The Chery Tiggo 8 Pro facelift has been revealed for the China market. Here’s what’s new.
The biggest model offered by Chery is the Tiggo 8 Pro and while it’s still a fresh arrival on our shores with a launch back in February 2022, it has just been facelifted in China.
As a reminder, the Chery Tiggo 8 Pro might be new to South Africa, but it’s been around for some time in its homeland. The Chinese brand has released images and details of the Chery Tiggo 8 Pro facelift as well as a new plug-in hybrid derivative called the Tiggo 8 Pro Kunpeng e+.
At first glance, you can see the front end has been substantially revised, with a bolder and bigger grille on display. There’s a big Lexus feel about it, giving some idea of where Chery is positioning its latest offering. There’s lots of chrome detailing on the X-shaped grille and the headlights have been given a redesign.
Physically, the new model is 4 745 mm long and 1 860 mm wide, with a height and wheelbase of 1 745 mm and 2 710 mm respectively. There’s a sporty theme going on with nice-looking alloy wheels and twin exhausts at the rear to emphasise the sportiness.
The cabin receives the most changes with a 24.6-inch dual-screen layout. There’s a 10-speaker surround sound system from Sony once again. Chery has added a new head-up display system that has speed, advanced driver systems, navigation, and phone functionality built-in.
It appears the turbopetrol engines have been carried over, with 1.6-litre and 2.0-litre options available. The South African-spec Chery Tiggo 8 Pro makes do with the former and our initial impressions suggest it’s up to the task of moving the 7-seater around.
The Kungpeng e+ derivative has an interesting powertrain. Unlike its conventionally-powered siblings, this features a compact 1.5-litre turbo petrol, paired to two electric motors. These are positioned on each axle, giving its all-wheel drive capability. The claims are extraordinary with an economy claim of 1L/100 km and 100 km pure electric range from a 19.27 kWh battery. Again, the gearbox is sourced from ZF.
There are some smart driving modes too, like single-motor pure electric, dual-motor pure electric, direct engine drive, parallel drive, parking charging, and driving charging.
Chery Tiggo 8 Pro facelift in SA?
Given the relative newness of both the Chery brand and Tiggo product lines, we suspect we’re not going to see the Chery Tiggo 8 Pro facelift in SA any time soon. However, South African fans of the Chery brand can expect to see the Tiggo 7 Pro touch down around the middle of 2022.
