Bucket Seat: Chery #WHATSYOURPOWERMOVE

For days, South Africans have been captivated by the cryptic #WHATSYOURPOWERMOVE campaign, which has taken over digital billboards, shopping malls, building facades, and social media feeds. From silent public demonstrations in Durban, Cape Town, and Johannesburg to over 110 influencers fueling the mystery online, the country was left guessing: was this a new political movement, a disruptive tech solution, or something entirely unexpected? 

Today, Chery South Africa lifted the veil, revealing that the intrigue was all leading to the highly anticipated launch of its new hybrid vehicle range—and in true Chery style, the reveal was anything but ordinary. 

Hosted at Montecasino in Johannesburg, in South Africa, the event surprised VIP and media guests who believed they were attending a corporate update. Instead, they became part of a bold Chery Super Hybrid (CSH) reveal designed to make an impact. 

Building curiosity, sparking conversation 

The campaign employed disruptive and unconventional tactics to generate anticipation, sharing minimal information in advance. Through a mix of guerrilla marketing and surprise public activations across multiple platforms and locations, Chery garnered widespread attention to a pivotal moment: the next stage of its electrified journey in South Africa. 

This move comes at a pivotal time, with demand for hybrid vehicles growing rapidly, thanks to heightened interest in fuel efficiency and lower emissions. 

What sets CSH apart:

Chery’s new super hybrid offerings combine cutting-edge electric technology with a powerful powertrain, delivering exceptional performance, adaptability, and efficiency. 

Introducing  Chery Super Hybrid:*

A turbocharged petrol engine with dual electric motors

A powerful 1.5-litre turbocharged engine works seamlessly with two electric motors, enabling all-electric driving in the city and a hybrid or petrol-only experience on longer journeys. 

Dedicated Hybrid Transmission

Chery’s advanced hybrid system features a one- or three-speed Dedicated Hybrid Transmission (DHT) with an outstanding efficiency rate of over 97.6%.

Seven drive modes and eleven-speed ratios

From stop-and-go traffic to long-haul cruising, the hybrid system in the Chery Tiggo 9 PHEV adapts instantly to the driver’s needs. 

World-class thermal efficiency

With an engine thermal efficiency of 44.5%—one of the highest globally—Chery hybrids waste less fuel and emit less CO2.

Superb range and economy

The electric-only range of up to 90 km is ideal for daily urban commutes, with a combined driving range of up to 1200 km (depending on conditions and specific models). Fuel consumption is as low as 1.55 L/100 km on a full charge The standout Tiggo 9 PHEV boasts an even more impressive combined range of 140000 km from a full  tank and a fully charged battery, while returning just 4.5 L/100 km.

Fast charging

Super-fast charging enables an 80% recharge in just 18 minutes, ensuring minimal downtime. 

“With the introduction of our new Chery Super Hybrid range, we’re not just expanding our product line-up. We’re making electrified mobility more accessible to more South Africans,” commented Verene Petersen, National Brand and Marketing Manager for Chery South Africa. “Our new CSH range reflects Chery’s focus on smart, attainable technology and gives drivers even more choice as they look for new ways to lower running costs without compromising on comfort or power.”

A milestone for Chery South Africa

Since entering the local market, Chery South Africa has steadily grown into one of the country’s top six best-selling passenger car brands. Following a record-breaking 2024, the launch of the new CSH line-up marks a significant step in Chery’s electrification strategy.

The new Chery Super Hybrid line-up will be available at dealerships across South Africa from 23 July 2025. For more information, visit www.chery.co.za/.

Bucket Seat: Chery Partners with Deepseek

Earlier this year, Chery’s Aimoga robotics R&D team established a technical partnership with DeepSeek, an emerging AI powerhouse known for its groundbreaking low-cost training technology. This collaboration aims to leverage DeepSeek’s advanced AI models to enhance the voice interaction capabilities of Aimoga robots, driving the next wave of intelligent innovation.

This initiative marks another significant milestone in Chery’s intelligent innovations, building on the success of the Lion intelligence cockpit system. It also underscores Chery’s sharp foresight and rapid execution in embracing AI advancements - a testament to the company’s 15-year strategic investment in AI technology. "Our collaboration with DeepSeek is a natural extension of Chery’s long-standing commitment to AI-driven innovation,” commented Verene Petersen, National Marketing Manager for Chery South Africa. “By integrating advanced voice interaction capabilities into Aimoga robots, we’re enhancing their role in automotive retail and exploring how intelligent voice technology could shape future mobility experiences. As we continue refining these capabilities, we see exciting potential for broader applications across Chery’s ecosystem,” added Petersen. 

The Chery Aimoga robotics team recognised DeepSeek's key advantage: its significantly lower training costs than competitors. Powered by NVIDIA H800 chips, DeepSeek offers complete transparency in model weights and training logs under the MIT open-source protocol. This cost-effective and open approach aligns perfectly with Chery’s R&D philosophy: technology for the benefit of all. 

Chery Aimoga robots have already integrated DeepSeek’s V2, V3, and R1 open-source models into their robot cloud platform. These models power the interaction systems for Chery 4S store marketing robots. Real-world testing on the Chery robot hardware is expected to begin next week. The Chery Aimoga R&D team expressed enthusiasm for deepening collaboration with DeepSeek and other leading intelligent enterprises across broader domains. Their goal is to push the boundaries of robotic applications, unlocking new possibilities for innovations. 

The decision by Chery’s technical team is no coincidence. Since 2010, when Chery first ventured into AI, the company has strategically built an intelligent, interconnected technology base in collaboration with industry leaders like Baidu. The 2018 launch of CheryLion marked its full entry into the AI domain. By 2020, Chery initiated a dedicated R&D programme for humanoid robots, culminating in the global debut of its robot brand, Aimogo, and its self-developed robots and robotic dogs in 2023. Last year, Chery announced a mass production plan for Aimoga robots; over the past 15 years, Chery has progressed from R&D to mass production and deployment, solidifying its position as an AI innovator.

Chery intends to start selling humanoid robots in overseas markets in the first half of this year, with the initial application scenario focused on car sales assistance. Looking ahead, Chery aims to integrate the development of the Internet and automotive intelligence to create an intelligent mobility ecosystem centred on human-robot-vehicle collaboration. This vision aligns with its long-term goal of evolving into a home-based intelligent terminal, further cementing its role as a pioneer in the AI-driven future.

Bucket Seat: JAECOO J7

The influx of Chinese motoring brands to the market is no surprise given their track record of making good looking, well built and more importantly affordable cars that are loaded with technology that cost you and arm and two legs with most of the European brands. While reliability and longevity were questions that came up before when people considered these Chinese alternatives about 4 years ago, with most people being satisfied their cars didn't fall to pieces yet, it's given the consumer more confidence in purchasing these brands. One brand that has been doing particular well over the past few years is Chery, with it introducing it's sub brand Omoda last year, it got more and more people taking interest in their offerings, last week so Chery launch another sub brand from their stable, JAECOO, with their introductory model, the J7. A lot of hype has been created around this particular model with the brand teasing images and video of it since late last year. Now with the official launch, it has people queuing up to see what it has to offer and boy it didn't disappoint!

The highly anticipated JAECOO J7 has officially launched in South Africa, hitting the market as the very first model from the newly established urban off-road SUV brand. Endowed with cutting-edge design and forward-thinking technologies, the J7 is poised to take the local market by storm, with the three-strong range priced from just R549 900.

Tony Liu, Executive Deputy General Manager Chery / OMODA & JAECOO South Africa, says the new J7 perfectly embodies the brand’s “From Classic, Beyond Classic” philosophy and is as such the ideal model to introduce the innovative new marque to the country. In addition, South Africa is both the first right-hand-drive market to launch the J7 as well as the first in Africa.

“As South Africa’s first taste of JAECOO, the new J7 has an important role to play. Boasting high levels of sophistication and performance – not to mention a modern yet classic design aesthetic – the J7 will appeal to customers who love the great outdoors but are not prepared to compromise on either comfort or standard specification,” Liu said.

All three derivatives in the J7 range are powered by an efficient turbocharged 1.6-litre petrol engine producing generous peak outputs of 145 kW and and 290 Nm, and mated to a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission as standard. In the case of the base Vortex and mid-spec Glacier variants, drive is delivered to the front axle, while the range-topping Inferno features all-wheel drive, incorporating the brand’s advanced new All Road Drive Intelligent System (ARDIS).

The inclusion of ARDIS in the Inferno derivative completely redefines the off-road driving experience, allowing effortless navigation through mud, sand and several other types of terrain. This means drivers – who furthermore benefit from a 21° approach angle, a 29° departure angle, 200 mm of ground clearance and 600 mm of wading depth – needn’t worry about encountering varied surfaces.

The proprietary ARDIS intelligent off-roading system includes as many as 7 driving modes, allowing the JAECOO J7 to adapt to a wide variety of surfaces by dynamically adjusting the vehicle’s responses in real time. So, whether navigating urban streets or muddy terrain, the system handles each driving scenario with finesse and capability.

Specification levels are extremely generous across the line-up. Belying its entry-level positioning, for example, the Vortex grade includes items such as power-adjustable front seats, an electric tailgate, a 13.2-inch touchscreen, a 360° panoramic camera system, wireless smartphone charging, 18-inch alloy wheels (framing red brake callipers), LED headlamps, front foglamps, automatic windscreen wipers, 7 airbags (including a driver’s knee airbag), front radar and several added safety features.

Meanwhile, the mid-tier Glacier model (R599 900) upgrades to 19-inch alloys and a 14.8-inch touchscreen, while also gaining items such as innovative inter-seat airbags, a panoramic sunroof, heated and ventilated front seats (with a memory function), a head-up display, an integrated dashcam and a raft of extra driver-assistance features. The latter includes items such as automatic emergency braking (AEB), adaptive cruise control, traffic-jam assist, lane-departure warning, intelligent high-beam control, rear cross-traffic assist and more.

Finally, the flagship all-wheel-drive Inferno (R679 900) ships with the aforementioned ARDIS system, along with extras such as a heating function for the leather-trimmed steering wheel as well as privacy glass.

Shannon Gahagan, National Brand and Marketing Manager for OMODA & JAECOO South Africa, predicts that the J7 will spark a new urban off-roading trend among local buyers.

“The JAECOO J7 offers outdoor-loving customers something entirely new: far more toughness than a typical urban SUV but also more comfort and technology than traditional off-roaders. Add lofty levels of standard specification, a potent powertrain and highly competitive pricing, and you can see why we believe the J7 will take the local market by storm,” said Gahagan.

The J7 was launched in South Africa on 12 April 2024 at St John’s College in Johannesburg. After the day’s activities, invited guests – including brand ambassadors such as actor Senzo Radebe – attended an event hosted by MC Anele Mdoda. Thanks to an exclusive pre-launch drive of the J7, Anele was ideally positioned to play host, having been one of the very first people in South Africa to experience this exciting new vehicle from behind the wheel.

Later, JAECOO guests were treated to a music festival that included entertainment from DJ Mörda (aka Murdah Bongz), who had the crowd on its feet with his mesmerising dance moves and captivating stage presence.

Earlier, Khavhagali Vhalinavho from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) presented a talk on environmental protection. Liu explained that this topic is a key part of JAECOO’s broader sustainability vision.

“Right from the conception of the JAECOO brand, we knew we wanted to create a more environmentally friendly off-road experience than is typical, providing the urban elite with not only a more comfortable but also a greener travel adventure. The protection of the great outdoors is important to our customers, so it’s important to us. That’s why we’ve chosen to partner with IUCN,” concludes Liu.

Pricing

JAECOO J7 1.6T Vortex FWD 7DCT – R549 900

JAECOO J7 1.6T Glacier FWD 7DCT – R599 900

JAECOO J7 1.6T Inferno AWD 7DCT – R679 900

All 3 versions of the JAECOO J7 come standard with a 5-year/70 000 km service plan and a 5-year/150 000 km mechanical warranty. An additional industry-leading engine warranty spanning 10 years or 1 million kilometres is also included in the purchase price

Bucket Seat: Chery Tiggo 8 Pro Max All-Wheel Drive

Chery South Africa has unveiled its long-awaited new flagship, the Chery Tiggo 8 Pro MAX with all-wheel drive. The new model joins the growing Tiggo Pro line-up as the top of the range model and promises to welcome even more customers to this fast-growing family. With the addition of this model, the Tiggo 8 Pro range grows to three models, the Tiggo 8 Pro Executive with a turbocharged 1.6 litre petrol engine, the Tiggo 8 Pro MAX with a turbocharged 2.0 litre petrol engine and the new all wheel drive model. At the heart of the Chery Tiggo 8 Pro MAX AWD is the platform and specification of its two-wheel drive sibling. This means that the new flagship lacks for nothing in terms of performance, specification, or luxury fitment. What is new, is the proprietary Chery all-wheel drive system. The system has a front-wheel drive bias during normal driving. This benefits the vehicle’s average fuel consumption and everyday driveability, while also offering a familiar driving experience to existing Tiggo 8 Pro MAX owners. When drivers shift from everyday commuting to more spirited driving, or finds themselves in slippery and wet conditions, the all-wheel drive system comes into play. “Our engineers have spent a considerable amount of development and testing hours with the all-wheel drive system to ensure that it is robust enough to work in the blink of an eye, but that it also offers a long operational life,” says Tony Liu, Executive Deputy General Manager of Chery South Africa.

The result of all this development is an all-wheel drive system that can switch from two- to four-wheel drive in 100 milliseconds. This means the operation is imperceptible to the driver, while providing additional grip and stability on slippery surfaces or during high-speed dynamic driving. During its development, Chery repeatedly pushed up to ten times the expected vehicle torque through the all-wheel drive system to ensure that its operation remains faultless and fast, regardless of the conditions or the workload. “Chery completed another round of extreme weather testing in 2023. The results of these tests have been incorporated in the design of the all-wheel drive system. It means that whether the driver finds him/herself in snowy or desert conditions, the Tiggo 8 Pro MAX AWD will deliver,” says Liu. The wheels are driven by Chery’s award-winning 2.0 TDGI turbo-petrol engine. The engine has been programmed to deliver 187 kW at 5 500 rpm and 390 Nm from 2 000 rpm to 4 000 rpm, while the 7DCT dual-clutch self-shifting transmission has been mapped to smoothly deliver this power to two- or four wheels as required.

For this model, Chery has increased the fuel tank size to 57 litres (from 51 litres on the 2WD model) to allow for greater range. As with the Tiggo 8 Pro MAX, the MAX AWD model is built on Chery’s flagship platform that uses ultra-high tensile steel in over 60% of the body construction. In the Tiggo 8 Pro MAX AWD the suspension has been upgraded and tuned to fit the fact that power is delivered to all four wheels and there is a unique drive mode select system to adapt the power delivery and vehicle characteristics to the environment. Add to this a complete list of Autonomous Driver Assistant Systems (ADAS) and no-less than ten airbags and you have one of the safest vehicles in its class. The ADAS systems that come standard in this flagship model include autonomous emergency braking (AEV), adaptive cruise control with radar controls, lane keep assistance (LKA), rear cross traffic alert (RTCA), traffic congestion assistance (TJA) and even a driving view recorder (DVR) as standard. 

The MAX AWD model steps up the level of driver assistance further with a smart driver monitoring system (DMS), Emergency Lane Keeping and Lane Departure Prevention and a segment leading Intelligent Evasion System as standard. Move to luxury and the Chery is peerless. The new flagship offers quilted leather upholstery on all seven seats, the door bolsters and on the dashboard. There is ambient lighting with over 64 hues that can be matched to the music from the premium SONY sound system, the driving style or the driver’s mood.  On the topic of the SONY sound system, it offers 10 speakers and a power amplifier for a truly immersive audio experience. Add to this a fully digital cockpit with two large 12.3” screens for a large super screen that is 24.7” long. The infotainment section of the screen has full wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto functionality, and it will show a full panoramic view of the vehicle thanks to the 360-degree camera array. The latter offers the best possible view of the vehicle in its surroundings thanks to an upgraded Around View Monitor system. The flagship Tiggo 8 Pro MAX AWD has a superior air conditioning system with two independent zones and an upgraded air quality sensor (AQS) that ensures that the air is N95 certified clean. In addition, there is a Fragrance System with 3 different scents. A host of other features too long to mention are included in the Tiggo 8 Pro MAX, including a super-fast wireless charger, electric memory seats for the front passengers that are both heated and cooled, multiple Type A and Type C chargers and a large panoramic sunroof.

Lastly, the Tiggo 8 Pro MAX AWD offers a true first-class experience after purchase.

As with all other Chery models, the Tiggo 8 Pro MAX AWD is sold with a comprehensive 7-year / 90 000 km service plan, a 5-year / 150 000 km warranty, a full 10-year / 1-million-kilometre engine warranty (linked to the first owner), 5-year unlimited distance Roadside Assistance, and Chery’s range of Value-added Services under My Chery Care. These include a range of services including scratch and dent repair, rim repair, a courtesy Chery when a vehicle is booked for service and even a free take-me-home service.

The new Chery Tiggo 8 Pro MAX AWD is available immediately from Chery dealers across South Africa. It retails for R 731 900, 00

Bucket Seat: Chery Tiggo 8 Pro

There's a big shake up that has hit the motor industry and its not surprise that it's coming from China. Long has the country been labelled has the "cheap export" market where most things that are manufactured there come in at less than half the price of competitive products but with a very low quality standard compared to the so called originals but what we've come to learn over the past decade is that China also has a host of reliable exports that have amazing build quality and still much cheaper than anything that comes out of Europe or the Americas. I've personally seen the rise of this in the tech space with many companies sky rocketing in market share with their mobile phone devices and other electronics. People slowly began to learn that everything that comes out of China isn't "cheap" or will break within a week, that there are reputable brands coming from this power house country that you can trust. We've seen this trend hit the motoring segment over the past 5 years, while on the early onset a lot people were quite skeptical but with the competitive pricing and what was on offer, people took the chance and were not disappointed with the product. This gain in confidence in the local market took a bit upswing when the new models started arriving in the country over the last two years, with new modern designs, cars packed with tech selling for less that 50% to what anything else was offered in the market. They even had the Japanese beaten on most fronts, while reliability and long term performances are still a bit of an unknown to many, the warranty's being offered make it seem that the brands are extremely confident in their offerings so it was worth the risk to the buyers. A few weeks ago I got to spend a week with my first Chinese test vehicle, the Chery Tiggo 8 Pro. Chery isn't new to the locals but have undergone and extreme makeover ,they've changed their entire brand strategy. So far, this has been working like a charm in the local market with their introduction model, the Tiggo 4 Pro, a compact SUV being extremely well received by the local market, the 8 Pro being the brands range topping model is aimed to compete with some of Europe's finest and here are my thoughts on it after spending a week with it. 

DESIGN

Gone are the weird and whacky designs that we were accustomed to coming out from China, Chery's range is a very stylish, Euro look with bold accents and modern lines but still has that unique trademark from the company. The Tiggo 8 Pro catches your eye with its large diamond/ crystal speckled grille. The modern lines on the LED head lights give it a very menacing "Tiger like look" which suits the big body profile quite well. Being a 7-seater SUV, the overall design could become quite cumbersome but Chery have employed some of the worlds best stylist as per their website claim, and they have done a great job in keeping the car sleek and straight but still giving the occupants a very large and spacious interior. Fitted with 18-inch bi-colour alloy wheels, it certainly looks the part. The detailed on the LED lights both in the front and back make the car stand out at night, it really is an eye catching feature on the car. Moving onto the interior, Chery have done a brilliant job in this aspect as well. The entire cabin is very modern with top quality finishes. The seats have a diamond like stitching and most of the dash is finished in this premium feel leather and good quality plastics. The center console consist of two touch screen units which will be explained in detail further on in the blog, but the overall look and feel definitely rivals and trumps some of the German models in the market. 

PERFORMANCE

The Tiggo 8 Pro is available in two models, the Distinctive and Executive with the difference being the extras as both are powered by the same 1.6L Turbocharged diesel engine. It's tied into a 7-speed DCT automatic gearbox which performs some witchcraft to keep the cars revs under 2000RPM at cruising speeds above 100km/h. The engine itself produces 145kW and 290Nm of torque which was perfect for me driving alone but I fear with a full load it might become a bit of an issue. Also while the revs were kept low, the fuel efficiency of the car wasn't the greatest considering it is a diesel with me averaging around 10L per 100km in mixed use driving. It's not the worst figures for a car this size but I just expected better but at the same time I didn't find the ride being sluggish or lacking performance. While the car isn't a fully fledged off-roader I did have to take a slight detour on my one trip which forced me to do some off-road driving on gravel roads, up mountainous escarpments and I must say, the Tiggo 8 Pro held its own and managed to navigate the tricky terrain quite well and even crossed a low river with ease. 

COMFORT

As mentioned previously, the finishes and quality of materials used in the interior of the Tiggo is very good. Nothing feels cheap or plasticky in the cabin, in other words, nothing feels like it will fall off with a week, moth or year in the car. The leather seats have a great premium feel to them and are extremely comfortable. The driver seat is a 6-way electrically adjustable with a 4-way adjustable lumbar support and has memory settings. The front passenger gets 4-way electrical adjustable seating. The driver and front passenger have dual climate control which is controlled by a cool touch screen interface just below the aircon vents, there are toggles located below the screen if the touch screen is switched off or cumbersome to use while driving.  The second row can seat 3 people with ease and has it own vents for the passengers. The 3rd row seats which I had folded down for majority of my time with it seems spacious enough to fit two adults with the leg room dependent on the second row seats. The Tiggo 8 Pro had a large panoramic glass sun roof which allowed a lot of natural light into the cabin and made if a nice space to drive from. The car is loaded with tech and during my time I quite enjoyed playing around with the voice command feature which controlled everything from opening the sun roof to closing the automatic tailgate. The car has a large infotainment touch screen which I swear is taken exactly from the BMW design and slapped on but has a user interface very similar to that of  iOS. Like most new cars, the Tiggo 8 Pro came with built-in mobile applications so most of the time I had Android Auto being projected on the screen. The instrument cluster is fully digital and has a host of information that can be accesses by the multifunction steering wheel. It also has unique animations of the rev and speed counter, this changes in colour depending on what driving mode you have it in. The car is loaded with safety functions like blind spot monitoring, adaptive cruise control as well as a 360 degree camera which activates every time you indicated from a standstill, making sure you can check the surrounding before heading off. 

VERDICT

I think peoples perception of products from China is changing and brands like Chery and Haval are here to shake up the current market much like the Koreans did a few years ago and the Japanese before that. With more and more opting to purchase them over the higher priced German brands, this could trigger a shake up in the market that we needed given the ongoing heavily inflated prices we've been facing over the past few years. While the cars on offer are still combustion based, I won't be surprised to see some EV offerings from the brands in the near future. As it is another Chinese brand Hongqi have launched their own range of EV's so I guess its only a matter of time before the likes of Chery come out with their own. Brands like Chery and Haval are giving motoring journo's a headache when it comes to reviews because many can't find anything that's drastically wrong with the cars and with their price point being so keen, there is nothing to fault in the offerings. As I said earlier on the blog, there is this skepticism on long term performance but with Chery offering a 10 year, 1 000 000km warranty on their engine, they sound pretty confident on their offering. Time will tell I suppose but get ready to see a whole lot more Chinese brands on the roads of South Africa in time to come. 

SPECIFICATIONS

Engine	1.6L TGDi
Gear Box	7-Speed DCT Automatic
Torque	290Nm
Power	145kW
Warranty	10 year, 1,000,000km
Price	R546,900