Australian new car consumers are treated to an unprecedented array of new cars and brands being launched in 2025, with a lot of new medium SUVs and hybrid SUVs
Chinese brands – notably MG, GWM and Chery – have enjoyed inexorable growth in the small SUV segment in particular. Growth has also been strong in the medium SUV category, but not hitherto enough to threaten the dominance of Mazda CX-5, Toyota RAV4 and Hyundai Tucson.
Nevertheless, sales of Chery’s Tiggo 7 are up 80 per cent to the end of June 2025 (VFACTS), with this new Super Hybrid model aiming to consolidate its position and capture buyers looking to save on their running costs.
2026 Chery Tiggo 7 Super Hybrid: Specifications:
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo four-cylinder plug-in hybrid
Electrical: 18.3kWh battery, 93km range
Output: 150kW / 310Nm
Gearbox: Single-speed auto
Drive type: Front-wheel drive
Wheels: F & R: 18×6.5, 225/60
Tare weight: 1788kg
Official consumption: 1.4L/100km
Starting price: $39,990
2026 Chery Tiggo 7 Super Hybrid: How much does it cost?
Starting from $39,990 drive-away for the Urban model and $43,990 drive-away for the flagship Ultimate, the prices are certainly attention grabbing – especially when you consider cost to be one of the biggest reasons for choosing a hybrid or PHEV.
Tiggo 7’s bigger brother, the Tiggo 8, has also been treated to this powertrain (and a light facelift, but more on that later). Driving Enthusiast was invited to the Australian media launch of these two vehicles to sample the new powertrain and other updates.
A mostly impressive service schedule of 15,000km or every 12 months (whichever comes first) sees capped price servicing varying between $299 and $349 – except for the sting in the tail at 90,000km or six years, which is $1291. With overall costs over seven years/105,000km contained to $3174, this is still impressive in the grand scheme of things.
A seven year/ unlimited-kilometre warranty for the car and eight-year battery warranty adds further reassurance. A temporary inflation kit means there is no proper spare tyre option, disappointingly, but roadside assistance reconciles this to some degree (depending on where you live).
2026 Chery Tiggo 7 Super Hybrid: Interior & packaging
As with its non-hybridised sibling, the Tiggo 7 Super Hybrid measures 4535mm long, 1864mm wide and 1702mm tall, with a 2653mm wheelbase. Combined with a near-flat rear floor, accomodation is impressive. Equipment is impressive, too, with the Urban featuring 8 airbags, voice assistant, six-speaker stereo, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, six-way electric driver’s seat and a comprehensive ADAS suite.
Stepping up to the Ultimate adds a panoramic moonroof, configurable ambient lighting, heating and ventilation for the front seats, eight-speaker Sony stereo, a 50W wireless phone charger (not cooled), puddle lamps, privacy glass and 360-degree parking camera.
In terms of exterior design, the first thing which caught our attention was the Urban’s funny, hubcap-looking 18-inch alloy wheels shod with Maxxis tyres. Subtle changes in the front fascia and rear taillamp graphic (among others) freshen the appearance of the Tiggo 7, giving strong Peugeot 3008 vibes (especially in Turquoise Blue). Even the ‘R’ in the ‘CHERY’ script font has come in for some revision, apparently. So far, so good.
Inside, revised steering wheel controls are a welcome improvement, with nicely arranged capacitive touch controls underneath the vents. The overall aesthetic is neat and minimalist with decent material quality. We’d stop short of calling it class-leading, though.
Also impressive is the responsiveness and clarity of the 12.3-inch infotainment and instrument screens. Having the ability to choose a wallpaper is nice, but to defeat some of the ADAS features there are still a few too many menus.
Thankfully, there is a ‘*’ favourite button for this now, and they are far more intuitive and subtle than systems on the original OMODA 5 when it showed its trypophobia-inducing mug.
2026 Chery Tiggo 7 Super Hybrid: Powertrain & handling
Getting to the heart of the matter, Chery has put a lot of effort into engineering an efficient and quiet PHEV powertrain, culminating in a 1290km best total range on one tank of fuel in a fuel economy marathon in South Africa and Indonesia.
The powertrain consists of Chery’s fifth-generation 1.5-litre turbo, direct-injected four-cylinder engine offering an impressive 44.5 per cent thermal efficiency. Apparently the sixth generation engine will be even more efficient. Its modest outputs of 105kW and 215Nm are augmented by the electric motor, generating 150kW and 310Nm. Chery does not quote a total system output for its Super Hybrid powertrain.
Some 95km of WLTP EV-only range comes courtesy of an 18.3kWh battery pack. A maximum DC charge rate of 40kW means you can top the battery up from 30-80 per cent in just 20 minutes. Particular attention has been paid to keep the engine in its most efficient power band at all times – including freeway cruising – an area where PHEVs are typically upside down. Senior engineers claim that even under duress, you’d be hard-pressed to exceed 6L/100km.
Furthermore, Chery says there is less than 1dB noise difference when switching between EV and HEV mode – which is a legitimate complaint of some hybrids (cough, MG ZS HEV, cough). It also claims transmission noise is 2 decibels lower than the previous benchmark. All very ambitious and promising stuff, so how does it translate in the real world?
On a drive from the centre of Sydney up to the picturesque Hunter Valley, we encountered all kinds of roads from dense city traffic, steady highway cruises and corners of varying radii, as well as every type of bump, pothole and undulation you could imagine.
So how did the Tiggo 7 Super Hybrid acquit itself? For the most part, we can attest the claims about NVH and efficiency ring true in the real world. When switching between drivetrain modes, the petrol engine is indeed a quiet companion, elevating only in timbre rather than noise when it is called upon. NVH is also very impressive, with only some faint wind noise entering the cabin. Tyre noise is very well contained on all but coarse chip bitumen, where there may be scant room for improvement.
Using the adaptive cruise control systems in the heart of Sydney during peak-hour genuinely made it more bearable, with smooth operation of lane change assist and speed limiting helping mitigate fines. We did find ourselves baulking at the driver attention monitor, but it wasn’t overly zealous, nor was its beeping sound jarring to the ear. Switching between Eco, Sport and Normal modes elicits an animation and verbal prompt and takes over the infotainment screen, but offered a noticeable difference in response.
Acceleration is never more than adequate but the system is never caught off guard, always offering dependable off-the-line response, regardless of the battery’s state of charge. Even with a heavy right foot, we didnt exceed the magic 6L/100km mark, so we can verify Chery’s efficiency claims.
Bump absorption is reasonable over potholes, but leaves wanting over sharper jolts and expansion joints, with rebound compression perhaps in need of minor tweaking. While surefooted enough, the ‘porcelain’ feel of Chery steering offers a disconcerting lack of road feel, with the only illusion of feedback coming from the lane keeping system. Lucky for Chery, its core target demographic won’t mind this as it doesn’t really impact core functionality for day-to-day commuting.
2026 Chery Tiggo 7 Super Hybrid: First impressions
We’re impressed with the new model’s functionality, refinement and efficiency. Significant gains in these departments should give core rivals some sleepless nights – particularly given the startling entry price of the Urban.
Despite that low price, there is no real caveat for consumers looking for this type of car. It is a very competent machine which – may not go very far as a sensory-pleasure-giving driver’s car, but that isn’t its raison d’etre either.
In fact, with some of the previous criticisms of PHEV (highway efficiency, noisiness, DC charge time, price) being addressed, we expect Chery will win some customers who may not have even considered a hybrid (or PHEV) vehicle before.
2026 Chery Tiggo 7 Super Hybrid: Video
