What's the difference?
Finding a half-decent small SUV for less than $30,000 has become quite challenging in the past couple of years. But as mainstream brands march further upmarket, some Chinese manufacturers are happy to grab sales at the lower end of the market.
One such brand, Chery, re-emerged with the Omoda 5 compact crossover about 18 months ago with keen pricing and loads of standard features.
Further pushing the value point, Chery recently added a new base grade of the Omoda 5, the FX. It sits under the Omoda 5 BX and EX with the same powertrain and it only loses a handful of features from the BX.
At $27,000 drive-away, it looks like a steal on paper. But how does the new cut-price Omoda 5 handle urban duties? And does this small SUV offer more than just a solid standard features list?
The Toyota Corolla Cross launched back in 2022 as a lifted crossover SUV version of one of the most iconic cars ever. It helped bridge the gap between the Corolla and the RAV4.
Three years on and it’s now mid-life facelift time. There are new looks inside and out, as well as some new tech and bling to catch your attention.
Competition is continually heating up in the small SUV segment, especially for those with hybrid engines, but is the updated Corolla Cross the pick of the bunch?
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.
The Corolla Cross is still an incredibly sensible car if you’re needing to buy a car, but you’re not a car person. Everything is intuitive and easy, allowing you to focus on driving.
This update has helped make this car stand out a bit more, but it’s still a bit vanilla. The Hyundai Kona, for example, offers more character. Also the asking price, especially at the top end, is creeping eerily close to RAV4 territory.
The Omoda 5’s design is bold, certainly more so than its larger Tiggo 7 and Tiggo 8 stablemates.
At the front the narrow daytime running lights integrate into the busy-looking grille that is surrounded by vertical headlights.
Tall wheel arches, narrowing rear three-quarter windows, creases, a boot lip spoiler and a perky rear help it stand out, but when you look at it front on or rear on, it seems oddly proportioned. Like it’s on stilts or something.
The cabin design is smart and restrained with a high-set centre console, piano black inserts, attractive three-spoke flat-bottom steering wheel with clear dials and minimal use of buttons.
Soft-touch materials adorn the top of the dash but the doors make do with hard plastics, which I have no issue with. The passenger side dash is upright but that doesn’t impact functionality.
Toyota has put some effort into jazzing up the Corolla Cross’ exterior design. The pre-update car was arguably one of the more vanilla cars in its segment.
The most noticeable changes are up front. There’s a new grille set-up with hexagonal cutouts, as well as new LED headlights that are connected by a section that illuminates at night. This latter part looks quite tacky and feeds into the current trend of full-width light bars.
Around the side there are new 18-inch alloy wheel designs on this Atmos trim, as well as a revised LED tail-light set-up.
You can still tell this car is clearly a Corolla Cross from the outside thanks to the cladding around the wheel arches, but it no longer looks so boring, especially in top-spec Atmos guise.
Inside the design changes are more minimal. There’s a new centre console set-up that includes a chunkier gear selector, as well as an ambient lighting strip that wraps around the outside.
I prefer this centre console as it looks more substantial than the pre-update car’s, however, the glossy piano black is a big downside. After a week of testing it was already dusty and grimy, plus scratches are inevitable when you wipe it clean.
Beyond this there are no other obvious changes. I wish Toyota would include some differing colours and finishes inside as it’s a bit of a sea of black.
While there are some soft-touch materials on the dashboard and armrests, you don’t need to look far to find harsher, scratchier finishes. I expect better in a car that costs more than $50,000.
The cabin offers enough space for a small SUV. It feels wide across the front seat and there’s plenty of headroom, too.
The driver’s seat is power adjustable and while the fabric and stitching look cool, there’s almost too much padding under your bottom.
There are clear controls on the comfy door armrest and on the lovely looking three-spoke synthetic leather, flat bottom steering wheel.
The console sits up high, presumably to give the cabin a sports car look, and the dash is neat and clean, largely due to a lack of physical buttons. There are two phone holders that dominate the lower part of the dash and they double as device chargers in higher grades, but not in the FX.
There is space under the console to fit a bag or other items but the USB-A and USB-C ports are on the passenger side so you have to reach over to connect a cord if required. Thankfully, the Apple CarPlay is wireless. It connected easily and did not require reconnection while I had the car.
Two smallish cupholders are found near the gear shifter, and a sizeable central bin will store a number or items. The doors can stow a tall and wide bottle as well as other flat items.
Chery’s dual-screen set-up looks nice and not a world away from Kia’s integrated screens. The driver instrument display is not customisable in this grade and many of the items on the display are quite small. It would help if these were a little larger.
The multimedia side is simple to use with iPhone-like icons for functions like vehicle settings and more. There’s even a cute little bubble face on the side that you press to dictate commands. I asked the system to perform a few basic tasks like turning the air con off and on and it did it immediately without fault.
Air con controls are housed in the screen as well but it’s not as fiddly as some systems from other manufacturers. The only complaint is that it doesn’t appear to show the exact temperature, and the air flow could be stronger for a hot climate like Australia.
Taller passengers will probably need to duck their heads getting in and out of the Omoda 5’s rear seats, because of the low roofline. Once in the rear, there is a decent amount of knee and legroom, and headroom is good too despite the roofline.
Those rear seats are flat and not the most comfortable but fine for urban drives, and they feature ISOFIX points on the two outboard seats and three top tether points for child car seats.
In terms of amenities, there’s one USB-C port in the second row, lower air vents - something too many small SUVs go without - a centre fold-down armrest with two (shallow) cupholders and enough space for big bottles in the doors.
All petrol Omoda 5s have a cargo capacity of 360 litres, which increases to 1075L when you fold the 60/40 split rear seats down. This is more than the GWM Haval Jolion petrol’s capacity (337L).
It has a manual tailgate, a high loading area and some under-floor storage, but there is more than enough space for some luggage or a large amount of groceries in the boot.
It has a temporary spare wheel which is essential in Australia if you’re driving beyond urban areas.
The only negative is the flimsy parcel shelf. It struggles to stay in the groves that are designed to hold it. I had to re-fit it every time I opened the boot.
The front seats in this car are deliciously comfortable. The bolsters hug you nicely and there’s plenty of upper back and leg support.
I’m also a fan of the upholstery finish in this Atmos trim. It’s a combination of leather and fabric which is great because the front seats also offer heating and now ventilation.
The steering wheel is a classic Toyota unit that features synthetic leather wrapping and heating function. There are also plenty of clearly labelled physical buttons that are a treat to use.
Behind this there’s a 12.0-inch digital instrument cluster like plenty of other Toyota models now. It features a familiar set-up that allows you to change a number of widgets and save multiple pages of configurations.
Moving across, the 10.5-inch touchscreen multimedia system is high-resolution and has crisp colours. There’s not a heap to do in the native user interface so there’s no excuse to get lost.
Thankfully there’s wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Connection was immediate with my iPhone 15 Pro Max when starting up the car and it remained rock solid throughout known interference points.
Under the touchscreen I appreciate that Toyota has retained physical climate control buttons and dials. They’re very easy to understand and use, especially on the move.
In fact, there are a lot of physical buttons around the cabin. This is great because you don’t need to dive into touchscreen menus and sub-menus.
In terms of amenities up front there are two cupholders, a wireless charger, USB-C charger, centre console box with a 12V socket, as well as a glovebox.
Moving to the second row there’s a decent amount of space for a small SUV, though if you want to use the seats more, you’ll likely want to opt for something larger, like a RAV4.
At 182cm tall I have minimal legroom behind my own driving position, though toeroom is excellent. Headroom is fine though it is impeded due to the panoramic glass sunroof, which notably doesn’t open despite the thick crossbar.
You can easily get two adults in the back of the Corolla Cross, though pushing it to three would make things squishy. It doesn’t help that there’s a central hump in the floor.
Amenities include rear air vents, two USB-C ports, bottle holders on the doors, plus a fold-down armrest with cupholders.
Around the back there’s a hands-free power tailgate that’s handy if you’ve got your hands full. In classic Toyota fashion, it opens and closes with plenty of beeps, which may attract attention.
There’s 380L of boot space with the rear seats upright, expanding to 2000L with them folded. This is fine for the segment, but doesn’t stand out. Front-wheel drive trims get a touch more boot space as they don’t have the rear electric motor.
In the boot area there’s a light, some hooks and a load cover. Unfortunately all-wheel-drive trims don’t come with a spare wheel whatsoever. Instead they only get a tyre repair kit.
It’s worth noting two-wheel-drive trims get a space-saver spare wheel. This is important if you frequently do long-distance drives away from tyre repair shops.
At the time of publishing, the only non-Chinese-branded model in the mainstream small SUV category available for less than $30K drive-away is the 14-year-old Mitsubishi ASX. The only other sub-$30K small SUVs are from Chery, GWM Haval and MG - all from China.
Since launching the Omoda 5, Chery has placed value at the heart of its pitch to buyers, and that has only sharpened with the launch of the new base FX grade, tested here.
The FX kicks off at $27,990, drive-away, which lowers the price of entry to the Omoda 5 range by $6500. Not bad at all.
The only other models that compete on price are the GWM Haval Jolion Premium from $26,990 drive-away, the soon-to-be replaced MG ZST Vibe at $26,490 drive-away and the Mitsubishi ASX GS which is $26,740, but that doesn't include on-road costs.
Spec wise, the FX is not missing much from the next grade up, the $34,490, drive-away, BX. You get halogen headlights instead of LEDs, and it loses acoustic glass, soft-touch upper door inserts, ambient lighting, a wireless device charger, a 12-volt outlet in the boot and a frameless rear-view mirror.
Compared with the BX the FX suffices with single-zone instead of dual-zone air conditioning, the audio system drops from eight speakers to six and it has fabric rather than synthetic leather seat trim.
Out of these missing items, you’ll miss some more than others. Offering halogen instead of LED headlights is increasingly rare these days, even on base grades, and halogens are just not as strong, especially on regional roads at night.
But I am yet to encounter a truly effective device charging pad in a car so that’s no great loss.
The safety list is solid (see Safety section below) and it still has a good level of standard gear, especially for the price.
The FX comes with rear passenger air vents, keyless entry and start, a proximity key, a six-way power driver’s seat, dual 10.25-inch screens (multimedia and driver instrumentation), digital radio, an intelligent voice command as well as wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
The 2026 Toyota Corolla Cross line-up now starts from $37,440 before on-roads for the GX Hybrid trim, however, on test here is the flagship Atmos Hybrid AWD trim at $50,990 before on-roads. That’s a fair chunk of change for a small SUV.
For context, you can get a mid-spec RAV4 Cruiser Hybrid for around the same price as this Corolla Cross. Ultimately it comes down to whether you want a bigger car or more equipment.
Speaking of the latter, this top-spec Corolla Cross is stacked with equipment.
Highlights include new 18-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights, a panoramic glass sunroof, 12.0-inch digital instrument cluster, 10.5-inch touchscreen multimedia system with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a nine-speaker JBL premium sound system, heated and ventilated front seats, as well as premium leather-accented upholstery.
One of the few things this car is missing over its rivals is the availability of a head-up display.
There are two petrol engine choices for the Omoda 5. The FX, BX and EX use a 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged unit delivering power and torque outputs of 108kW and 210Nm, respectively.
These grades are front-wheel drive and the powertrain features a continuously variable transmission (CVT).
Those outputs are inline with the GWM Haval Jolion petrol but offer more punch than the MG ZST.
The Omoda 5 GT grades use a more powerful 137kW/275Nm 1.6-litre turbo, but they also come with a higher price tag.
Like last year, all Corolla Cross trims now come with a hybrid powertrain. It’s unchanged with this facelift.
There’s a 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with either one or two electric motors, depending on whether you opt for a front- or all-wheel drive version. Our tester is the latter so it has two electric motors.
Total system output is 146kW with drive sent through an electronic continuously variable transmission (e-CVT). Top speed is 180km/h.
It’s worth pointing out there is no power difference between the front- and all-wheel drive trims. Uniquely, the latter picks up a ‘Snow’ drive mode.
Chery says the official combined cycle (urban/extra-urban) fuel use figure for the Omoda 5 1.5L is 6.9 litres per 100km and the CO2 emissions are rated at 164g/km from the Euro 6-compliant engine.
After a week of urban, freeway and outer suburban driving we recorded a figure of 10.3L/100km which is well off the official figure.
It has a 51-litre fuel tank and runs on 91 RON petrol. Based on our calculations you can expect a theoretical range of about 765km.
Toyota claims the Corolla Cross Atmos Hybrid AWD consumes an average of 4.4L/100km on the combined cycle. This is 0.2L/100km higher than front-wheel-drive trims.
During my week of testing I saw an average of 5.0L/100km, according to the trip computer. This is fine, but I’ve experienced better in other hybrid SUVs.
However, during one trip into the office with heavy traffic I achieved an average of 3.7L/100km. Now that’s frugal!
All-wheel-drive trims get a larger 43L fuel tank compared to the 36L unit front-wheel-drive versions have.
Using my as-tested fuel consumption, this car has a theoretical range of 860km.
All Corolla Cross variants require a minimum of 91 RON regular unleaded petrol.
The Omoda 5 has two personalities depending how and where you’re driving. If you only drive in urban areas and rarely exceed 60km/h, it’s more than fine as a daily driver.
It’s when you’re on the open road or a freeway that its flaws are revealed.
The 1.5-litre engine is responsive enough, although there is some hesitation when accelerating under full throttle, and it’s slower to pick up pace when you’re already on the move at 60 or 80km/h.
The throttle is quite sensitive, however, and can be a little jolty when taking off. And light tyre chirp is also possible when accelerating hard.
Chery’s CVT is fine and doesn’t have the drone of other CVTs, but the manual mode toggles on the side of the shifter are in a confusing spot. When I first got in the car, I mistook this for the button that allows the shift between drive and reverse that many other cars have. I only made that mistake once, though.
The engine is rowdy when accelerating hard but not unpleasant, and Chery could do more to keep noise out of the cabin. Wind noise is particularly noticeable.
The Omoda 5’s ride can be jittery, particularly on uneven or pockmarked roads. The tyres seem to soak up road reflectors and smaller bumps but the suspension tune is on the firmer side which means it’s crashy over bigger bumps.
It also leans a lot when cornering, feeling top heavy in bends. This is not the sort of dynamically capable crossover you can have fun with on a twisty road, like the sadly departed Ford Puma, or the Mazda CX-30 or VW T-Roc.
Some general impressions - the brakes are a little slow to respond but you learn to adjust. The steering feels artificial and twitchy and you’re constantly fighting with the lane keeping aid. More on that in the ‘Safety’ section below.
On sunny days a distracting reflection of the top of the dash appears on the inside of the windscreen. It’s not great. But another general impression is that the proximity key works a treat. Which is not often the case.
When you first start up the car it usually defaults to EV mode unless the petrol engine is bone cold. If this is the case it’ll fire it up to get the fluids warmed up.
Once the engine reaches operating temperature it typically switches off again, allowing you to cruise around exclusively on electric power. This never stops being fun and it’s almost a game to try and eke out as much electric juice as possible before the engine fires up again.
This is inevitable however once the battery charge gets low enough, or you press the accelerator that little bit harder. There’s no noticeable switch from electric to petrol that can be felt, but you do hear the petrol engine whirring away under the bonnet.
Despite this hybrid powertrain producing a total system output of 146kW, it doesn’t really feel like it from behind the wheel. Once you push the accelerator, the petrol engine tends to sound strained. It’s not a nice sound as it’s amplified by the fact there’s an e-CVT that doesn’t require gear shifts.
There’s great regenerative braking as standard which helps recuperate kinetic energy from slowing down back into the battery. This is helpful as it acts like engine braking down hills without actually using the brakes.
When you come to a complete stop the transition from the regen brakes to the traditional friction brakes can be a little grabby. You need to be prepared to alter the pressure you’re applying to the brake pedal.
The suspension in this car is a major highlight. It balances comfort and composure perfectly, allowing for an effortless driving experience. It soaks up virtually all road imperfections with ease, including harsher speed bumps.
This flows on to the steering which does err on the firmer side, but feels direct and a touch sporty. Overall this makes the Corolla Cross a fun vehicle to pilot even on the most dull roads.
On the parking front there are front and rear parking sensors, as well as a surround-view camera with great resolution. Even though this car is easy to park, there’s also a semi-autonomous park assist that can be handy if you’re not great at parallel parking.
Out on the open road the petrol engine does stay on more consistently. It’ll quickly flare the revs if you need to accelerate harder which makes me grit my teeth every time because it’s not the most refined sound.
Despite this there were moments when I was travelling at 80km/h and the petrol engine turned off, allowing the car to drive exclusively on EV power. This primarily only happens on flat roads as the moment there’s even a whiff of a hill, the engine kicks back in again.
There’s a fair bit of road noise that enters the cabin at higher speeds, which isn’t uncommon for small SUVs. However, there’s also noticeable wind noise that sounds like it comes from the sunroof or the side mirrors.
As mentioned earlier, Chery has a long list of standard safety gear for all grades of the Omoda 5 from the base FX to the top-spec GT AWD.
In fact, the only feature the FX and BX don’t get is a 360-degree surround-view monitor.
It comes with a centre airbag to help mitigate against injury during a side collision, front and rear parking sensors, multi-collision brake, forward collision warning, auto emergency braking (AEB), emergency lane keeping, lane departure warning and prevention, traffic jam assist, lane change assist, rear cross-traffic alert and traffic sign recognition.
ANCAP gave it a maximum five-star crash safety rating in 2022.
There is no question you get a bucket load of safety gear for your money. However, some of the advanced driver assistance features let the car down.
We have written before about the poor performance of systems like the lane keeping aid when the Omoda 5 launched 18 months ago.
Chery was very quick to recalibrate some of these systems to ensure they are better suited to Australian conditions. But it’s still well off the pace of other more established small SUV rivals.
Despite the improvements, the active lane keeping system still isn’t great. On a freeway, the steering is incredibly jittery and it makes for an unpleasant driving experience. The car ping pongs between the line markings and sometimes it feels like it’s going to steer you into the next lane.
At one point I had the indicator on to change lanes and even then the steering was fighting me to stay in the lane I was in.
It feels like one of the first examples of lane keeping systems from several years ago. Many other brands have sharpened these systems to the point they are barely noticeable.
The blind spot monitor beeps a lot and at inappropriate times. It is quite frustrating. You can turn off some of these systems in the settings menu, but you shouldn’t have to do that. They should just work without distracting from the task at hand - driving.
Chery’s driver attention alert is infuriating. I lost count of the number of times the ‘You’ve been distracted for a long time’ warning flashed up when I was looking straight ahead at the road. At one point the display flashed when I was at a roundabout trying to turn. So I was distracted by what? My own driving?
The adaptive cruise control, however, is responsive and adapted to forward traffic without getting flustered.
Chery may have improved the ADAS calibration after the Omoda's launch, but the carmaker still has a lot of work to do in this area to be anywhere near its mainstream rivals.
The Corolla Cross was awarded a five-star ANCAP safety rating in 2022 based on testing conducted by Euro NCAP. The two safety authorities have harmonised testing protocols.
Standard equipment includes eight airbags, autonomous emergency braking (AEB), blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, lane-keep assist, lane centring, adaptive cruise control, front and rear parking sensors, as well as a reversing camera.
The AEB system activates from 5km/h and lane-trace assist (lane centring) can be activated from 0km/h.
Also standard is one year of complimentary access to Toyota’s connected services. This allows for SOS emergency calling, as well as a range of remote features via a smartphone app.
Stepping up to the GXL brings a surround-view camera, as well as vehicle detection for the low-speed front and rear AEB.
All three rear seats have top-tether points and the two outboard rear seats have ISOFIX child seat anchorage points.
It’s all fairly standard on this front.
Chery has a solid aftersales offer that includes a seven-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, seven years of roadside assist as long as you service with a Chery dealer, and seven years of capped-price servicing.
The service schedule is every 10,000km or 12 months, whichever comes first. That’s off the pace of some rivals that don’t make you return to the dealership until 15,000km.
But the cost of the first five services is $280 a pop before increasing to $391 and then $295. That is well priced for the segment.
Like all Toyotas, there’s a five-year, unlimited-kilometre vehicle warranty. However, if you service at Toyota dealers you get two additional years of engine coverage, bringing the total to seven years.
The high-voltage battery coverage can also be extended up to 10 years if you service at Toyota dealers.
Roadside assistance is available to purchase from $99 annually.
Logbook servicing is required every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever comes first. The first five services are capped at $255 each, which is incredibly affordable. It’s only beaten by the likes of Honda.
Toyota has one, if not the, most prolific dealer networks in Australia. There are around 260 dealers and they span metro, regional and rural areas.