By Amanda Mfuphi

Chery made its return to South Africa and the Chinese manufacturer has definitely returned to make some noise in the automotive market in South Africa with its latest offering in the compact family SUV market. We recently got to sample Chery’s range-topping Tiggo 4 Pro Elite SE and it impressed us on looks, space, comfort, technology and drivability.

Exterior design

Upfront, the range topping Chery Tiggo 4 Pro Elite SE has a bold grille with diamond detailing, red trim on the bumper (as well as side panels) and LED daytime running lights, giving the Tiggo 4 Pro an overall modern look. The modern look is completed by the sunroof. At the rear, the Tiggo 4 Pro has a roof spoiler and LED taillights. It rides on 17-inch black alloy wheels.

Interior design and technology

The interior is modern with red detailing on the dashboard, seats and door panels. The armrests and dashboard have soft touch materials. The cabin also has ambient lights and a large 10-inch touchscreen infotainment system with crisp graphics and Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility. The cabin is also quite spacious offering sufficient head and legroom with a fairly large boot space that easily accommodated luggage for 2 adults and 2 children. The cabin has a total of three USB ports – two upfront and one at the back. Overall, the cabin presents a comfortable space to be in thanks to the modern, minimalist interior, dominant soft touch materials and an impressive infotainment system.

The Tiggo 4 Pro Elite SE is equipped with impressive smart technologies like a smart voice command system that responds to commands for playing music to opening the sunroof and windows. Some other features include electronically adjustable driver seat and dual-zone climate control system.

Safety

In terms of safety, the Chery Tiggo 4 Pro comes with a minimum of four airbags for the lower specification models and six airbags for the higher-specced models. Other safety features include ABS with EBD, electronic stability control, traction control, roll stability control, hill descent control and hill assist which are standard across the range. The range topping Elite SE model has a tyre-pressure monitoring system.

Our test Elite SE model is powered by a 1.5-litre turbocharged 4-cylinder petrol engine which produces 108kW and 210Nm. The engine is paired with a 9-speed CVT transmission. We experienced our test car on the long stretch from Johannesburg to Durban and found it to be a formidable travel companion and a good drive.The turbocharged 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol engine works well with the 9-speed CVT transmission and presents a seamless drive. We did not try too hard to get power out of the engine. On our trip to Durban, we returned an average of 8.1L/100km on Eco drive mode which is a tad too high for the class.

Our test Tiggo 4 Pro Elite SE retails for R359,900 and the range starts at R269,900. The Tiggo 4 Pro comes with a 5-year/60 000km service plan, as well as a 5-year/150 000 km warranty and a 1-million km/10-year engine warranty.

Overall, we found the Chery Tiggo 4 Pro to be a well-executed offering at a compelling pricing point and it will surely make headway in its segment.