The Chery Group continues its rapid expansion into the UK market with the Omoda 7, the third model for its Omoda brand, set to arrive in January 2026.
The Omoda 7 is a mid-sized SUV that (unsurprisingly) sits between the smaller Omoda 5 (and electric Omoda E5) and the larger Omoda 9 models. It will be available with either a petrol engine or petrol/electric plug-in hybrid powertrain.
As with the two existing models, the new Omoda 7 aims to offer excellent value for money, with a high specification and comprehensive new car warranty. Pricing will start at just under £30K, although full UK pricing and specifications are yet to be published.
There will be two trim levels available, called Knight (lower spec) and Noble (higher spec), with equipment levels that promise to be highly competitive. Power choices will be either a 1.6-litre petrol engine or a 1.5-litre plug-in hybrid, which Chery calls its Super Hybrid System.
The standard petrol engine delivers 147hp of power and 275Nm of torque, with performance that is likely to be adequate rather than outstanding. The plug-in hybrid should be notably better, with 204hp of power and 365Nm of torque when the petrol engine and electric motor are working together. If you want to achieve the full 56 miles of electric range, however, you’ll need to drive more conservatively.
As well as enough electric driving range to suit most households’ daily needs, the Omoda 7 plug-in hybrid can fast charge if you’re at a public charging point (most plug-in hybriods are limited to slow charging at a maximum of about 7kWh, same as you get from a home wallbox), and can also power external devices with vehicle-to-load (V2L) capability.
Inside, the Omoda 7 follows contemporary new car practice with a minimalist layout dominated by large central touchscreen (in this case, 16 inches) to control almost everything. Wireless phone connection with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto is standard, with the wireless charging pad even featuring a fan to keep your phone from overheating. The entry-level Knight models get a six-speaker Sony sound system, while the top-spec Noble models bump this up to 12 speakers.
Another strong contender from Omoda?
We had the opportunity for an exclusive drive of the Omoda 7 SHS (plug-in hybrid) earlier this year in China, and have every reason to believe that it will be right on the money for UK customers when it arrives here in January.
Although the car we drove was a left-hand drive model and wasn’t in final UK spec – and the road quality in China is mostly much better than UK-spec as well – it was easy enough to see that the equipment levels, build quality, and overall fit and finish will follow the pattern set by the Omoda 9 and other models from sister brands, Jaecoo and Chery.
Our drive was supposed to be an economy run, so there was no refuelling or recharging allowed over the course of about 500 miles of driving, but the Team UK and Team Australia cars essentially ignored the competition and just drove as we normally would. Yet we still found that the fuel economy achieved was better than the official figures suggest (and some of the other teams did a lot better than us), which bodes well for owners here in the UK.
