Blossoming Chery

Chery's competitively priced premium-spec SUV suggests a giant leap for the Chinese brand after a rocky start in our market

- Damian Adams and Peter Palm

Price: R546 900 0-100 km/h: 8,71 sec Top speed: 185 km/h Power: 145 kW Torque: 290 N.m CAR fuel index: 8,4 L/100 km CO₂: 162 g/km

Despite impressive interior quality, standard features and tech, buying one will be an experiment Damian Adams

Expect Chery to continue improving and challenging the old guard Peter Palm

It's safe to say Chinese automakers have endured a chequered past in this country. Nameplates have come and gone, leaving owners in the lurch with unsellable products and nonexistent aftersales service.

It's a well-worn cautionary tale that starts with bravery and almost always culminates in tragedy. Starting locally in 2007 with the positioning statements of quality and heritage out of reach to the newcomers - all of these entered the market on a wobbly value ticket. They were quickly sunk by either fiercer than-expected fightbacks from established brands, or self-immolated through subpar product quality and associated ruthless public scrutiny.

After two abandoned forays first under the auspices of the McCarthy Group, then later Imperial (today Motus) - Chery's low point came in 2017, when its South African-spec budget subcompact QQ3 was awarded zero points in a Global NCAP safety test. Perception turned into reality and, unsurprisingly, Chery disappeared from the country in 2018. The lesson? Trust in brands can only be earned, not bought.

But the company believes it has unturned stones in the country and re-entered the market in 2021, this time as a wholly-owned subsidiary of its parent company, with a parts warehouse and a dedicated dealer network of 30 branches across the country, and committed to cure past ills.