Chery Tiggo 4 PRO vs Ferrari California

What's the difference?

Chery would likely prefer you forget its initial foray into the Australian market, but doing so would do a disservice to the brand.

We don’t need to go into the nitty gritty of what went wrong back then, but needless to say the first Chery models of around 15 years ago were not particularly good.

Since its return in 2022 Chery is unrecognisable from that first attempt at cracking this market. The Omoda 5, the first model of its relaunch, was flawed but light years ahead of the earlier models in terms of design, presentation and build quality.

It has since expanded with the larger Tiggo 7 Pro and Tiggo 8 Pro Max SUVs and then in late 2024 it added this, the Tiggo 4 Pro. This is Chery’s answer to the likes of the Hyundai Venue, Mazda CX-30, Toyota Yaris Cross, etc in what’s known as the ‘light SUV’ segment.

Chery had a very good 2024, more than doubling its sales, so there are clear signs the brand is enjoying far greater success with its second attempt in Australia.

But is the Tiggo 4 Pro worth buying, if you’re in the market for a compact SUV? Let’s answer that question as we go through all the details.

Forget California! Ferrari is an Italian brand, so when the time came for the marque to redo its entry-level model - as well as rename it - the geographical tack was at last rightfully placed in its home country.

Enter the all-new Ferrari Portofino 2019 model.

If you’ve travelled the Italian coast, you might know Portofino. It’s located on the picturesque Italian Riviera at the edge of the Ligurian Sea, between Cinque Terre and Genoa, and it’s known for attracting wealth and celebrity to its exclusive shoreline.  

It’s gorgeous, classic, timeless; all terms also suitable for this new convertible model, which looks so much better than the California did. And, quite truthfully, it looks more Italian, which is important for this macchina, a true auto sportivo italiana.