2026 Chery Tiggo 9

Chery Tiggo 9

Chery’s Tiggo 9 is gunning for buyers who want all the space and techy bits of a big SUV but aren’t keen to fork out for Euro badges. Think of it as a left-field alternative to the Haval H9, Kia Sorento, and Hyundai Santa Fe, but with a sharper pencil on the spec sheet. You get a choice of a 2.0-litre turbo petrol or a 1.5-litre turbo plug-in hybrid, both mated to automatics only—so anyone hoping for a manual is out of luck. With 22 active listings spanning R599,900 to R939,900 (median about R802,000), it’s clear Chery’s not pretending this is cheap-and-cheerful. Instead, buyers are actually split across the range, and that matters because it suggests the Tiggo 9’s appeal isn’t just about price. The 1.5T CSH Vanguard AWD PHEV is the hero here, making up half the listings (R824,900 to R939,900). On paper at least, that plug-in hybrid’s a clever pick for Joburg or Cape Town types with a garage plug and city commutes—if you pack smart, you’ll run mostly on battery. The mid-pack is the 2.0T Vanguard AWD (R697,000 to R779,950), while the couple of Pinnacle entries at R599,900 to R629,500 tempt bargain-hunters. Most of these cars barely have 1,500 km on the clock, so you’re basically looking at showroom-fresh demos, not true second-hand buys. Compared to the Sorento, the value-per-rand is hard to ignore. That’s the point with Tiggo 9: it’s what the big Chinese SUVs should have been from the start—loaded, priced right, and actually tempting for South Africans who want more than just an affordable badge.