Chery C5 vs Chery Omoda 5

What's the difference?

Can a new name, fresh face and suspension update save Chery’s sleek SUV coupe from the ignominy of being one of the least pleasant options in its ultra-competitive class?

Sadly, not enough has been done for us to recommend the new C5.

As an affordable, stylish, roomy and zoomy SUV, the Chery definitely provides showroom appeal, especially given the decent warranty.

But, with lots of little niggles still present to distract and frustrate, the C5 is far from A1. Plus, with prices now creeping up, it doesn’t even have the cheap pricing of the old Omoda 5 to get it over the line.

Heading into 2026, Chery still needs to do better than this.

There’s little argument that Chery is focusing on value-for-money when it comes to its model range, and that’s absolutely the case with its new range opener - the Omoda 5 FX.

The spacious, flexible and neat cabin also get a tick. 

Purely looking at this car on paper, it is hard to beat for $27,000 drive-away. And if you stick exclusively to urban areas without hitting the open road, you might be happy with your purchase.

However, the overall drive experience, including the behaviour of the advanced driver assistance tech, is well off the pace of mainstream rivals from Hyundai, Kia, Mazda, VW and more. 

If that price is too good to look past, then be sure to do back-to-back test drives with other similarly priced rivals to compare.