Chery Tiggo 4 hybrid revew – first UK drive

Make and model: Chery Tiggo 4 CSH
Description: Small SUV, petrol-electric hybrid
Price range: £19,995 to £21,995

Summary: The Chery Tiggo 4 is a hybrid SUV with twin screens, seven-year warranty and full safety tech from under £20,000 – probably the best value new car on sale in the UK right now.

For a broader ownership picture, see our Chery Tiggo 4 Expert Rating, which combines media reviews, safety data, reliability, running costs and warranty cover.

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The Chery Tiggo 4 arrives as the smallest model in the burgeoning brand’s UK range – a compact hybrid SUV that sits below the Tiggos 7, 8 and 9 in the line-up, and well below them on price. At £19,995 for the entry-level Aspire and £21,995 for the top-spec Summit, it costs roughly the same as a petrol manual Vauxhall Corsa – but offers considerably more car.

That comparison sounds like marketing copy, but it’s fair. The Tiggo 4 is a five-seat SUV with dual 12-inch screens, a proper hybrid powertrain (not a mild hybrid), automatic transmission, seven-year warranty and a comprehensive safety technology suite as standard. It’s probably the best value new car on sale in the UK right now.

Price and equipment

The entry-level Aspire at £19,995 is well equipped for the money. Standard kit includes the dual-screen display, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, dual-zone climate control, keyless entry, a rear-view camera, rear parking sensors, heated mirrors and a full suite of driver assistance technology. Fabric seats and a four-speaker audio system come as standard at this level.

The Summit at £21,995 adds faux-leather upholstery, a heated steering wheel, heated front seats, a 360-degree camera, front parking sensors, electrically adjustable driver’s seat, wireless charging and privacy glass. It’s a meaningful step up and represents the better value of the two given the relatively small price gap – though the Aspire is far from stripped out.

One colour – Arctic White – is included in the base price. The five remaining colours cost an additional £500 each.

Inside the car

The cabin is a typical 2020s layout – a central touchscreen handles most functions, with the driver’s display screen sitting in a conventional position behind the steering wheel. After spending time in a Peugeot E-3008 with its unusual elevated instrument panel, the Tiggo 4’s conventional arrangement was a welcome relief.

The dual-screen setup looks smart and the screens are large and clear, though as with many Chinese manufacturers, the driver’s display shows too much information in a relatively small space. It would benefit from a simpler, cleaner layout.

Air conditioning controls are handled through a separate haptic panel rather than the main touchscreen, which is the right idea – keeping climate controls accessible without diving through menus – though proper buttons would be preferable.

The seats are comfortable enough for everyday use and rear space is reasonable for a car of this size – the Tiggo 4 measures 4.3 metres long, which is compact but not cramped. The boot offers 430 litres with the seats up, which is a decent result for the class. One note of caution: the cabin has a slightly boomy, tinny quality to it, but it’s no worse than most competitors at this price and better than many.

On the road

The hybrid powertrain combines a 1.5-litre petrol engine with a small electric motor and a 2kWh battery. In Chery-speak, this is called CSH, for Chery Super Hybrid. The system produces a combined 204hp between the petrol engine and electric motor, although it doesn’t feel like it when you put your foot down. Around town, where the electric motor can assist at low speeds, the car feels responsive and easy to drive. But on open roads and hills, where the petrol engine carries more of the load, the performance is less convincing.

For the vast majority of buyers who will use this primarily as an urban or suburban commuter car, that’s unlikely to be a problem in practice. The hybrid system handles itself unobtrusively, the automatic transmission shifts smoothly, and the overall experience is more refined than the price would suggest.

The 0-62mph time of nine seconds is perfectly adequate for everyday driving, and the official fuel economy figure of around 53mpg seems to be realistic. CO₂ emissions of 120g/km keep it out of the higher company car tax bands.

The driver assistance warnings are intrusive. Lane-keeping, speed limit alerts and forward collision warnings all announce themselves frequently in ways that quickly become irritating. This is a common trait among many new cars, especially from Chinese brands, so the Tiggo 4 has plenty of company in this respect. It doesn’t undermine the car, but it’s worth knowing before you buy. Hopefully a future over-the-air update will improve this.

There were no particular highlights and no particular lowlights from the driving experience – and in this class, at this price, that’s actually a compliment. You don’t feel like you’re driving a budget car, and the Tiggo 4 does everything it needs to do without drawing attention to itself.

Ownership

The Chery Tiggo 4 has not yet been assessed by Euro NCAP, and we don’t want to pre-judge the results. Chery’s previous UK models have achieved five-star ratings, and the Tiggo 4’s comprehensive standard safety equipment should put it in reasonable standing when testing takes place.

The seven-year/100,000-mile new car warranty is one of the strongest offers available at any price, and the battery is covered for eight years or 100,000 miles. At under £20,000, this level of warranty cover is class-leading.

For a full ownership picture, including safety data and running costs as they become available, check out our Chery Tiggo 4 Expert Rating.

Verdict

The Chery Tiggo 4 is not a car that does anything amazingly well. The driving experience is adequate rather than engaging, the cabin has a few rough edges, and the driver assistance warnings need improving. But none of that matters much at £19,995.

For the money, this is a genuinely compelling offer – a five-seat hybrid SUV with a long warranty, full safety technology suite, two large screens and automatic transmission, at a price that most competitors can’t match with a smaller, less well-equipped car. Chery has form for this in the UK market, and the Tiggo 4 continues the pattern. It will sell well.

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