Chery to take on Toyota with hybrid, plug-in hybrid model onslaught

Hybrid and plug-in hybrid power is coming to Chery showrooms in Australia over the next 18 months to rival hybrid leader Toyota.

Chery Australia chief operating officer Lucas Harris told Drive there are "a couple of plug-in and normal hybrid options on the cards next year" based on existing nameplates in the brand's range.

The models planned for the hybrid treatment have not been explicitly named, nor has Chery announced precise arrival timing within 2025.

However, it is believed the small Omoda 5 and Tiggo 4 Pro SUVs are in line for Toyota-esque 'plugless' hybrid (HEV) power, while the larger Tiggo 7 Pro and Tiggo 8 Pro Max are planned to gain plug-in hybrid (PHEV) options.

MORE: Hybrid, plug-in hybrid and mild hybrid: What’s the difference?

It would give the Chinese car maker rivals for the Toyota Corolla Cross, Hyundai Kona, GWM Haval Jolion and upcoming MG ZS hybrids, as well as the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and inbound MG HS PHEV.

"If you think about Tiggo 4 and Omoda 5, they're probably good-sized vehicles that would really be suitable for a HEV [regular hybrid]," Harris said, adding the Tiggo 7 Pro and Tiggo 8 Pro would be "more suitable sized vehicle[s] for a PHEV."

Details of the Omoda 5 and Tiggo 4 Pro hybrids are yet to be announced, as the variants are not offered in the brand's domestic market.

A mild-hybrid Tiggo 4 Pro is available in South-East Asia – where the small SUV has been available in an earlier guise since 2017 – but it is believed the hybrid coming to Australia will be a higher-power, traditional petrol-electric hybrid.

Meanwhile, plug-in hybrid versions of the Tiggo 7 Pro and Tiggo 8 Pro are already on sale in China.

Each is powered by a 115kW/230Nm 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine matched with a 125kW/315Nm electric motor for quoted system outputs of 240kW and 545Nm, all sent to the front wheels.

Top-of-the-range versions are fitted with a 19.3kWh battery rated to enable a 100km electric-only driving range according to NEDC lab testing, which is lenient compared to the more common European WLTP standard.

On the same test protocols, a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV quotes an 84km electric-only range.

MORE: Plug-in hybrid technology is ‘the best solution’ to reduce emissions now – Mitsubishi

A similar 1.5-litre plug-in hybrid system will also be offered in the upcoming J7 from Chery's sister brand Jaecoo – a similar size to the Tiggo 7 Pro – due locally in the first half of next year.

Sales of plug-in hybrid vehicles are currently a tenth of their regular 'plug-less' hybrid counterparts.

Harris told Drive Chery believes it can succeed with PHEV technology where other brands have not through ensuring a good level of stock in its dealers – and prices not "exorbitantly more" than regular petrol versions.

The executive said dealer sales staff will need to educate customers on the benefits of plug-in hybrid technology.

"It's being able to have our sales consultants in the dealership give advice to people. What do you use the car for and what is a good fit for you?

"I think if we can get away from talking about plug-in hybrid as the technology and talk about it more [as] 'how can it fit in with your lifestyle?', which is for most Australians that maybe are doing 30km or 40km a day maximum, commuting and taking the kids to school, going to the supermarket, doing that sort of stuff.

"And you get home at night and you can plug it into a charger – or every other day you plug it into the charger. You could run that car like an EV and use almost no fuel for months.

"But then that weekend away that you want to go away, you don't have to worry or think about where are the charging station or what's going to happen there. And then you can still have a essentially hybrid vehicle that operates at a really good fuel consumption rate as well, amazing.

"So I think if we can start explaining it to customers and how can it fit in with your lifestyle, it's going to be much more effective than talking about, oh, it's part electric, part this, part that.

"Let's talk about how does it actually [work], how are you going to live with it? What does that look like living with it?"

While regular hybrids dwarf their plug-in equivalents on the sales charts, deliveries of PHEVs have been supercharged in recent months by an exemption on Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) for private novated lease purchases.

This tax break is due to end in April 2025 for PHEVs, but Harris told Drive it is not a concern for the growing Chery brand.

The Chery Australia boss said the company's hybrid range will also help it meet the Australian Government's upcoming New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES), which will require car makers to hit average CO2 targets for the vehicles they sell to avoid fines.