Chery launches tech-packed Omada SUV starting from just $22,000 on bet Australians still want gasoline-powered cars.
(Bloomberg) — Never mind the auto industry’s relentless push toward electrification, Chery Automobile Co. is the latest Chinese carmaker trying to win over Australians with gasoline-powered SUVs pitched at the lower end of the market.
Chery’s mid-size Omoda 5 is selling across Australia for as little as A$32,000 ($22,000) for the base model. A colleague and I drove a high-end version around Sydney for four days. It’s stuffed with extras you’d normally find in luxury cars — think heated steering wheel and exterior puddle lights — and costs not much more than A$35,000.
Australia’s best-selling car, Ford Motor Co.’s Ranger pickup, can go for more than double that price.
Wuhu-based Chery joins Chinese rivals Great Wall Motor Co. and SAIC Motor Corp. — owner of the MG brand — in pouring relatively affordable cars into an Australian market that’s been slow to turn to electric vehicles. Chery was China’s second-biggest car exporter worldwide last year.
With inflation in Australia still untamed by almost a dozen interest-rate hikes, Chery’s Omoda is a clear pitch on price in a market famed for its love of SUVs and pickups. Sales of vehicles sourced from China have increased 69% in Australia. And there are more to come: Chery aims to start selling its larger Tiggo 7 Pro and Tiggo 8 Pro SUVs later this year.
Australia’s best-selling Ford Ranger starts at around A$50,000 and pushes close to A$100,000 at the top end. The country’s next-best sellers are Toyota Motor Corp.’s Hi-Lux pickup and its mid-sized SUV, the RAV4.
To some degree, the Omoda and other cars in a similar price bracket are also a test of Australia’s willingness to switch to electric vehicles.
EVs accounted for 8% of Australia’s new car sales in April, up from just 1.1% a year earlier, according to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries. While an improvement, the country still trails way behind market leaders like China, where almost one-in-four new car sales are electric. Two of the main roadblocks in Australia are price (a new Tesla Model 3 costs A$61,300 in Sydney, for example), and a lack of choices — though government plans to introduce tougher emissions standards may soon encourage global automakers to offer more EVs here.
How did the Omoda 5 stack up in the flesh?
The car’s technology, at least in the better-equipped EX model, appears to punch above its weight. There’s a powered passenger seat and tailgate, heated front seats and an electric sunroof.
Most startling of all, a 360-degree camera system can beam onto the driver’s display a semi-translucent image of the vehicle, as if you were looking at it from outside. The trick reminded me a little of James Bond’s much-ridiculed “invisible” Aston Martin in the 2002 movie, Die Another Day.
While the Omoda drives nicely and the red exterior trim gives it a sporty appearance, it risks claiming a victory of form over function. Puddle lights that beam “Omoda” on the ground next to the car have limited utility in the world’s driest continent after Antarctica.
The car’s all-round vision, using the human eye at least, is particularly unmemorable. My colleague remarked that looking into the rear-view mirror was like peering down the wrong end of a telescope. Maybe you do get what you pay for, but for people chasing luxury stylings at budget prices, the Chery may be worth a drive.
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