BREAKING CHINA(some text hidden)

By Jonathan Crouch

Ten Second Review word count: 47

Chinese brand Omoda aims to really shake up the establishment with this flagship model, the Omoda 9. It's a large luxury SUV with premium aspirations. And is a PHEV that offers more power and EV driving range than any of its rivals, yet at a lower price.

Background word count: 160

So the strategy of Chinese auto maker world dominance is revealed. Offer stylised, competitive products. Then price them a segment below the one they aim to compete in. Not all Oriental makers subscribe to this approach, but Chery Group brand Omoda certainly does and you can see the outworking of this approach most clearly with this car, the Omoda 9. This large luxury SUV is the company's flagship and is offered here only with a potent AWD Plug-in Hybrid petrol powertrain. In size and plush appointment, it's very much in the league of products like the Lexus RX and the Volkswagen Touareg. But is offered at the kind of money that would only get you a decently specified Volkswagen Tiguan or Lexus NX (with 2WD and much less power). Omoda also wants to snare folk who might once have chosen a Jaguar F-PACE or Range Rover Velar. Is this Omoda 9 good enough to fulfil these aspirations? Let's find out.

Driving Experience word count: 219

For our market, the Omoda 9 comes only with a petrol Plug-in Hybrid powertrain. And it's a headline-grabbing one, its 93 mile EV range figure better than any other PHEV you can currently choose. That's mainly because of a drive battery that, at 34.5kWh in size, is absolutely huge by Plug-in Hybrid standards. To give you some perspective, Volkswagen's Tayron eHybrid (which is similarly sized and priced) has a 19.7kWh battery offering a 70 mile EV range. That Tayron (like most other mid-sized SUV PHEV rivals at this price point) is front-driven and modestly powered (with a maximum of 268bhp). The Omoda 9 in contrast, is in another league of sophistication and power. That huge battery is linked to a 1.5-litre TGDI turbo petrol powerplant mated to a three-speed Hybrid transmission and two electric motors (one on each axle) for four wheel drive. Total output is 443bhp and 700Nm of torque, which means 62mph from rest takes just 4.9s en route to 121mph. There are six drive modes (Eco, Normal, Sport, Mud, Snow and Off-road). And the 9 rides on magnetorheological adaptive dampers. Huge efforts have gone into optimising refinement, the brand installing double-glazed windows and fitting acoustically optimised Michelin tyres. A more conventional 2.0-litre turbo petrol powertrain is offered in other markets, but we won't get that here.