Chery C5 vs Deepal E07

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.

The Deepal E07 is a breath of fresh air. It’s exciting to see a vehicle zig when others zag.

It’s not just a conversation-starter, it is well priced, stacked with gear and has some potent performance. Not to mention that rear end has some real-world practicality, even if it isn’t quite a ute.

That is bolstered by a long warranty and a capped-price servicing program to take the risk out of trying a new brand.

It isn’t the sharpest driving machine out there, the safety tech is still annoying and having all the controls in the multimedia screen is infuriating.

Also, there are question marks on if buyers really want or need that fraken-ute rear end.

Time will tell if this car is fad like the mullet haircut or a real-world game changer.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with meals provided.

The new and narrower nose treatment is better, banishing the Omoda 5’s insectoid face straight into the bin. As an example of coupe-SUV design, the unaltered silhouette remains contemporary and is a defining signature for the series.

But, as before, the C5’s styling is hobbled by its narrow-gutted track width and highish (at 184mm) ground clearance, that give it a muffin-top and tippy-toed appearance respectively from most angles. Flashbacks to a Holden VN Commodore. Stance be damned.

Let’s look at the newcomer’s dimensions, compared to the Tiggo 4 for perspective: length is 4351mm (plus 44mm), width is 1831mm (+6mm), height is 1662mm (+2mm) and wheelbase is identical at 2610mm.

Still, there’s a positively Pollyanna-esque perspective to be gained here as well, since the C5’s extra size translates to a biggish small SUV inside a cabin that seems stylishly minimalistic. Or fairly basic. It all depends on your point of view.

Let’s take a closer look.

The E07 stands out from the crowd. It’s design will turn heads and you’ll have strangers coming over for a sticky beak at all times.

It’s a big beast at more than five metres long and close to two metres wide. That puts it in Toyota LandCruiser territory.

The biggest talking point is the rear. What looks like a liftback is actually a retractable roof that converts it to an open tray at the touch of a button.

You can have it open with the rear seats folded flat or the rear seats up and the glass divider still in place to keep the world at bay.

Outside of the rear end, it's a futuristic-looking car with squished LED headlights, flush door handles and a closed-off front end typical of modern electric cars from China.

Inside it borrowed cues from Tesla with its minimalist design with next to no buttons and only a big central screen.

The interior quality feels good, with premium materials covering all surfaces.

Three things struck me the moment I stepped inside the C5.

Firstly, though the silhouette suggests a low-slung car, the tall stance means getting in and out isn’t a drama at all, with the seats being up high enough for this to deserve its SUV/crossover status.

Secondly, the Chery emits a somewhat repellent plastic off-gas odour, a bit like a cheap toy. The smell never goes away. Perhaps it was just our test car? Unlikely though, as it reminds me of pre-2000s Kias and Hyundais.

And in stark contrast, thirdly, there’s an arresting elegance to the dashboard’s minimalist layout and presentation. Nothing’s changed visually and nothing needed to.

Let’s concentrate on the many positive points first.

There’s plenty of space around you for a comparatively small and narrow SUV, including ample legroom and head room for your 178cm tester front and back. It doesn't feel cramped at all.

Finding the ideal driving position is easy, with most of the (available) switches and controls where you’d need them to be without having to stretch to reach. Helping things out here is an adjustable steering wheel for rake as well as reach. Unlike in an MG ZS.

The dash layout looks great, given that this car is of a 2022 vintage, with the large, twin 10.25-inch integrated displays for both the electronic instrumentation and the multimedia system seamlessly presented. Both are fairly clear and easy to work out and operate. And, despite being an older-generation vehicle (it’s now well into year four of production), the instruments still look fresh.

And though the C5 runs a software-based operating system for vehicle functions, climate, audio, multimedia and other settings, the few buttons provided are well integrated and mostly work logically.

Below the touchscreen is a row of haptic switches for the main heating and cooling elements, meaning just one touch is necessary and with no complicated and time-consuming sub-menus to navigate. That's good.

You do need to dive into sub-menus for some drive settings and modes, though, and that's disappointing, but at least the C5’s is not as complicated as some others we’ve experienced of late.

Other plus points include excellent ventilation and loads of storage, including a big old glovebox, a cavernous centre console bin, a vast lower area to hide things on, deep cupholders and a ‘wall’ to lean two phones or a tablet while still being visible for the driver to glance at, with one side providing wireless charging on the Ultimate grade.

Along with pleasant cloth seats that are surprisingly comfortable, all show a reassuring degree of thoughtfulness.

Additionally, the poor side and rear vision is at least aided by large side mirrors and a crisp reverse-camera views.

However, there are some serious downsides too, starting with the C5’s aforementioned phone/tablet wall. The rubber backing in our test car was misshapen and dog-eared, undermining the otherwise exemplary build quality.

Until you learn its weird ways, the gear shifter can be unfathomable. It looks like it would operate as per a regular T-bar, but pressing the side button to engage Drive or Reverse instead locks them out, meaning the uninitiated will inevitably find themselves panicking manoeuvring in traffic with impatient drivers wondering why a Chery is blocking the road during a cheeky three-point turn. Embarrassing and, yes, super frustrating.

In the Ultra at least, the lofty front passenger seat has no height adjustment. The digital radio did not work for the entire week we had the C5. Maybe it was just our car, but even in inner Melbourne, reception proved elusive.

And the touchscreen-based secondary climate settings that aren’t supported by physical buttons are a stretch away, including temperature adjustment, meaning these and other items are arranged for left-hand-drive access.

This means it is fiddly to operate, as concentration is not on the road ahead, resulting in the driver monitor sounding off, leading to more frustration. An unvirtuous circle of distraction ensues, highlighting the folly of software-based vehicle systems that have not been tailored to Australian road conditions. Fail.

But nothing is as aggravating as the Chery’s voice control system. Like we said earlier, when turned on, it mishears or misunderstands words to almost a comical degree… if it wasn’t so constantly intrusive. As with paranoid and/or trigger-happy ADAS warnings, you end up switching off such irritating tech. Which beggars the question: what is their point?

Moving to the back seat, things look up again, with sufficient space for most smaller families to settle into.

The bench is fine, offering adequate comfort for shorter journeys. Legroom is generous, helped out by room for boots to tuck underneath the front cushion. And most amenities are present for a base model car, including a folding armrest with two cupholders (again, unlike in an MG ZS), as well as one-touch electric windows, overhead grab handles, coat hooks, decent size door bins, a USB port and face level ventilation.

All those go towards making the C5 well-packaged, small family transport.

Further back, Chery has managed to liberate an extra 10 litres of cargo capacity compared to the old Omoda 5, so 360 litres is available – which is not bad for a small SUV. That rises to 1075L in two-seater mode.

It’s also a practical and easy boot to use, with a space saver spare wheel.

There are two sides to this story.

The convertible back makes it one of the only true dual-purpose vehicles, but let’s not oversell its capabilities.

It only has a payload of 300kg and only has a 1500kg braked towing capacity, so it's not tradie spec.

It is probably best suited for throwing a few surfboards in the back or mountain bikes and heading off to a remote spot where you can sleep in the car in relative comfort.

There is no rugged ladder frame underneath, but it can do a bit of light off-roading in all-wheel-drive guise.

Ground clearance of 223mm is good and it can wade up to depths of 600mm.

It has a vehicle-to-load function that allows you to power appliances, which boosts its potential as a campsite companion.

Inside it has spacious cabins with oodles of head, leg and shoulder room in both rows. That is thanks to its more than three-metre wheelbase — the distance between the front and rear axle that determines how spacious a cabin is.

There are rear air-con vents and USB charging ports for both rows, and the rear seats can tilt backwards for sleepy young-uns.

The boot capacity is 524L, or 1654L with the rear seats folded. A front boot under the bonnet is 131L.

One of my biggest gripes is that nearly every function of the car is controlled through the big multimedia screen.

There are shortcuts and app-like tiles that make it easier to navigate, but it’s still a hassle to dive into the menu to change side mirrors and other functions usually controlled via physical buttons.

Tesla set the precedent by moving all its functions into the screen and other tech-focused EVs have followed suit, but it smacks of cost savings rather than improving the user experience.

The E07 is available in two grades: a single-motor rear-wheel-drive version and a dual-motor all-wheel-drive variant.

Prices start at $64,900 plus on-road costs for the rear-wheel-drive variant and jump to $73,900 for the dual-motor version.

That’s a very reasonable price for a large electric vehicle, but as it has no real competitors it has the segment and price point to itself.

The only difference between the two variants is the addition of the second motor that brings some serious potent performance.

Both are fully loaded with a laundry list of standard gear.

The E07 rides on monster 21-inch alloy wheels, has LED lighting front and back, a hands-free power tailgate and auto folding side mirrors.

Inside there is a 15.4-inch multimedia screen that is incompatible with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and there is a wireless device charger and USB-A and -C ports front and back.

A monster head-up display — which projects information on the windscreen in front of the driver — replaces the driver display, with no instruments in front of the driver.

This is joined by power-adjustable front seats that are wrapped in supple Nappa leather. The front seats are heated, ventilated and have a massage function.

This is topped off with 256-colour ambient lighting and an 18-speaker stereo.

There is self-levelling air suspension that has three height levels, with the tallest providing a healthy 223mmm of ground clearance.

There is some cool tech such as camping mode and a relax mode. The latter fully reclines the front seats, closes the panoramic roof blind and plays some sleep-inducing sounds such as rain noise. Camping mode is similar and allows for you to sleep in the car overnight.

The C5 is powered by a 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol engine, delivering 108kW of power at 5500rpm and 210Nm of torque from 1750-4000rpm.

As part of the MY25 facelift, the Chery swaps out the old Omoda 5’s CVT for a six-speed dual-clutch transmission, complete with a handy manual mode. It drives the front wheels only.

Tipping the scales at 1462kg (kerb), the C5 Ultra offers a power-to-weight ratio of 73.9kW/tonne – which is slightly less than, say, a Haval Jolion, but quite a bit behind a Mazda CX-3.

With a slight helping hand from a strong northerly wind, we managed to record a 0-100km/h sprint time of 9.9 seconds. This figure suggests the Chery feels faster than it is.

Both versions can be called potent, but the all-wheel-drive is express.

The rear-wheel-drive version uses a single electric motor to make 242kW and 365Nm, and the all-wheel-drive variant adds a second motor to make a combined 440kW and 645Nm.

That extra grunt drops the E07’s 0-100km/h time from 6.7 seconds to about four seconds.

These numbers blow most SUVs and utes out of the water.

The C5’s combined average fuel consumption figure is 6.9L/100km, for a carbon dioxide emissions rating of 160 grams/km. And that’s on regular 91 RON standard unleaded. Topping the 51-litre petrol tank should result in nearly 740km of range between refills.

During our week with the Chery, we managed 9.0L/100km, which is very disappointing, though that did include highway and performance driving.

Both variants use a circa-90kWh Nickel-Manganese-Cobalt (NMC) battery, which is a big unit by EV standards.

It delivers a WLTP-verified driving range of 550km in the RWD version and 510km in the AWD.

The E07’s charging speed is also at the top end of the spectrum.

It has a max DC charge rate of 240kW, which Deepal said can replenish the battery from 30 to 80 per cent in 15 minutes.

AC charging is capped at 7kW, which is below other EVs that can max out at 11kW.

Our test was too limited to conduct a proper real-world test.

Chery has made some pretty fundamental changes underneath, so we had higher hopes of the C5 compared to the preceding Omoda 5. However, expectations ought to be tempered here.

Let’s begin with the Chinese SUV’s performance.

After a moment’s hesitation, the C5 feels punchy from the get-go, with a decent amount of muscle as the revs rise. Throttle response is brisk, even at higher speeds. And the brakes do a great job. This is quite the rapid little runabout.

Some of that initial lag is down to the dual-clutch transmission, since it needs time for the turbo to spool up. Once sorted, it shifts swiftly and smoothly, and without delay. Only the aforementioned gear selector complication will catch out new drivers, as the operation is needlessly complicated.

But the engine is never really quiet, and can even feel coarse when extended under hard acceleration, betraying this Chery’s station as a cheap SUV. And the stop/start tech is especially jerky.

The steering, meanwhile, is a mix of disgruntle and delight.

When driving on the motorway, it can feel lumpy, with the driver-assist system tugging away endlessly at the wheel. The sudden jolts make it feel like a pinball as the vehicle feels like it is ricocheting off the white lines. Such constant correction is both tiring and irritating, leading to fatigue and, if your fuse is really short, aggravation.

For steering smoothness or linearity, you need to dive into a sub menu and opt out of several ADAS modes. Or otherwise pull over and wonder why Chinese car companies especially seem to have such disdain for Australian drivers. If this sounds like a nightmare, the C5 is not for you.

Furthermore, there’s no point choosing a steering setting. Comfort is light enough for easy driving and weighty enough for the driver to feel in control, but feedback and feel are absent. And selecting Sport just adds needless heft and makes it all feel way too heavy.

Now, that said, the C5 offers some dynamic compensation, and likely courtesy of its multi-link suspension upgrade.

At higher speeds, the steering, for instance, is pleasingly direct and precise, meaning it turns exactly where you choose it to. The handling feels controlled and the tyres grip well, for some unintentional scrappy fun through really tight corners, to a certain extent anyway. It’s a side to the Chery the Omoda 5 never seemed capable of delivering.

But, inevitably, this comes at a price, and that is a busy and at times agitated ride, with the suspension failing to soak up bumps and irregularities on anything other than smooth roads, despite its new-found independence, adding to further fatigue. For the record, our test car rode on 215/60R17 Giti tyres.

Would higher-quality rubber help fix this? If you’re buying a sub-$30K Chery SUV, would you even care? Basically, unless you enjoy the occasional hoon, the C5 lacks dynamic sophistication as well as sufficient Australian road tuning. Much like its predecessor. Such a letdown.

The E07 is a big beast, weighing in at 2440kg for the AWD, and the RWD is about 100kg lighter.

Even that fancy air suspension can't hide that bulk. On smooth city streets and well-maintained motorways, the E07 is very pleasant and comfortable. But on pockmarked and undulating country roads travelling at the sign-posted 80km/h or 100km/h, it rocks and rolls considerably.

The monster 21-inch wheels are likely part of the problem, too.

After looking at my phone in the passenger seat for 20 seconds I started to get car sick… I wasn’t the only person who had that feedback.

Switching to sports mode sharpened it up a little, but the comfort mode was far too soft.

There is a custom mode where drivers can find a happy medium.

The E07 did recover much better over small imperfections, though.

The steering was well-weighted and direct, and the brake and accelerator pedal had a good feel to them with sharp responses that inspire confidence.

We spent most of our time in the all-wheel-drive variant.

It’s fast and brutally quick off the mark, but it doesn't suplex you back into your seat like some electric cars do. Instead the power delivery was more linear, with excellent traction control and no wheel slip.

Deepal has gone the extra mile and added quality Michelin EV tyres that improve grip through corners and reduce noise into the cabin.

The E07 was remarkably quiet inside, even by EV standards, with noise and tyre roar kept to a minimum.

Deepal has packed the E07 with safety gear and driver aids.

It has eight airbags, ISOFIX anchor points for the two rear window seats, and a top-tether anchor for all three back seats.

There are front and rear parking sensors, a 360-degree camera and a transparent chassis view that allows you to see underneath the vehicle.

Deepal has ticked all the driver aid boxes with autonomous emergency braking with cyclist and pedestrian detection, lane departure warning and lane-keep assist, rear cross traffic alert with auto braking function, blind-spot detection, speed sign recognition and over speed alert, door open warning, rear passenger alert, safe distance alert and adaptive cruise control.

It’s nice to have all that tech, but it is over-sensitive and you end up just turning it off, which defeats the purpose of having them in the first place.

The E07 hasn’t been crash tested yet, so there's no ANCAP safety rating to report at this stage.

Very competitive if not quite as class leading as the conditional Nissan, Mitsubishi and MG 10-year warranty, the C5 comes with a seven-year/unlimited kilometre warranty.

Chery also offers seven years/105,000km of capped-price servicing and a year’s free roadside assistance, though up to seven years is available should owners choose to have their vehicle maintained at an authorised dealer during that period.

Service intervals are at every 12 months or 10,000km, and cost $280 per visit for the first five, extending to nearly $370 and $290 for the final two.

Deepal covers the E07 with a strong but not market-leading seven-year/160,000km warranty, and the battery is guaranteed for eight years/240,000km.

It also has a tempting seven-year/140,000km capped-price servicing program that requires visits every 12 months or 20,000km, with the former on the shorter side for an EV. The RWD costs $2954.59 over the full term, compared to the AWD's $3143.90. Both outlays are competitive.