Brian Kelly Reviews the 2026 Chery Tiggo 9

Over the past twelve months I have been fortunate to test drive and review the latest models from the Chery Tiggo range which have included the Chery Tiggo 4, 7 and 8, so when the invitation came from Ingham Tauranga to take the 2026 Chery Tiggo 9 on a ‘Roadie’ I was very happy to accept. I had heard a great deal about the 9. At the moment, this vehicle is the flagship of the Chery range in New Zealand. Not only is it a large 7-seater but it’s a 4-wheel drive plug in hybrid.

We had planned to do a Roadie from Tauranga to Whanganui with a couple of friends and so the Tiggo 9 was the ideal vehicle to load 4 adults and our luggage for a 4-day adventure. The journey south would take us via the Western access of Lake Taupo to National Park and onto Whanganui via the Parapara.

THE LOAD UP.

Let’s go from the back, firstly loading luggage into the very large boot space was easy. Plenty of room and being a seven-seater, the rear seats unfold to make way for 2 more passengers, if required. The 9 is a big vehicle so there was ample room for two adults in the back with plenty of leg room for the front-seat passengers. An added feature for the rear passengers is heated rear seats. The front seats seat also offered that luxury with lumbar massage as well. Great on a long journey.

The Tiggo 9’s interior features a large 15.6 in touch screen packed with every conceivable piece of control information you would expect from a luxury vehicle. It certainly takes a bit of getting used to, but once mastered it becomes a dream to operate. I loved the speakers positioned in the driver’s headrest. Great for those hands-free phone calls.

How did the Chery Tiggo 9 drive?

As I have mentioned, this is a large 7-seater family vehicle so its handling on the long journey down through National Park and the infamous Parapara Road was nothing short of superb. Despite the size of the 9, the 1.5 litre engine and the 3 electric motors performed exceptionally well. It’s incredibly responsive when extra power is required and added to that, amazingly economical.

FROM THE GUESTS POINT OF VIEW.

A Chery journey from Taupo to Whanganui for a long weekend of reminiscing – I had the opportunity to drive the 2026 Chery Tiggo 9 Super plugin Hybrid from Whanganui back to Taupo.  During the weekend, I also experienced the different passenger options within the vehicle. 

The front seats are joyful.  Easy alterations to the driver seat make driver comfort easy to achieve.  The two front seats have massage functions along with heated seats.  So good.

The two large HD displays are excellent and many of the functions that deserve attention before driving are easily locatable within the digital package on the larger of the screens. For example, setting driver alerts or altering the side driving mirrors. The 360º camera view of the vehicle was more than helpful. And I love the heads-up speed and speed limit display on the windscreen in front of driver.

I was very impressed with the highly responsive turbo charged 1.5 l motor and hybrid electric motors.  When needing a bit of extra speed, the pickup of what is a relatively large and heavy vehicle was very impressive.  Overall, it was a delight to drive.

My mate and I are tall humans, and the front seats accommodated us comfortably.  The centre row was a little cramped for humans our size and the rear bench seat doesn’t offer quite the same degree of comfort to the front seats but remains spacious for family use.  The heated seats are a nice a plus.

Overall, a very nice vehicle with great digital functionality, easy to drive and more than adequate power and performance.  And seems to run on the smell of an oily rag.

OVERALL

The Chery Tiggo 9 is without a doubt a luxurious vehicle loaded with many extras. Being a Plug in Hybrid its incredible economical. Over the course of the 4 day trip we covered almost 900 kilometres and arrived back in Tauranga with petrol in the tank and that, with no re charging and running the car as a Hybrid. I understand that on EV only running around town this model is capable of over 150kms between charges, which for most people would mean that they could use it as a full EV most of the time, at nearly half the RUC rate as a full EV vehicle, so very clever motoring.

With a price take of around $68,000 you get a lot of car and represents real value for money for a 7-seater with a 7 year unlimited KM warranty, 8 Year battery warranty and road side assist.

Ingham Tauranga are the home of Chery in the Bay and are open 6 days a week, based at 627 Cameron Road between 12th and 13th Avenue. Craig or Jamie are available on 07 579 5080 and would be happy to answer any questions you may have about the Chery range.