Chery has updated its Tiggo 8 Pro flagship model for the South African market, with two specifications now on offer instead of the previous four.
The SUV’s new starting price is also considerably higher than the pre-facelift model, now coming in at R609,900 compared to the previous R504,900.
The Chery was on the receiving end of a few exterior touchups to make it look fresh for the year to come, though where it saw the most enhancements was inside the cabin, which now features the automaker’s latest infotainment system and safety technologies.
Everything new
Visually, the new Tiggo 8 Pro sports a smoothed-out grille with grey surrounds, an illuminated Chery badge, and slightly redesigned fog lights; and at the rear, it now gets an edge-to-edge LED lightbar with redesigned brake lights.
On top of this, the standard 8 Pro rides on 18-inch aluminium alloys while the sportier 8 Pro Max gets 19-inch wheels.
Once inside, the revisions continue with a new dual-screen infotainment system on the dash comprising a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and 12.3-inch central control display under one curved glass housing, as opposed to the split-screen setup on the previous model.
This system offers Android Auto, wireless Apple CarPlay, offline navigation, and intelligent voice commands, and it connects to an eight-speaker Sony stereo.
Other amenities inside the Chery include leather seats that are black in the base model and brown in the Max, electric front seats with ventilation, a heated driver seat, a leather multifunction steering wheel, dual-zone climate control with second and third-row vents, a panoramic sunroof, a 50W wireless charger, and ambient lighting with a “dance” function.
It also provides automatic LED headlights and windscreen wipers, keyless entry and start, an electric tailgate, cruise control, all-round park distance control sensors, a “540-degree” camera system, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, and six airbags.
The top-end model takes it a step further by bringing adaptive cruise control, forward-collision warnings, automatic emergency braking, lane-departure warnings, lane-keep assist, traffic congestion assist, intelligent high-beam adjustment, and a driving view recorder.
In seven-seater mode, the Tiggo 8 then provides 117 litres of storage space which grows to 739 litres with the third row down, and it’s also equipped with a roof rack that can handle an additional 50kg.
As before, powering Chery’s headlining SUV is a 1.6-litre, turbo-petrol engine in the base version and a 2.0-litre, turbocharged unit in the range-topper.
As a result, the standard 8 Pro generates 145kW and 290Nm whereas the Max pushes out a noticeably higher 187kW and 390Nm.
Both derivatives turn the front wheels only through a seven-speed automatic transmission, with fuel consumption coming in at 7.2l/100km for the smaller engine and 7.6l/100km for the larger one.
The 1.6-litre model can also accelerate from 0-100km/h in 8.9 seconds whereas the Max claims it in a quicker 7.3 seconds.
Price
The South African pricing and model line-up for the new Chery Tiggo 8 Pro are as follows:
- Chery Tiggo 8 Pro 1.6T Executive MY23 – R609,900
- Chery Tiggo 8 Pro Max 2.0T Executive MY23 – R669,900
Each purchase includes a 5-year/150,000km warranty with an additional 10-year/1-million kilometre engine warranty for the original owner, a 7-year/90,000km service plan, and 5-year/unlimited kilometre roadside assistance.
Celebrating a major milestone in South Africa after re-entering the market less than two years ago, Chery recently also launched a raft of extended service and maintenance plans for South African customers.
Chery Tiggo 8 Pro MY23
Join the discussion