Chery South Africa has broadened its Tiggo 8 SUV line-up with the arrival of the Apex I, a new variant the company says brings an "enhanced design" together with upgrades in comfort and safety.
Standard equipment runs to a digital instrument cluster, touchscreen infotainment, a 50 W wireless phone charger, dual-zone climate control, 64-colour ambient lighting and a panoramic sunroof. Both front seats are heated and ventilated, with six-way electric adjustment for the driver and four-way for the passenger. On the safety side there are seven airbags, a 540-degree surround-view camera, tyre-pressure monitoring and a driver-assistance suite that covers adaptive cruise control, lane keeping and automatic emergency braking.
Propulsion comes from a 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine making 137 kW and 275 N.m, sent to the front wheels through a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox. Chery claims 7.7 L/100 km on the WLTP cycle, equivalent to roughly 740 km from the 57-litre fuel tank.
Pricing is set at R569 900, backed by a seven-year/200 000 km vehicle warranty and a five-year/75 000 km service plan, with the first owner additionally covered by a 10-year/1 million km engine warranty. The plug-in hybrid Tiggo 8 1.5T CSH Apex sits above it in the range at R729 900.