Chery’s entry into the UK car market under its own name (joining the subsidiary Omoda and Jaecoo brands) is initially taking a two-pronged approach. We’ve already tested the Tiggo 7 medium SUV – now we’re looking at the larger, seven-seater, Tiggo 8.
Performance and drive
The Tiggo 8 comes with the same engine options as the Tiggo 7 – a 147hp pure petrol and a 204hp plug-in hybrid. With the latter, the Tiggo 8 has an official EV-only range of 56 miles, and a BIK company car tax liability of 9%. On the road, we found the plug-in hybrid – which Chery calls Super Hybrid – offered impressive acceleration for a car of this size, and was nicely responsive and refined.
We didn’t get the chance to drive the petrol Tiggo 8, but based on our experience of both powertrains with the Tiggo 7 – where we found the petrol felt hesitant and laboured – we’d be very surprised if the plug-in hybrid wasn’t also the best choice with the larger model, from a dynamic point of view as well as for the BIK saving.
The Tiggo 8 handles decently for a car in this segment, feeling nicely planted in corners. The ride can seem firm at times at low speed but is otherwise pretty good – at one point we drove on a section of road that was being resurfaced and it remained nicely composed.
Interior and technology
The Tiggo 8’s interior features a standard 15.6in infotainment touchscreen, which is impressively large – in fact arguably too large, since with our driving position the right-hand edge of the screen was obscured by the steering wheel. It also houses too many functions, including temperature and door mirror adjustment, for which we would prefer to have separate physical controls.
With the range-topping Summit equipment grade tested here, interior trim quality is good, and features some interesting textures. The Tiggo 8 Summit also comes with a useful head-up display, and further interesting technology features such as a speaker in the driver’s headrest which can be set to be used for hands-free phone calls. The Summit grade also gets a massaging seat function, although strangely this is only fitted to the front passenger seat, presumably for right-hand drive conversion reasons.
Legroom for passengers in the second row of seats is decent, and there’s impressive headroom there too. Conversely, the third row of seats will only be for children or very small adults, since the headroom further back is compromised.
With all seven seats in place you’d expect boot space to be restricted, but with just 117 litres available in this mode the Tiggo 8’s boot is particularly small. Folding the third row of seats reveals a more acceptable 494 litres, though this is still down on equivalent figures for rivals such as the Kia Sorento (809 litres) and Peugeot 5008 (916 litres).
Unsurprisingly, Chery is making much of the Tiggo 8’s status as the cheapest seven-seater SUV currently on sale in the UK, with petrol Aspire cars costing less than £29,000. As with the Tiggo 7, plug-in hybrid Tiggo 8s cost £5,000 more than pure petrol versions – a price we’d expect to be worth paying – and there’s a £3,000 premium for the Summit grade. Still, in the spec tested here, the Tiggo 8 comes in cheaper on P11D than equivalent versions of the 5008 and Sorento by around £10,000 and £15,000 respectively – a compelling financial argument in its favour.
Positive: Cheap for a seven-seat SUV, refined and responsive plug-in hybrid system, interesting interior tech.
Negative: Small boot, third-row seat space restricted, too much controlled by touchscreen.
Standard equipment: 19in alloy wheels, LED headlights, six-way power adjustable driver’s seat, 10.25in driver display, 15.6in infotainment display, wireless Android Auto and Apple Carplay connectivity, dual-zone automatic climate control, keyless start, front and rear parking sensors, 540-degree camera system, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot detection, driver monitoring system, lane departure warning, emergency lane keeping, autonomous emergency braking, rear cross traffic alert.
Engines: Petrol: 147hp 1.6; Plug-in hybrid: 204hp 1.5
Equipment grades: Aspire, Summit
Transmissions: Seven-speed DCT automatic, single-speed DHT automatic
| Model | Chery Tiggo 8 Summit Super Hybrid |
| P11D | £36,380 |
| Residual value | 42.9% |
| Depreciation | £20,845 |
| Fuel | £5,676 |
| Service, maintenance and repair | £4,100 |
| Cost per mile | 51.03p |
| Fuel consumption | 235mpg |
| CO2 (BIK%) | 31g/km (9%) |
| BIK 20/40% a month | £55/£109 |
| Luggage capacity | 117 litres (494 litres with third-row seats folded) |
| Engine size/power | 1,498cc/204hp |
| Score | 7/10 |
