Chery Omoda 5: Incoming Chinese SUV gets five-star safety rating

The imminent Chery Omoda 5 small SUV, which is expected to spearhead to Chinese brand’s Australian relaunch in quarter one 2023, has received a five-star safety rating from Euro NCAP.

Australia’s safety body ANCAP is aligned with Euro NCAP’s testing protocols – although there are some tougher new ones for 2023 – so it would be reasonable to expect this score to carry over locally.

The Chinese-made small SUV scored 87 per cent for adult occupant protection, 87 per cent for child occupant protection, 68 per cent for vulnerable road user protection, and 88 per cent for safety assist.

Government approval documents viewed by CarExpert reveal the Chery Omoda 5 has been approved for sale in turbocharged 1.5-litre four-cylinder guise.

This engine produces 108kW of power and is mated to a continuously-variable transmission (CVT). Drive is sent through the front wheels only.

The Omoda 5 range could grow with a more powerful 1.6-litre turbo variant which in China has a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission and multi-link rear suspension, instead of torsion-beam rear suspension. It’s still front-wheel drive though.

There will also be a “new energy” variant of the Omoda 5. Chery has confirmed it will either be a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) or a battery-electric (BEV) model, but that it won’t introduce both locally.

The Chery Omoda 5 measures in at 4440mm long, 1830mm wide, 1588mm tall and rides on a 2630mm wheelbase, which makes it particularly close to the Kia Seltos dimensionally.

It features between 292L and 360L of luggage space, and weighs between 1420kg and 1444kg.

The Omoda 5 will be the smallest model in the local Chery range, slotting in under the Tiggo 7 Pro and Tiggo 8 Pro which are expected to arrive around October or November of next year.

While the Omoda 5 wears a distinctive exterior design language, inside it has a similar look to its larger siblings and shares its 24.6-inch screen assembly with an infotainment touchscreen and a digital instrument cluster.

Chery says its cars will support over-the-air updates.

The company says the Omoda 5 is the brand’s first truly global model, simultaneously developed in left- and right-hand drive and benchmarked against the Mazda CX-30, Hyundai Kona and Toyota C-HR.

Chery had previously confirmed it would relaunch in Australia in late October or November of this year, which has obviously been pushed.

This time around it will have a factory-backed operation, unlike its last stint in Australia when it sold cars through independent distributor Ateco.

The company said earlier this year it plans to become a top 10 brand here by 2026, but won’t position itself as a budget brand.

“We will not be labelled as a Chinese brand that is cheap… we want to be a technology-driven company,” Chery International executive vice president Charlie Zhang told CarExpert earlier this year.

“We want to go to Australia with a brand new image… where customers remember Chery because of technology, because of design, because of the quality of the cars.”

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