Chery Omoda 5

The dynamism in the exterior design of the Chery Omoda 5 flows inside the cabin of the SUV as well, with it having an air of sportiness and sophistication. The all-black theme for the cabin of the Omoda 5 looks premium and sporty, with the leatherette upholstery and contrast bronze accents on the door panels and sides of the lower centre console, adding further touches of premium appeal.

Behind the flat-bottom, three-spoke steering wheel, which is both tilt and telescopic adjustable, the dashboard of the Omoda 5 also has a wide trapezoidal full-TFT cockpit comprising modern screens for the instrument console and infotainment system. The middle layer of the dashboard has a straight, rectangular design, while incorporating AC vents in the middle and corners. 

The lower centre console of the cabin of the Omoda 5 has sleek-looking, touch-sensitive buttons for the automatic climate control, while having a wide-looking wireless charging pad at the bottom. The cup holders are placed behind the transmission lever, which also has electronic parking brake and drive mode controller to its sides. 

Pros and Cons:

Pro: Cabin feels modern and premium

Con: Automatic climate control panel is difficult to use while the vehicle is in motion

Features and Technology

With the Omoda 5, Chery is taking a whole new-generation, modern approach to cater to the younger car buyers, and that is evident in its equipment list. Both the variants of the Chery Omoda 5 come equipped with a wide full-TFT cockpit comprising 10.25-inch full-TFT screens for the instrument console and touchscreen infotainment system, which has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto functionalities. 

The other comfort and convenience features offered as standard in both the variants of the Chery Omoda 5 are front armrest with cooled storage, 64-colour ambient lighting, engine push start-stop button, remote engine start, USB charging ports in both rows, dual-zone automatic climate control with rear AC vents, wireless charger, intelligent voice assist, acoustic glass and auto-dimming inside rearview mirror. 

Some additional features are available exclusively in the higher-spec H variant of the Omoda 5, which include a 6-way powered driver’s seat, ventilated front seats, hands-free powered tailgate and a panoramic sunroof. For a premium crossover, the Chery Omoda 5 covers almost all the grounds of modern-day equipment, though we would have loved to see a few more features like heated seats and powered co-driver’s seat. 

Pros and cons:

Pro: Both variants are feature-packed

Con: No powered co-driver seat

Boot Space and Storage

Despite its impressive size, the boot space of the Chery Omoda 5 feels a bit less than expected. The Omoda 5 comes with a boot compartment of 380 litres with rear seats up, which is smaller than many of the rivals in its price range. However, once you fold down the rear 60:40 split seats, the Omoda 5 has a humongous 1,075 litres of boot space.

On the inside, the Chery Omoda 5 has decent usable storage spaces, including bottle holders in all four door panels, cup holders in the lower front centre console and rear armrest, a closed glovebox and even a cooled centre storage box beneath the front centre armrest. 

Pros and cons:

Pro: Large boot space after folding down the rear seats

Con: Boot space with rear seats up feels less

Unlike the boxy and conventional SUV designs we have seen from Chery in the past, the Omoda 5 presents a fresh and extrovert design language that appeals to a wider audience, especially the younger car buyers. The overall design of the Omoda 5 looks edgy, with it having many attention-grabbing elements all around. 

At the front, the Chery Omoda 5 has an aggressive-looking trapezoidal grille, which features large honeycomb-like body-coloured inserts. The upper edges of this unique-looking grille have sleek LED DRLs attached to them. The main all-LED headlamps are positioned a bit lower on the corners of the front bumper, which are housed in arrowhead-shaped housings and have three segmented parts for the main headlamps. 

To make the Omoda 5 look sportier, Chery has given contrast red highlights to the SUV, which are present on the air dam on the front bumper, rearview mirrors, door side mouldings, alloy wheels and rear diffuser. The raked-down roofline of the Chery Omoda 5 is another interesting highlight, with the SUV also featuring a sharp kink on its shoulder line present below the rear quarter glass panel.

The Chery Omoda 5 comes equipped with 18-inch alloy wheels, the appearance of which matches the dynamic look of the overall SUV. The sharply raked rear windscreen of the Omoda 5 has a sporty-looking spoiler above it, while the sleek-looking LED tail lamps are placed beside the lower edges of the rear windscreen with boomerang-shaped outer corners. There is also a connected LED light bar running between the tail lamps, making it look trendy and appealing at the rear too.

Pros and cons:

Pro: Modern-looking LED headlamps and LED DRLs

Cons: Colour-coded front grille not to everyone’s taste

Chery claims a fuel efficiency of 14.5 kmpl for the Omoda 5, which is pretty decent for an SUV of this size, and a realistic figure that is achievable in the highway driving conditions. However, the throttle-sensitive turbocharged petrol engine of the Chery Omoda 5 is not too efficient in the city driving conditions, where the fuel efficiency drops down to 8-9 kmpl. 

Pros and cons:

Pro: Impressive fuel efficiency on highways

Con: City efficiency could have been better

The Chery Omoda 5 has been designed to deliver a plusher and more comfortable ride experience over the previous-generation SUV and crossover offerings from Chery. The Omoda 5 delivers on that front, with its comfort-oriented independent suspension at both ends – Macpherson struts at the front and twist beam at the rear. Adding more composure to the ride quality are its 18-inch alloy wheels. The steering and drive modes (eco and sport) further enhance the overall driving experience, but even in the sport mode, the steering feedback feels a bit diluted. 

Pros and Cons:

Pro: Plush ride quality

Con: Lacklustre steering feedback at higher speeds

Powering both the variants of Chery Omoda 5 is a 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine, which produces a maximum power output of 156 bhp and a maximum torque output of 230 Nm. With this engine, the Omoda 5 has a top speed of 180 kmph, while it can do the 0-100 kmph run in 7.8 seconds, making it impressively quick. Though while driving at lower city speeds, one can feel the turbo lag. 

Also standard in both the variants of the Omoda 5 is a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, which works well in almost all conditions, but is not as seamless as a German dual-clutch transmission.

Pros and cons:

Pro: Impressive performance at higher RPMs

Con: Evident turbo lag

Chery has covered most of the ground in the safety department too, as both the variants of the Omoda 5 are heavily-equipped with modern safety features as standard. Both C and H variants of the Chery Omoda 5 come with advanced driving assistance functions like lane departure warning, blind spot detection, emergency lane keeping, rear cross-traffic alert, adaptive cruise control with low speed follow, front collision warning with vehicle identification, autonomous emergency braking, headlamp automatic control, lane departure prevention, integrated cruise assist and traffic jam assist.

The additional driving assistant safety features offered in Chery Omoda 5 as standard are ABS with EBD and brake assist, brake override system, electronic stability program, traction control, hill start assist, hill descent control, tyre pressure monitoring system, and six airbags. The additional safety features in the higher-spec H variant are speed limit assist, speed control assist, traffic sign recognition, intelligent speed adaptation, and a 360-degree HD parking camera. 

Pros and cons:

Pro: Standard ADAS and driving assistance functions

Con: Nothing much actually

Competitor Comparison

The Chery Omoda 5 competes with the options present in the premium end of the compact SUV and crossover category. Some of the direct rivals of Omoda 5 are Honda HR-V, Proton X70, Mazda CX-3, Toyota Yaris Cross, Peugeot 2008, Hyundai Kona, GAC GS3 Emzoom, MG HS, Hyundai Creta, and Nissan Kicks e-Power.

Conclusion and Final Verdict

With an all-new modern design language that was developed from scratch, the Chery Omoda 5 has that touch of sophistication required to position it as a more premium and modernised SUV offering from Chery’s previous-generation products. The Chery Omoda 5 strikes where it was meant to strike the most – impressing younger car buying audience with tons of comfort, convenience, and safety features and a thrilling turbocharged petrol engine.