Hybrid powertrains coming for Chery Tiggo 4 and Omoda 5

Chery will bolster its Australian portfolio next year when it introduces a host of fuel-saving hybrid SUVs, some of which will be able to travel up to 1400km on a single tank of fuel.

Local chief operating officer Lucas Harris confirmed to carsales that electrifying the model range is a key strategic goal for the brand as it continues its Australian expansion after returning to the market in 2022.

The first hybrid cabs off the rank are likely to be the value-focused Tiggo 4 Pro and the slightly larger Omoda 5 compact SUVs, with Harris revealing the electrified versions are on track to debut here in 2025.

“On a global stage right now there’s ICE, regular HEV, which is not a mild hybrid but a proper hybrid, and we also have PHEV available globally,” he said.

“Next year I think we’ll see some of the HEV and PHEV technology coming to Australia.”

When asked which models would gain the hybrid powertrains first, Harris answered: “I’m speculating a little bit, but I think Tiggo 4 would be a really good candidate for a HEV.

“And Omoda 5 probably wouldn’t hurt either.”

Sales of hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) have almost doubled year-on-year so far in 2024, with Toyota the clear market leader – more than two thirds of all HEVs sold in Australia this year wear a Toyota badge.

Hybrids are doing so well for Toyota the brand dropped all its remaining petrol-only passenger and SUV models – excluding GR products – earlier this year.

Chery has a host of electrified vehicles to choose from in its global arsenal, including plug-in hybrid versions of the Omoda 7, Tiggo 8 Pro Max and the just-confirmed-for-Australia Tiggo 9.

The latter combines a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine with an electric motor to return a combined fuel consumption of 5.2L/100km, which Chery says lends the big SUV a total fuel range “beyond 1400km under WLTC”.

The Chinese brand also has a new hybrid-specific platform at its disposal, dubbed the ‘super hybrid power platform’, which has been developed explicitly for petrol-electric vehicles.

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