has sold five million cars worldwide. To add further reassurance Chery offers a seven-year/100,000-mile warranty with the battery in the hybrid system getting its own eight-year/100,000-mile cover. Chery is also hoping to establish a large network of dealerships throughout the country to provide support should anything go wrong.

The Tiggo 7 is kitted out with eight airbags to protect you should the worst happen and features a whole suite of driver aids with the aim of keeping you out of trouble. These include lane departure prevention, emergency braking, front collision warnings and adaptive cruise control, which is also supposed to create a larger gap between you and any lorries you may be over taking. It’s a familiar story here because all these systems result in a propensity for bonging at you and it’s not always obvious what you’re being warned about. Another downside is the Tiggo 7’s driver monitoring system tells you off every time you look away from the road and the reliance on touch-screen interactions mean this happens quite frequently.

On the surface the interior looks relatively plush, but elements like the alignment marks on the seat runners fall short of the attention to detail you get from more premium brands. The Tiggo 7 is very roomy, though. The central console has a large cubby under the armrest and two integrated cup holders. You get an electrically powered driver seat as standard, and the passenger seat gets one too in range-topping Summit models. However, you sit quite high up and taller occupants may find headroom a little lacking. The back is spacious, mind, and even middle-seat passengers will have little to complain about. The boot is a decent size and there’s space under the floor for a full-size spare wheel, which is a rare sight in the age of emergency tyre repair kits. Out on the road the ride quality has room for improvement as the car judders over even small imperfections. Meanwhile, the Tiggo 7’s handling will greatly depend on whether you go for the petrol or plug-in hybrid. The former wallows disconcertingly while the latter is considerably more composed.

The entry-level Aspire trim Tiggo 7 comes with enough kit to cover most of your needs including a pair of digital displays, keyless entry and a reversing camera. Upgrade to the range-topping Summit model and you’ll also get heated and ventilated front seats, a powered passenger seat, a Sony sound system, a panoramic sunroof and a powered tailgate. A lot of the functions are controlled via the touch-screen, but there are still some physical buttons and switches which we found useful. While the graphics are fine rather than fancy and the font is quite small in places, a touch-sensitive shortcuts bar for heating and fan controls helps make life easier. Additionally, the Super Hybrid models gain vehicle-to-load compatibility so you can power other devices using the car’s battery.

The Tiggo 7 is a tale of two cars. The petrol version with 147 horsepower is slow and unrefined. When you first set off it struggles to find traction, so even the gentlest squeeze of the accelerator can send your wheels into an embarrassing spin. Once you do get underway the gearbox holds onto gears way too long as the car makes lots of noise and quickly runs out of puff. On the flip side, the Super Hybrid with its 204 horsepower feels like driving a completely different car. It’s smooth, responsive and more confident around corners. It has an official range of up to 56 miles of electric-only range, but even if you never plug it in the battery can be charged using the engine and through regenerative braking to give you an electric boost whenever you need it. The complicated hybrid system is constantly assessing the most efficient way to combine the battery with the engine, so you can just relax as it provides an almost EV-like experience.