Chery South Africa has two current offerings, the Tiggo 4 Pro and the Tiggo 8 Pro and we’ve driven both. The Tiggo 4 Pro offers commendable levels of features at a pocket-friendly price, while the Tiggo 8 Pro is a luxury 7-seater family SUV.
There’s still one more vehicle to be launched in South Africa, the Chery Tiggo 7 Pro, which sits between the two. Think of it as the equivalent to the Mazda CX range with CX-3, CX-30 and CX-5. Now while we’re not complaining about the current Chery Tiggo 4 Pro’s aggressive pricing, we do feel that there’s room for an entry-level crossover sitting below that.
Does such a product exist? Meet the Chery Tiggo 2 Pro. At first glance, it looks a bit like the Hyundai Kona with those narrow headlights, but the bodywork has all the makings of an urban crossover/compact SUV. With so many hatchbacks adopting offroad-looking bodywork and a raised ground clearance, it starts to make a business case a bit more feasible.
There’s not really a size clash with the bigger Tiggo 4 Pro. The 4 is 4318 mm long and has a wheelbase of 2610 mm, while the compact Tiggo 2 Pro is 4200 mm long and has a wheelbase of 2555 mm.
As far as engines go, we can see that the Chery Tiggo 4 Pro is offered with the 1.5-litre turbocharged motor, paired with an automatic gearbox. Outputs of 108 kW and 210 Nm are on par for the segment. There’s also a naturally-aspirated petrol engine with 83 kW and 138 Nm. Chery’s international site says the Tiggo 2 Pro has the same engines available.
If the Tiggo 2 Pro were to launch in South Africa, the differentiation will come in terms of features and standard equipment. Both the Tiggo 4 Pro and Tiggo 8 Pro are well equipped, but to keep the price aggressive, we suspect the smaller Tiggo 2 Pro might lose nice to haves like the digital dashboard, climate control and wireless charging.
Then there’s the issue of pricing. As it stands, the cheapest Tiggo 4 Pro is R274 900. Tiggo 2 Pro has the same engine, and same platform, but is physically smaller with a reduced level of features. We estimate it could be successful if it the range was priced in the R235 000 – R285 000 bracket.
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