Latest news with #CheryTiggo7
The Citizen
19 hours ago
- Automotive
- The Citizen
Chery updates Tiggo 7 range with revised pricing and powertrain options
Chery has handed the Tiggo 7 a timely update, with the Chinese automaker's South African arm revealing local pricing and specifications for the revised lineup. In June, Chery launched the Tiggo 7 CSH (Chery Super Hybrid), along with the Tiggo Cross HEV (hybrid electric vehicle), in South Africa. Now, following the introduction of the former, new-energy Tiggo 7, the Chinese company has introduced the revised petrol-powered Tiggo 7 to the South African market. 2025 Chery Tiggo 7 price in South Africa The Chery Tiggo 7 is priced from R429 900, which includes a five-year/60 000km service plan and a five-year/150 000km warranty. A 10-year/one million km engine warranty is included for the first owner. Chery Tiggo 7 1.5T Prime DCT — R429 900 Chery Tiggo 7 1.6T Prestige DCT — R499 900 Chery Tiggo 7 1.6T Legacy DCT — R549 900 The revised Tiggo 7 lineup is available with the choice of two four-cylinder turbocharged petrol powertrains: a 1.5l unit producing 108kW and 210N.m, and a 1.6l endowed with 147kW and 290N.m of torque. The former is coupled with a six-speed dual-clutch gearbox, while the more powerful engine drives the front wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. Chery claims a fuel consumption of 6.9l/100km for the 1.5l and 7.2l/100km for the 1.6l. Both models are equipped with a 51l fuel tank, which allows for an average driving range of 739km and 708km when matching the former and latter figures. 2025 Chery Tiggo 7 specs The 1.5l model is exclusively available in Prime trim grade, while the 1.6l derivative can be had in Prestige and Legacy level of specification. As standard, all models are equipped with such nice-to-haves as 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment, replete with Apple CarPlay/Android Auto; 12.3-inch digital instrumentation; dual-zone climate control; and a reverse-view camera. Prime spec rolls on 18-inch alloy wheels, while Prestige and Legacy gain 19-inch items. Prestige further upgrades to a 540-degree camera array, six-way electrically adjustable driver's seat, and multi-coloured ambient lighting. Both the Prime and Prestige ship with a six-speaker sound system. On top of these items, Legacy grade gains heated front seats, a panoramic sunroof, an eight-speaker Sony audio system, and an electrically operated tailgate. Tyre pressure monitoring is also included across the range. On the safety front, four airbags are included with the Prime package, while Prestige and Legacy gain eight. Isofix child-seat anchorages are also present. Noteworthy, the Tiggo 7 received the full complement of five stars at an ANCAP safety test. Chery claims a boot capacity of 565l, which expands to 1 396l when folding down the rear 60:40-split backrest. 'The Tiggo 7 has always been one of our most successful models globally, and with this mid-cycle refresh, we've raised the bar even further,' said Verene Petersen, National Brand and Marketing Manager for Chery South Africa. 'From its bold new design to the enhanced technology and safety features, the refreshed Tiggo 7 offers South Africans even more value and peace of mind.' Click here to browse thousands of new and used vehicles here with CARmag! Related The post 2025 Chery Tiggo 7: South Africa Price & Specs appeared first on CAR Magazine. Breaking news at your fingertips… Follow Caxton Network News on Facebook and join our WhatsApp channel. Nuus wat saakmaak. Volg Caxton Netwerk-nuus op Facebook en sluit aan by ons WhatsApp-kanaal.
IOL News
21 hours ago
- Automotive
- IOL News
Facelifted Chery Tiggo 7 debuts in South Africa - but is it still too close to the Cross?
The facelifted Chery Tiggo 7 is now on sale in South Africa. Image: Supplied While the smaller Chery Tiggo 4 Pro sets the sales charts alight in South Africa with its sharp pricing, two slightly larger models are fighting for a smaller share of the pie just above that. One of these is the Chery Tiggo 7, which has just received a comprehensive facelift and range realignment to shift it a notch or two more upmarket, presumably so it clashes less with the recently introduced Chery Tiggo Cross. The upgraded Chery Tiggo 7, which now rolls off the tongue a little easier thanks to the 'Pro' being dropped from the end of its name, hits the market in three new specification flavours. The Tiggo 7 is only slightly longer than the Tiggo Cross. Image: Supplied Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading The 1.5T Prime kicks things off at R429,900, with the 1.6T Prestige taking the middle ground at R499,900 and the 1.6T Legacy laying on all the trimmings for R549,900. The pre-facelift Tiggo 7 Pro, for what it's worth, cost between R389,900 and R609,900. The Chery Tiggo Cross, which is actually the new Tiggo 4 in most overseas markets, retails from R399,900 to R449,900. But it's not much smaller than the Tiggo 7, being just 2mm shorter and 31mm narrower, albeit less spacious inside thanks to its wheelbase being 60mm shorter. The Cross is a good 102kg lighter, however, which translates to better economy and performance. The two vehicles are perhaps positioned a little too close for comfort, but it's worth keeping in mind that the Tiggo 7 is an older-generation product, ultimately providing more metal for the money. What's new for 2025? The Chery Tiggo 7 retains its basic body shell, but the front and rear sections have been redesigned. Upfront we see a new diamond-effect grille, flanked by standard LED headlights and garnished by a more deeply sculpted lower bumper. The back end is distinguished by new taillights and reprofiled tailgate and bumper, all of which forge a closer resemblance to the Tiggo Cross. The cabin also receives a significant update. New taillights and reprofiled sheet metal distinguish the rear section. Image: Supplied The 1.5-litre turbocharged engine in the entry version of the Tiggo 7, also found in the Cross, carries over as before, with outputs of 108kW and 210Nm, channeling power through the front wheels via a six-speed dual-clutch transmission. The 1.6-litre turbopetrol engine, fitted to Prestige and Legacy, delivers 145kW and 290Nm, through a seven speed dual-clutch gearbox. A plug-in hybrid version of the Tiggo 7 was also introduced recently, priced at R599,900. What features do you get in the Tiggo 7? As is the norm with Chinese SUVs, buyers are not left wanting for gadgets, even in the lower-specced versions. To that end, the 1.5 Prestige ships with 18-inch alloy wheels, 12.3-inch dual screen infotainment system with 'Hello Chery' intelligent voice command, dual-zone climate control, keyless start, rear-view camera, four airbags and traction control, to name a few. The 1.6T Prestige adds 19-inch alloys, synthetic leather seats, with power adjustment for the driver, surround-view camera and multi-coloured ambient lighting. The airbag count now rises to eight, including a front-centre crash bag, and additional safety features include Blind Spot Detection and Rear Collision Warning. The cabin also receives a fresh look and new dual-screen infotainment system. Image: Supplied Up at the top, the 1.6T Legacy gains a panoramic sunroof, heated front seats, power-operated tailgate, eight-speaker Sony sound system and a vast suite of driver assist gizmos, including Lane Departure Warning, Lane Change Assist, Adaptive Cruise Control, Front Collision Warning and Automatic Emergency Braking. All Chery Tiggo 7 models are sold with a five-year or 60,000km service plan, five-year or 150,000km warranty and 10-year/1-million kilometre engine warranty for the first owner. Chery Tiggo 7 Pricing (July 2025) 1.5T Prime - R429,900 1.6T Prestige - R499,900 1.6T Legacy - R549,900 IOL Motoring
The Advertiser
21-05-2025
- Automotive
- The Advertiser
How Chery is making its cars better suited to Australian roads
Automotive proving grounds are mysterious places. They're usually hidden in far-flung pockets away from prying eyes to keep the next generation of four-wheeled innovations shrouded in secrecy. But not today. Our proving ground is surrounded by chicken shops rather than chicken wire fences. And we're in plain view of the general public on a test loop through the streets of Sydney. There is no hiding here. Then again, there's not much to hide, and certainly no need for a disguise, as we're riding shotgun in a Chery Tiggo 7 plug-in hybrid that looks remarkably like the standard petrol-powered version of the mid-size SUV – save for a few cosmetic details and badges on the outside, and a large red emergency shut-off button on the dashboard – that has been on sale locally since late last year. Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now. Ahead of the local release of the Tiggo 7 PHEV in the next couple of months, we joined Chery Australia CEO Lucas Harris during the final phase of validating the local calibration for its comprehensive suite of Advanced Driver Assist Systems (ADAS), which includes automated emergency braking (AEB), adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assistance and other key safety functions. Mr Harris is part of group of executives and expert technicians at Chery – both locally and internationally – that test and tune the automaker's vehicles to suit Australia's unique consumer demands and road conditions. Chery isn't alone in doing this sort of local vehicle development work. In fact, almost every automotive brand in Australia has some form of checks and balances process prior to vehicles being delivered to showrooms to make sure they function properly on local roads. For some, it's little more than a box-ticking exercise, extending to tweaking minor vehicle features like radio tuning, while others go to enormous lengths – and considerable capital investment – to tailor the driving character of their vehicles especially for Australia. Mr Harris admits that Chery learned an early lesson that it needed to do more than just the basics, especially with the calibration of its active safety systems which were heavily criticised by pundits – including CarExpert – in models such as the Omoda 5 small SUV when it relaunched the brand here in 2023. "We've copped a fair amount of, shall we say, constructive criticism about our systems, which I think has all been quite fair," he says. "Every now and then it's a bit exaggerated, but that's how the world goes around. I like the criticism though, because it makes it really easy for us to identify what we need to work on next and where we need to improve. So, most of our effort to date has been around how that ADAS system operates." ADAS systems are a complex array of unique functions that are intended to improve the safe operation of a vehicle. But some are more annoying in how they intervene, forcing drivers to switch off many of the functions, which is clearly counterproductive to their purpose. They are all linked to an array of cameras and sensors positioned around the vehicle, providing it with a binary view of its surrounding environment. It's therefore all in the computer coding and algorithms of how that information is used – along with the physical inputs of the driver through the steering, throttle and brakes – as to how effective the functions are. And, importantly, how natural they feel to the driver. Interestingly for us today, the Tiggo 7 PHEV features Chery's next-generation ADAS hardware and software suite, and will be the first model to make it available to Australian consumers. Mr Harris says the reason Chery is investing in fine-tuning its ADAS calibration for Australia is, quite simply, the huge variation of road conditions we have in this country. "On our drive loop today, which is only about one and a half hours long, just note how many different types of roads we are driving on, not just the surface and condition of the tarmac, but also the lane widths and markings," he says as we trundle along the narrow three-lane Silverwater Road in heavy traffic. "Some roads are beautiful, and others are simply dreadful. Some have hard kerbs on the edge, some have grass verges with lines, and some have no lane markings on the edge at all. That's just here in Sydney's suburbs, let alone the variation around the country. "Compare that to the roads in China, which are very consistent, and that's why it is important for us to get our cars right for the market here. "I don't think Australian consumer expectations are unreasonable; it is just that we have a much wider mix of scenarios in which they use the vehicle." Mr Harris says a typical tuning program like this takes around 12 months "depending on how rough the starting position is" and begins with initial feedback from the validation group after driving an early pre-production vehicle. From there, the team will debate the outcomes, which he said "can get quite exciting sometimes", to form a collective opinion which is then relayed back to the engineering team in China to develop corrective measures. Every new software change is scrutinised again over the exact same drive loop and any further refinements are fed back to the engineering team in China. The team will do this over and over until they are satisfied the system operates as expected. "The benefits we're seeing from this are huge, because all the learnings accumulate," said Mr Harris. "We might spend 40 to 50,000 kilometres on this particular car, but that doesn't mean the hundreds of thousands of kilometres we've done before have gone to waste, because the data is relevant to improving the ADAS in all our models. "Essentially, each time we do this, we're improving tenfold. And the Tiggo 7 PHEV is easily the best car we have launched yet – and not just because it has the latest hardware in it." It's impossible to judge from the passenger seat if Mr Harris is right and how effective the changes are. But even as he and I hold an uninterrupted hour-long conversation with many hand gestures and plenty of finger pointing from the driver's seat, there is a conspicuous absence of binging-and-bonging from the driver monitoring system. And no sudden sideways jerks from the lane keeping assistance system, other than when provoked it to demonstrate how smooth it is. Mr Harris says the team has played particular attention to the latter system, and developed some unique solutions to help it intervene more naturally. He showcases this by moving into the inside lane on Lane Cove Road and driving closely, but parallel, to the roadside kerbing. "Here, we've got three very narrow lanes and sometimes you'll be driving with very little distance between the left-hand wheels and the kerb. That's just the way it is," he says. "It's a 70km/h speed limit and it goes up and over crests and around corners. It's a difficult road for the system to determine. Before, it would have tried to steer away from the kerb just because of a pre-set distance, even if you were driving consistently. But now, we've re-set the parameters according to the width of the lane. "On a narrow lane like this, the system will be supressed fractionally so it doesn't feel hyperactive, while it will act differently on a wider country road for example. "I think we've found a sweet spot where you will not get unnecessary or unrequired activations." The proof will be in the pudding when we get behind the wheel of the Chery Tiggo 7 PHEV to assess the improvements for ourselves in the next month or so. Until then, keep an eye on the traffic around you because the car in the next lane might just be doing something more important that getting point A to B. Content originally sourced from: Automotive proving grounds are mysterious places. They're usually hidden in far-flung pockets away from prying eyes to keep the next generation of four-wheeled innovations shrouded in secrecy. But not today. Our proving ground is surrounded by chicken shops rather than chicken wire fences. And we're in plain view of the general public on a test loop through the streets of Sydney. There is no hiding here. Then again, there's not much to hide, and certainly no need for a disguise, as we're riding shotgun in a Chery Tiggo 7 plug-in hybrid that looks remarkably like the standard petrol-powered version of the mid-size SUV – save for a few cosmetic details and badges on the outside, and a large red emergency shut-off button on the dashboard – that has been on sale locally since late last year. Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now. Ahead of the local release of the Tiggo 7 PHEV in the next couple of months, we joined Chery Australia CEO Lucas Harris during the final phase of validating the local calibration for its comprehensive suite of Advanced Driver Assist Systems (ADAS), which includes automated emergency braking (AEB), adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assistance and other key safety functions. Mr Harris is part of group of executives and expert technicians at Chery – both locally and internationally – that test and tune the automaker's vehicles to suit Australia's unique consumer demands and road conditions. Chery isn't alone in doing this sort of local vehicle development work. In fact, almost every automotive brand in Australia has some form of checks and balances process prior to vehicles being delivered to showrooms to make sure they function properly on local roads. For some, it's little more than a box-ticking exercise, extending to tweaking minor vehicle features like radio tuning, while others go to enormous lengths – and considerable capital investment – to tailor the driving character of their vehicles especially for Australia. Mr Harris admits that Chery learned an early lesson that it needed to do more than just the basics, especially with the calibration of its active safety systems which were heavily criticised by pundits – including CarExpert – in models such as the Omoda 5 small SUV when it relaunched the brand here in 2023. "We've copped a fair amount of, shall we say, constructive criticism about our systems, which I think has all been quite fair," he says. "Every now and then it's a bit exaggerated, but that's how the world goes around. I like the criticism though, because it makes it really easy for us to identify what we need to work on next and where we need to improve. So, most of our effort to date has been around how that ADAS system operates." ADAS systems are a complex array of unique functions that are intended to improve the safe operation of a vehicle. But some are more annoying in how they intervene, forcing drivers to switch off many of the functions, which is clearly counterproductive to their purpose. They are all linked to an array of cameras and sensors positioned around the vehicle, providing it with a binary view of its surrounding environment. It's therefore all in the computer coding and algorithms of how that information is used – along with the physical inputs of the driver through the steering, throttle and brakes – as to how effective the functions are. And, importantly, how natural they feel to the driver. Interestingly for us today, the Tiggo 7 PHEV features Chery's next-generation ADAS hardware and software suite, and will be the first model to make it available to Australian consumers. Mr Harris says the reason Chery is investing in fine-tuning its ADAS calibration for Australia is, quite simply, the huge variation of road conditions we have in this country. "On our drive loop today, which is only about one and a half hours long, just note how many different types of roads we are driving on, not just the surface and condition of the tarmac, but also the lane widths and markings," he says as we trundle along the narrow three-lane Silverwater Road in heavy traffic. "Some roads are beautiful, and others are simply dreadful. Some have hard kerbs on the edge, some have grass verges with lines, and some have no lane markings on the edge at all. That's just here in Sydney's suburbs, let alone the variation around the country. "Compare that to the roads in China, which are very consistent, and that's why it is important for us to get our cars right for the market here. "I don't think Australian consumer expectations are unreasonable; it is just that we have a much wider mix of scenarios in which they use the vehicle." Mr Harris says a typical tuning program like this takes around 12 months "depending on how rough the starting position is" and begins with initial feedback from the validation group after driving an early pre-production vehicle. From there, the team will debate the outcomes, which he said "can get quite exciting sometimes", to form a collective opinion which is then relayed back to the engineering team in China to develop corrective measures. Every new software change is scrutinised again over the exact same drive loop and any further refinements are fed back to the engineering team in China. The team will do this over and over until they are satisfied the system operates as expected. "The benefits we're seeing from this are huge, because all the learnings accumulate," said Mr Harris. "We might spend 40 to 50,000 kilometres on this particular car, but that doesn't mean the hundreds of thousands of kilometres we've done before have gone to waste, because the data is relevant to improving the ADAS in all our models. "Essentially, each time we do this, we're improving tenfold. And the Tiggo 7 PHEV is easily the best car we have launched yet – and not just because it has the latest hardware in it." It's impossible to judge from the passenger seat if Mr Harris is right and how effective the changes are. But even as he and I hold an uninterrupted hour-long conversation with many hand gestures and plenty of finger pointing from the driver's seat, there is a conspicuous absence of binging-and-bonging from the driver monitoring system. And no sudden sideways jerks from the lane keeping assistance system, other than when provoked it to demonstrate how smooth it is. Mr Harris says the team has played particular attention to the latter system, and developed some unique solutions to help it intervene more naturally. He showcases this by moving into the inside lane on Lane Cove Road and driving closely, but parallel, to the roadside kerbing. "Here, we've got three very narrow lanes and sometimes you'll be driving with very little distance between the left-hand wheels and the kerb. That's just the way it is," he says. "It's a 70km/h speed limit and it goes up and over crests and around corners. It's a difficult road for the system to determine. Before, it would have tried to steer away from the kerb just because of a pre-set distance, even if you were driving consistently. But now, we've re-set the parameters according to the width of the lane. "On a narrow lane like this, the system will be supressed fractionally so it doesn't feel hyperactive, while it will act differently on a wider country road for example. "I think we've found a sweet spot where you will not get unnecessary or unrequired activations." The proof will be in the pudding when we get behind the wheel of the Chery Tiggo 7 PHEV to assess the improvements for ourselves in the next month or so. Until then, keep an eye on the traffic around you because the car in the next lane might just be doing something more important that getting point A to B. Content originally sourced from: Automotive proving grounds are mysterious places. They're usually hidden in far-flung pockets away from prying eyes to keep the next generation of four-wheeled innovations shrouded in secrecy. But not today. Our proving ground is surrounded by chicken shops rather than chicken wire fences. And we're in plain view of the general public on a test loop through the streets of Sydney. There is no hiding here. Then again, there's not much to hide, and certainly no need for a disguise, as we're riding shotgun in a Chery Tiggo 7 plug-in hybrid that looks remarkably like the standard petrol-powered version of the mid-size SUV – save for a few cosmetic details and badges on the outside, and a large red emergency shut-off button on the dashboard – that has been on sale locally since late last year. Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now. Ahead of the local release of the Tiggo 7 PHEV in the next couple of months, we joined Chery Australia CEO Lucas Harris during the final phase of validating the local calibration for its comprehensive suite of Advanced Driver Assist Systems (ADAS), which includes automated emergency braking (AEB), adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assistance and other key safety functions. Mr Harris is part of group of executives and expert technicians at Chery – both locally and internationally – that test and tune the automaker's vehicles to suit Australia's unique consumer demands and road conditions. Chery isn't alone in doing this sort of local vehicle development work. In fact, almost every automotive brand in Australia has some form of checks and balances process prior to vehicles being delivered to showrooms to make sure they function properly on local roads. For some, it's little more than a box-ticking exercise, extending to tweaking minor vehicle features like radio tuning, while others go to enormous lengths – and considerable capital investment – to tailor the driving character of their vehicles especially for Australia. Mr Harris admits that Chery learned an early lesson that it needed to do more than just the basics, especially with the calibration of its active safety systems which were heavily criticised by pundits – including CarExpert – in models such as the Omoda 5 small SUV when it relaunched the brand here in 2023. "We've copped a fair amount of, shall we say, constructive criticism about our systems, which I think has all been quite fair," he says. "Every now and then it's a bit exaggerated, but that's how the world goes around. I like the criticism though, because it makes it really easy for us to identify what we need to work on next and where we need to improve. So, most of our effort to date has been around how that ADAS system operates." ADAS systems are a complex array of unique functions that are intended to improve the safe operation of a vehicle. But some are more annoying in how they intervene, forcing drivers to switch off many of the functions, which is clearly counterproductive to their purpose. They are all linked to an array of cameras and sensors positioned around the vehicle, providing it with a binary view of its surrounding environment. It's therefore all in the computer coding and algorithms of how that information is used – along with the physical inputs of the driver through the steering, throttle and brakes – as to how effective the functions are. And, importantly, how natural they feel to the driver. Interestingly for us today, the Tiggo 7 PHEV features Chery's next-generation ADAS hardware and software suite, and will be the first model to make it available to Australian consumers. Mr Harris says the reason Chery is investing in fine-tuning its ADAS calibration for Australia is, quite simply, the huge variation of road conditions we have in this country. "On our drive loop today, which is only about one and a half hours long, just note how many different types of roads we are driving on, not just the surface and condition of the tarmac, but also the lane widths and markings," he says as we trundle along the narrow three-lane Silverwater Road in heavy traffic. "Some roads are beautiful, and others are simply dreadful. Some have hard kerbs on the edge, some have grass verges with lines, and some have no lane markings on the edge at all. That's just here in Sydney's suburbs, let alone the variation around the country. "Compare that to the roads in China, which are very consistent, and that's why it is important for us to get our cars right for the market here. "I don't think Australian consumer expectations are unreasonable; it is just that we have a much wider mix of scenarios in which they use the vehicle." Mr Harris says a typical tuning program like this takes around 12 months "depending on how rough the starting position is" and begins with initial feedback from the validation group after driving an early pre-production vehicle. From there, the team will debate the outcomes, which he said "can get quite exciting sometimes", to form a collective opinion which is then relayed back to the engineering team in China to develop corrective measures. Every new software change is scrutinised again over the exact same drive loop and any further refinements are fed back to the engineering team in China. The team will do this over and over until they are satisfied the system operates as expected. "The benefits we're seeing from this are huge, because all the learnings accumulate," said Mr Harris. "We might spend 40 to 50,000 kilometres on this particular car, but that doesn't mean the hundreds of thousands of kilometres we've done before have gone to waste, because the data is relevant to improving the ADAS in all our models. "Essentially, each time we do this, we're improving tenfold. And the Tiggo 7 PHEV is easily the best car we have launched yet – and not just because it has the latest hardware in it." It's impossible to judge from the passenger seat if Mr Harris is right and how effective the changes are. But even as he and I hold an uninterrupted hour-long conversation with many hand gestures and plenty of finger pointing from the driver's seat, there is a conspicuous absence of binging-and-bonging from the driver monitoring system. And no sudden sideways jerks from the lane keeping assistance system, other than when provoked it to demonstrate how smooth it is. Mr Harris says the team has played particular attention to the latter system, and developed some unique solutions to help it intervene more naturally. He showcases this by moving into the inside lane on Lane Cove Road and driving closely, but parallel, to the roadside kerbing. "Here, we've got three very narrow lanes and sometimes you'll be driving with very little distance between the left-hand wheels and the kerb. That's just the way it is," he says. "It's a 70km/h speed limit and it goes up and over crests and around corners. It's a difficult road for the system to determine. Before, it would have tried to steer away from the kerb just because of a pre-set distance, even if you were driving consistently. But now, we've re-set the parameters according to the width of the lane. "On a narrow lane like this, the system will be supressed fractionally so it doesn't feel hyperactive, while it will act differently on a wider country road for example. "I think we've found a sweet spot where you will not get unnecessary or unrequired activations." The proof will be in the pudding when we get behind the wheel of the Chery Tiggo 7 PHEV to assess the improvements for ourselves in the next month or so. Until then, keep an eye on the traffic around you because the car in the next lane might just be doing something more important that getting point A to B. Content originally sourced from: Automotive proving grounds are mysterious places. They're usually hidden in far-flung pockets away from prying eyes to keep the next generation of four-wheeled innovations shrouded in secrecy. But not today. Our proving ground is surrounded by chicken shops rather than chicken wire fences. And we're in plain view of the general public on a test loop through the streets of Sydney. There is no hiding here. Then again, there's not much to hide, and certainly no need for a disguise, as we're riding shotgun in a Chery Tiggo 7 plug-in hybrid that looks remarkably like the standard petrol-powered version of the mid-size SUV – save for a few cosmetic details and badges on the outside, and a large red emergency shut-off button on the dashboard – that has been on sale locally since late last year. Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now. Ahead of the local release of the Tiggo 7 PHEV in the next couple of months, we joined Chery Australia CEO Lucas Harris during the final phase of validating the local calibration for its comprehensive suite of Advanced Driver Assist Systems (ADAS), which includes automated emergency braking (AEB), adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assistance and other key safety functions. Mr Harris is part of group of executives and expert technicians at Chery – both locally and internationally – that test and tune the automaker's vehicles to suit Australia's unique consumer demands and road conditions. Chery isn't alone in doing this sort of local vehicle development work. In fact, almost every automotive brand in Australia has some form of checks and balances process prior to vehicles being delivered to showrooms to make sure they function properly on local roads. For some, it's little more than a box-ticking exercise, extending to tweaking minor vehicle features like radio tuning, while others go to enormous lengths – and considerable capital investment – to tailor the driving character of their vehicles especially for Australia. Mr Harris admits that Chery learned an early lesson that it needed to do more than just the basics, especially with the calibration of its active safety systems which were heavily criticised by pundits – including CarExpert – in models such as the Omoda 5 small SUV when it relaunched the brand here in 2023. "We've copped a fair amount of, shall we say, constructive criticism about our systems, which I think has all been quite fair," he says. "Every now and then it's a bit exaggerated, but that's how the world goes around. I like the criticism though, because it makes it really easy for us to identify what we need to work on next and where we need to improve. So, most of our effort to date has been around how that ADAS system operates." ADAS systems are a complex array of unique functions that are intended to improve the safe operation of a vehicle. But some are more annoying in how they intervene, forcing drivers to switch off many of the functions, which is clearly counterproductive to their purpose. They are all linked to an array of cameras and sensors positioned around the vehicle, providing it with a binary view of its surrounding environment. It's therefore all in the computer coding and algorithms of how that information is used – along with the physical inputs of the driver through the steering, throttle and brakes – as to how effective the functions are. And, importantly, how natural they feel to the driver. Interestingly for us today, the Tiggo 7 PHEV features Chery's next-generation ADAS hardware and software suite, and will be the first model to make it available to Australian consumers. Mr Harris says the reason Chery is investing in fine-tuning its ADAS calibration for Australia is, quite simply, the huge variation of road conditions we have in this country. "On our drive loop today, which is only about one and a half hours long, just note how many different types of roads we are driving on, not just the surface and condition of the tarmac, but also the lane widths and markings," he says as we trundle along the narrow three-lane Silverwater Road in heavy traffic. "Some roads are beautiful, and others are simply dreadful. Some have hard kerbs on the edge, some have grass verges with lines, and some have no lane markings on the edge at all. That's just here in Sydney's suburbs, let alone the variation around the country. "Compare that to the roads in China, which are very consistent, and that's why it is important for us to get our cars right for the market here. "I don't think Australian consumer expectations are unreasonable; it is just that we have a much wider mix of scenarios in which they use the vehicle." Mr Harris says a typical tuning program like this takes around 12 months "depending on how rough the starting position is" and begins with initial feedback from the validation group after driving an early pre-production vehicle. From there, the team will debate the outcomes, which he said "can get quite exciting sometimes", to form a collective opinion which is then relayed back to the engineering team in China to develop corrective measures. Every new software change is scrutinised again over the exact same drive loop and any further refinements are fed back to the engineering team in China. The team will do this over and over until they are satisfied the system operates as expected. "The benefits we're seeing from this are huge, because all the learnings accumulate," said Mr Harris. "We might spend 40 to 50,000 kilometres on this particular car, but that doesn't mean the hundreds of thousands of kilometres we've done before have gone to waste, because the data is relevant to improving the ADAS in all our models. "Essentially, each time we do this, we're improving tenfold. And the Tiggo 7 PHEV is easily the best car we have launched yet – and not just because it has the latest hardware in it." It's impossible to judge from the passenger seat if Mr Harris is right and how effective the changes are. But even as he and I hold an uninterrupted hour-long conversation with many hand gestures and plenty of finger pointing from the driver's seat, there is a conspicuous absence of binging-and-bonging from the driver monitoring system. And no sudden sideways jerks from the lane keeping assistance system, other than when provoked it to demonstrate how smooth it is. Mr Harris says the team has played particular attention to the latter system, and developed some unique solutions to help it intervene more naturally. He showcases this by moving into the inside lane on Lane Cove Road and driving closely, but parallel, to the roadside kerbing. "Here, we've got three very narrow lanes and sometimes you'll be driving with very little distance between the left-hand wheels and the kerb. That's just the way it is," he says. "It's a 70km/h speed limit and it goes up and over crests and around corners. It's a difficult road for the system to determine. Before, it would have tried to steer away from the kerb just because of a pre-set distance, even if you were driving consistently. But now, we've re-set the parameters according to the width of the lane. "On a narrow lane like this, the system will be supressed fractionally so it doesn't feel hyperactive, while it will act differently on a wider country road for example. "I think we've found a sweet spot where you will not get unnecessary or unrequired activations." The proof will be in the pudding when we get behind the wheel of the Chery Tiggo 7 PHEV to assess the improvements for ourselves in the next month or so. Until then, keep an eye on the traffic around you because the car in the next lane might just be doing something more important that getting point A to B. Content originally sourced from:
7NEWS
21-05-2025
- Automotive
- 7NEWS
How Chery is making its cars better suited to Australian roads
Automotive proving grounds are mysterious places. They're usually hidden in far-flung pockets away from prying eyes to keep the next generation of four-wheeled innovations shrouded in secrecy. But not today. Our proving ground is surrounded by chicken shops rather than chicken wire fences. And we're in plain view of the general public on a test loop through the streets of Sydney. There is no hiding here. Then again, there's not much to hide, and certainly no need for a disguise, as we're riding shotgun in a Chery Tiggo 7 plug-in hybrid that looks remarkably like the standard petrol-powered version of the mid-size SUV – save for a few cosmetic details and badges on the outside, and a large red emergency shut-off button on the dashboard – that has been on sale locally since late last year. Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now. Ahead of the local release of the Tiggo 7 PHEV in the next couple of months, we joined Chery Australia CEO Lucas Harris during the final phase of validating the local calibration for its comprehensive suite of Advanced Driver Assist Systems (ADAS), which includes automated emergency braking (AEB), adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assistance and other key safety functions. Mr Harris is part of group of executives and expert technicians at Chery – both locally and internationally – that test and tune the automaker's vehicles to suit Australia's unique consumer demands and road conditions. Chery isn't alone in doing this sort of local vehicle development work. In fact, almost every automotive brand in Australia has some form of checks and balances process prior to vehicles being delivered to showrooms to make sure they function properly on local roads. For some, it's little more than a box-ticking exercise, extending to tweaking minor vehicle features like radio tuning, while others go to enormous lengths – and considerable capital investment – to tailor the driving character of their vehicles especially for Australia. Mr Harris admits that Chery learned an early lesson that it needed to do more than just the basics, especially with the calibration of its active safety systems which were heavily criticised by pundits – including CarExpert – in models such as the Omoda 5 small SUV when it relaunched the brand here in 2023. 'We've copped a fair amount of, shall we say, constructive criticism about our systems, which I think has all been quite fair,' he says. 'Every now and then it's a bit exaggerated, but that's how the world goes around. I like the criticism though, because it makes it really easy for us to identify what we need to work on next and where we need to improve. So, most of our effort to date has been around how that ADAS system operates.' ADAS systems are a complex array of unique functions that are intended to improve the safe operation of a vehicle. But some are more annoying in how they intervene, forcing drivers to switch off many of the functions, which is clearly counterproductive to their purpose. They are all linked to an array of cameras and sensors positioned around the vehicle, providing it with a binary view of its surrounding environment. It's therefore all in the computer coding and algorithms of how that information is used – along with the physical inputs of the driver through the steering, throttle and brakes – as to how effective the functions are. And, importantly, how natural they feel to the driver. Interestingly for us today, the Tiggo 7 PHEV features Chery's next-generation ADAS hardware and software suite, and will be the first model to make it available to Australian consumers. Mr Harris says the reason Chery is investing in fine-tuning its ADAS calibration for Australia is, quite simply, the huge variation of road conditions we have in this country. 'On our drive loop today, which is only about one and a half hours long, just note how many different types of roads we are driving on, not just the surface and condition of the tarmac, but also the lane widths and markings,' he says as we trundle along the narrow three-lane Silverwater Road in heavy traffic. 'Some roads are beautiful, and others are simply dreadful. Some have hard kerbs on the edge, some have grass verges with lines, and some have no lane markings on the edge at all. That's just here in Sydney's suburbs, let alone the variation around the country. 'Compare that to the roads in China, which are very consistent, and that's why it is important for us to get our cars right for the market here. 'I don't think Australian consumer expectations are unreasonable; it is just that we have a much wider mix of scenarios in which they use the vehicle.' Mr Harris says a typical tuning program like this takes around 12 months 'depending on how rough the starting position is' and begins with initial feedback from the validation group after driving an early pre-production vehicle. From there, the team will debate the outcomes, which he said 'can get quite exciting sometimes', to form a collective opinion which is then relayed back to the engineering team in China to develop corrective measures. Every new software change is scrutinised again over the exact same drive loop and any further refinements are fed back to the engineering team in China. The team will do this over and over until they are satisfied the system operates as expected. 'The benefits we're seeing from this are huge, because all the learnings accumulate,' said Mr Harris. 'We might spend 40 to 50,000 kilometres on this particular car, but that doesn't mean the hundreds of thousands of kilometres we've done before have gone to waste, because the data is relevant to improving the ADAS in all our models. 'Essentially, each time we do this, we're improving tenfold. And the Tiggo 7 PHEV is easily the best car we have launched yet – and not just because it has the latest hardware in it.' It's impossible to judge from the passenger seat if Mr Harris is right and how effective the changes are. But even as he and I hold an uninterrupted hour-long conversation with many hand gestures and plenty of finger pointing from the driver's seat, there is a conspicuous absence of binging-and-bonging from the driver monitoring system. And no sudden sideways jerks from the lane keeping assistance system, other than when provoked it to demonstrate how smooth it is. Mr Harris says the team has played particular attention to the latter system, and developed some unique solutions to help it intervene more naturally. He showcases this by moving into the inside lane on Lane Cove Road and driving closely, but parallel, to the roadside kerbing. 'Here, we've got three very narrow lanes and sometimes you'll be driving with very little distance between the left-hand wheels and the kerb. That's just the way it is,' he says. 'It's a 70km/h speed limit and it goes up and over crests and around corners. It's a difficult road for the system to determine. Before, it would have tried to steer away from the kerb just because of a pre-set distance, even if you were driving consistently. But now, we've re-set the parameters according to the width of the lane. 'On a narrow lane like this, the system will be supressed fractionally so it doesn't feel hyperactive, while it will act differently on a wider country road for example. 'I think we've found a sweet spot where you will not get unnecessary or unrequired activations.' The proof will be in the pudding when we get behind the wheel of the Chery Tiggo 7 PHEV to assess the improvements for ourselves in the next month or so.
Perth Now
21-05-2025
- Automotive
- Perth Now
How Chery is making its cars better suited to Australian roads
Automotive proving grounds are mysterious places. They're usually hidden in far-flung pockets away from prying eyes to keep the next generation of four-wheeled innovations shrouded in secrecy. But not today. Our proving ground is surrounded by chicken shops rather than chicken wire fences. And we're in plain view of the general public on a test loop through the streets of Sydney. There is no hiding here. Then again, there's not much to hide, and certainly no need for a disguise, as we're riding shotgun in a Chery Tiggo 7 plug-in hybrid that looks remarkably like the standard petrol-powered version of the mid-size SUV – save for a few cosmetic details and badges on the outside, and a large red emergency shut-off button on the dashboard – that has been on sale locally since late last year. Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now. 2025 Chery Tiggo 7 PHEV Credit: CarExpert Ahead of the local release of the Tiggo 7 PHEV in the next couple of months, we joined Chery Australia CEO Lucas Harris during the final phase of validating the local calibration for its comprehensive suite of Advanced Driver Assist Systems (ADAS), which includes automated emergency braking (AEB), adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assistance and other key safety functions. Mr Harris is part of group of executives and expert technicians at Chery – both locally and internationally – that test and tune the automaker's vehicles to suit Australia's unique consumer demands and road conditions. Chery isn't alone in doing this sort of local vehicle development work. In fact, almost every automotive brand in Australia has some form of checks and balances process prior to vehicles being delivered to showrooms to make sure they function properly on local roads. Chery Australia COO Lucas Harris Credit: CarExpert For some, it's little more than a box-ticking exercise, extending to tweaking minor vehicle features like radio tuning, while others go to enormous lengths – and considerable capital investment – to tailor the driving character of their vehicles especially for Australia. Mr Harris admits that Chery learned an early lesson that it needed to do more than just the basics, especially with the calibration of its active safety systems which were heavily criticised by pundits – including CarExpert – in models such as the Omoda 5 small SUV when it relaunched the brand here in 2023. 'We've copped a fair amount of, shall we say, constructive criticism about our systems, which I think has all been quite fair,' he says. Chery Tiggo 7 PHEV ADAS hardware Credit: CarExpert 'Every now and then it's a bit exaggerated, but that's how the world goes around. I like the criticism though, because it makes it really easy for us to identify what we need to work on next and where we need to improve. So, most of our effort to date has been around how that ADAS system operates.' ADAS systems are a complex array of unique functions that are intended to improve the safe operation of a vehicle. But some are more annoying in how they intervene, forcing drivers to switch off many of the functions, which is clearly counterproductive to their purpose. They are all linked to an array of cameras and sensors positioned around the vehicle, providing it with a binary view of its surrounding environment. It's therefore all in the computer coding and algorithms of how that information is used – along with the physical inputs of the driver through the steering, throttle and brakes – as to how effective the functions are. And, importantly, how natural they feel to the driver. Supplied Credit: CarExpert Interestingly for us today, the Tiggo 7 PHEV features Chery's next-generation ADAS hardware and software suite, and will be the first model to make it available to Australian consumers. Mr Harris says the reason Chery is investing in fine-tuning its ADAS calibration for Australia is, quite simply, the huge variation of road conditions we have in this country. 'On our drive loop today, which is only about one and a half hours long, just note how many different types of roads we are driving on, not just the surface and condition of the tarmac, but also the lane widths and markings,' he says as we trundle along the narrow three-lane Silverwater Road in heavy traffic. Supplied Credit: CarExpert 'Some roads are beautiful, and others are simply dreadful. Some have hard kerbs on the edge, some have grass verges with lines, and some have no lane markings on the edge at all. That's just here in Sydney's suburbs, let alone the variation around the country. 'Compare that to the roads in China, which are very consistent, and that's why it is important for us to get our cars right for the market here. 'I don't think Australian consumer expectations are unreasonable; it is just that we have a much wider mix of scenarios in which they use the vehicle.' Supplied Credit: CarExpert Mr Harris says a typical tuning program like this takes around 12 months 'depending on how rough the starting position is' and begins with initial feedback from the validation group after driving an early pre-production vehicle. From there, the team will debate the outcomes, which he said 'can get quite exciting sometimes', to form a collective opinion which is then relayed back to the engineering team in China to develop corrective measures. Every new software change is scrutinised again over the exact same drive loop and any further refinements are fed back to the engineering team in China. The team will do this over and over until they are satisfied the system operates as expected. 'The benefits we're seeing from this are huge, because all the learnings accumulate,' said Mr Harris. Supplied Credit: CarExpert 'We might spend 40 to 50,000 kilometres on this particular car, but that doesn't mean the hundreds of thousands of kilometres we've done before have gone to waste, because the data is relevant to improving the ADAS in all our models. 'Essentially, each time we do this, we're improving tenfold. And the Tiggo 7 PHEV is easily the best car we have launched yet – and not just because it has the latest hardware in it.' It's impossible to judge from the passenger seat if Mr Harris is right and how effective the changes are. But even as he and I hold an uninterrupted hour-long conversation with many hand gestures and plenty of finger pointing from the driver's seat, there is a conspicuous absence of binging-and-bonging from the driver monitoring system. And no sudden sideways jerks from the lane keeping assistance system, other than when provoked it to demonstrate how smooth it is. Supplied Credit: CarExpert Mr Harris says the team has played particular attention to the latter system, and developed some unique solutions to help it intervene more naturally. He showcases this by moving into the inside lane on Lane Cove Road and driving closely, but parallel, to the roadside kerbing. 'Here, we've got three very narrow lanes and sometimes you'll be driving with very little distance between the left-hand wheels and the kerb. That's just the way it is,' he says. 'It's a 70km/h speed limit and it goes up and over crests and around corners. It's a difficult road for the system to determine. Before, it would have tried to steer away from the kerb just because of a pre-set distance, even if you were driving consistently. But now, we've re-set the parameters according to the width of the lane. Supplied Credit: CarExpert 'On a narrow lane like this, the system will be supressed fractionally so it doesn't feel hyperactive, while it will act differently on a wider country road for example. 'I think we've found a sweet spot where you will not get unnecessary or unrequired activations.' The proof will be in the pudding when we get behind the wheel of the Chery Tiggo 7 PHEV to assess the improvements for ourselves in the next month or so. Until then, keep an eye on the traffic around you because the car in the next lane might just be doing something more important that getting point A to B.
