Chery ended 2023 with 937,100 units exported globally, solidifying its position as China’s No.1 car exporter for the 21st year running. Malaysia will be part of the story for 2024, as Chery Malaysia has confirmed that it will launch three more Chery-badged model this year, excluding its sister-marque Jaecoo.
The first two models have already been announced earlier. The fully electric Chery Omoda E5 will launch in Q1, followed by the Proton X70-rivalling Chery Tiggo 7 Pro.
A third unnamed model was mentioned in Chery Malaysia’s business briefing earlier today. The presentation slide only showed the silhouette of a compact SUV, but it’s quite clear that the said model is the Chery Tiggo 4 Pro.
“This is an opportunity for us to come in into the volume game. We have in the past operated in the low 100s (RM ,000) and the high 100s (RM ,000) of the price segment. We are hoping to bring something lower, something that’s more reachable, more affordable to the rakyat,” said Product Director Michael Chew.
The Chery Tiggo 4 Pro is a Proton X50-class B-segment 5-seater SUV.
|
Chery Tiggo 4 Pro |
Proton X50 |
Length |
4,318 mm |
4,330 mm |
Width |
1,830 mm |
1,800 mm |
Height |
1,670 mm |
1,609 mm |
Wheelbase |
2,610 mm |
2,600 mm |
South Africa is one of the model’s biggest right-hand drive markets. There, the Tiggo 4 Pro is sold with two powertrain options, a 1.5-litre naturally aspirated 4-cylinder that makes 113 PS / 138 Nm, and a 1.5-litre turbocharged 4-cylinder that makes 147 PS / 210 Nm. Both engines are paired with a CVT-type automatic transmission, though the South African market also gets manual transmission variants as base models.
Between the two, the 1.5-litre turbocharged variant is more likely for Malaysia, putting it head-to-head against the Proton X50, which starts from RM 86,300 to RM 113,300. This was also the variant previewed in Malaysia in October 2022, prior to Chery Malaysia’s brand re-launch in May 2023.
Like the Chery Omoda 5 and Chery Tiggo 8 Pro, the Tiggo 4 Pro will be locally assembled (CKD) at Inokom’s plant in Kulim (contract manufacturing).
In South Africa, the Tiggo 4 Pro with a turbocharged engine and automatic transmission is priced from 386,900 Rand, undercutting the 449,900 Rand Proton X50 by a big margin.
In terms of features, equivalent variants of both SUVs offer comparable features – 6 airbags, full suite of advanced driver assistance (ADAS) features, 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment. For the latter, Chery one ups Proton by offering Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.