The salary you need to afford Chery’s new hybrid SUV in South Africa

You will need to earn at least R79,000 per month to afford the new Chery Tiggo 8 CSH if you opt for a finance plan, according to a calculation by TopAuto.

The Tiggo 8 CSH (Chery Super Hybrid) is the third hybrid model introduced by the Chinese carmaker this year, following the introduction of the Tiggo Cross CSH and Tiggo 7 CSH.

The electrified version of the brand’s flagship SUV is available in a single “Apex” specification with prices starting at R729,900.

It is a plug-in hybrid that combines a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine with an electric motor, resulting in an impressive output of 255kW and 525Nm.

The e-motor is powered by an 18.3kWh battery, which allows for 90km of electric driving.

Chery claims that the SUV’s fuel consumption is as low as 1.3l/100km when making extensive use of the electric driving mode, but this figure is closer to 5.2l/100km if you mainly rely on the combustion engine.

Also worth noting is that the Tiggo 8 is front-wheel-drive and uses a dedicated hybrid transmission.

As far as equipment is concerned, the SUV comes standard with automatic LED headlights, 19-inch alloy rims, roof rails, a panoramic sunroof, an electric tailgate, and seven seats.

When all the seats are up, the boot has space for 117 litres, which expands to 494 and 1,930 litres when the third and second rows are folded, respectively.

The Chery also features electric front seats with heating, ventilation, and massage functions, dual-zone climate control with rear vents, ambient lighting, a 12-speaker Sony Stereo, a digital instrument cluster, and a 15.6-inch infotainment screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

In addition, there are numerous safety and assistance functions including 10 airbags, adaptive cruise control, hill assist, electronic stability control, traction control, driver attention alert, lane departure prevention, traffic jam assist, intelligent high beam control, automatic emergency braking, blind spot detection, rear cross-traffic alert, and a door opening warning.

Each purchase comes with a 7-year/200,000km warranty, a 7-year/90,000km service plan, a 10-year/1-million-kilometre warranty valid for the first owner, and a 10-year/unlimited-kilometre hybrid battery warranty.

What you need to earn

We can use the following formula to work out the monthly payments on the new Chery:

• Car price – R729,900
• Payment term – 60 terms (5 years)
• Interest – 10.50%
• Deposit – 0%
• Balloon – No balloon payment
• Extras – No optional extras

According to this, you’ll need to pay at least R15,783 per month for the CSH.

Financial experts then recommend that you do not spend more than 20% of your gross monthly salary on vehicle payments.

This means you’ll need to earn at least R78,915 per month to afford the new Tiggo 8 on a finance plan.

Note that this figure does not account for insurance, fuel, and maintenance, which must all be factored into your budget.