Chery Tiggo 4 PRO News

China is now the biggest country of origin for new-car sales in Australia, leapfrogging Japan in what is a seismic shift in the Australian automotive industry.

Only a few years ago a budget-focused new car story like this would have well and truly dipped under the magical $20,000 threshold.But, the sad news is there’s just a single new car option left standing in the Aussie market wearing a five figure price tag that starts with a one.And that’s the entry-grade Kia Picanto Sport with a five-speed manual gearbox at $19,190, before on-road costs. Tick the box for the four-speed automatic transmission and all of a sudden you’re at $20,790, BOC.So, we’ve raised the new car budget bar to $25,000 and looked at the five most popular models with an entry-price under $25K from 2025 full-year sales.1) Chery Tiggo 4 Pro - From $23,990, before on-road costsTalk about an impressive entrance. Chery lobbed a hand grenade into the budget end of the small SUV segment in late 2024, with the Tiggo 4 Pro’s first full year sales exceeding 20,000 units in 2025.Two versions of the compact five-seater are offered locally, the Urban and Ultimate, each available in pure-combustion and petrol-electric hybrid form.2) MG MG3 - From $21,990, drive-awayWith competition from new challenger brands intensifying and the MG model line-up growing, the MG3 dipped in terms of year-on-year sales but still did enough to grab second spot under $25K with more than 8000 examples finding a new home.Three grades are offered here - Vibe, Excite & Essence - pure-petrol in all three with the option of hybrid in the upper two.  3) Hyundai Venue - From 23,000, before on-road costsNow a veteran of the ‘light’ SUV category the city-sized Venue remains a strong seller in Hyundai’s small car portfolio.In fact, sales were up a solid 14.1 per cent in 2025 to 7927. The range starts with the entry-grade at $23K, before on-road costs, with the Active and Elite above it. 4) Kia Picanto - From $19,190, before on-road costsA popular choice among city dwellers, the diminutive Picanto also ticked up in total year-on-year sales for 2025 to 7166.Sadly for micro car Verstappen wannabes the 1.0L turbo GT is a thing of the past, but the top-tier GT-Line Picanto brings some of its racy personality to the party. 5) Suzuki Swift Hybrid - From 24,490, drive-awayThe fourth-generation Swift has taken mild-hybrid form with its 1.2-litre three-cylinder engine featuring an enhanced starter/generator/electric motor picking up some of the slack in terms of powering the stop-start system and adding 60Nm of torque.Sales were down in 2025 to 3446, but there were still enough buyers to land the latest version of the city car icon in fifth spot.   Australian Top 5 sellers under $25,000:  

In the years since the likes of GWM and MG established a beachhead for Chinese automotive brands in the local new car market a slew of others have followed.Economics 101 says increased competition in a mature market will quickly stimulate activity, generating big winners and significant losers.And the reality of 2025’s vehicle registration data, compiled by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI VFacts) and the Electric Vehicle Council (EVC), has graphically validated that economic theory.More than 30 of the 60 passenger car and light commercial brands monitored by VFacts and the EVC went backwards in terms of sales volume in 2025 compared to 2024.But the winners were BIG, the top two improvers experiencing spectacular growth; the overall champ almost sending the needle off the clock.Of course, some were coming off a relatively small sales base, with increasing supply and expanding model line-ups inflating percentage figures. So, for context, we’ll also note outright volume increases and only include brands that recorded full-year sales in 2024.Here are our top five countdowns for biggest new car sales winners and losers in 2025.5) Rolls-Royce: Okay, it’s 13 extra cars for 2025 over 2024, but when each one of them retails for a minimum of $700K that’s some handy incremental profit margin. Obviously, for a select few it’s a case of ‘cost-of-living crisis be damned’, with no less than eight extra Cullinan SUVs and the same number of sedans finding a home last year. 4) Mini: A big year for Mini, including a major JCW-focused refresh across the range as well as a burst of sales for the pure-electric Aceman line-up. There were substantial boosts for the Cabrio (+100 per cent), Cooper (+45.2 per cent) and Countryman (+19 per cent).   3) Polestar: It was a case of swings and roundabouts for the Swedish EV specialist with the Polestar 2 liftback dropping sales while the larger 3 and 4 SUVs expanded total numbers by close to 40 per cent. Stand by for the performance-focused Polestar 5 GT’s impact when it arrives here mid-year.2) BYD: Market appetite for BYD’s products grew in parallel with its model range, the Chinese giant’s Aussie line-up expanding from four to eight models. Newcomers like the Atto 1, Atto 2 and Sealion 7 grew its share of the pie dramatically, but the star of the show was the Shark 6 hybrid ute, racking up more than 18,000 sales for the year.1) Chery: The sharply-priced Tiggo 4 Pro small SUV has proved a smash hit for Chery with sales building steadily over 2025, to the point where it’s nipping at the heels of the category-leading Hyundai Kona and MG ZS. Adding the large Tiggo 9 large SUV also delivered handy incremental sales.5) Suzuki: Despite the addition of the Fronx small hybrid SUV mid-year (which captured a handy 1667 sales) the evergreen Japanese brand went backwards in 2025, with stocks of the discontinued Ignis dwindling, Swift sales decreasing and even the cult-favourite Jimny in decline.   4) Jaguar: Kind of a no-brainer given the brand very publicly pulled the pin on production of everything except the F-Pace SUV for 12 months in preparation for a new, more premium range ramping up through 2026 and 2027. The big surprise is sales of the E-Pace growing four per cent year-on-year despite the manufacturing halt. Must have been a few in stock.  3) Maserati: Sales volume dropping by close to a third is rarely a good thing but with the Maserati Levante SUV falling off the radar there weren’t enough Grecale SUV buyers ready to pick up the slack. The Granturismo and Grancabrio coupe and convertible GTs were also missing in action creating a low ebb for the iconic Italian. 2) Jeep: Speaking of iconic brands, Jeep has been fighting well-publicised head winds in its US home market thanks to a seemingly ill-advised move to a more premium positioning with prices to match. Despite a slight sales uptick for the Grand Cherokee as it leaves the local stage, serious falls for the Wrangler 4WD and Gladiator ute also took the wind out of Jeep’s sales here.1) Lotus: Who would have thought a brand famous for simplifying and adding lightness in producing race-ready sports cars would be punished for heading down the pure-electric path with a heavy SUV (Eletre) and big four-door GT (Emeya). Even the internal-combustion mid-engine Emira (despite a stay of production execution) dropped by more than 50 per cent.   

In a milestone market share breakthrough vehicles manufactured in China accounted for one in five new cars sold in Australia in October this year.

Australian new car market continues to shift in October 2024.

Chery has announced its popular small SUV, the Tiggo 4, has been given a modest upgrade for the 2026 model year.Still priced at just $23,990 for the Urban or $26,990 (both drive-away) for the flagship Ultimate, the Tiggo 4 remains Australia’s cheapest SUV, undercutting the MG ZS and GWM Haval Jolion (both priced at $26,990 drive-away), despite the new updates.Headlining the changes are new 17 and 18-inch alloy wheels and a redesigned rear end, which adds a LED tail-light bar that brings the car into line with the rest of the Chery line-up. The Ultimate grade also gets a 15W wireless charging pad.As before, both variants carry dual 10.25-inch LCD screens for multimedia and digital driver’s display functions. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, as well as Chery’s voice command assistant, come standard.The Ultimate steps things up with a surround-view camera, synthetic leather seats and ambient lighting.As before, the Tiggo 4 Pro is powered by a 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine that delivers 108kW/210Nm to the front wheels through a continuously variable transmission (CVT). Combined fuel consumption is claimed at 7.4L/100km, while carbon emissions are quoted at 168g/km.All Chery vehicles are covered by a seven-year/unlimited-km warranty, along with seven years of capped-priced servicing and up to seven years of roadside assistance.The Tiggo 4 Pro has helped launch Chery to mainstream contention this year, with 3338 sales in the first three months of the year, or more than 5200 since the car launched in Australia roughly six months ago.Now the most popular model in Chery’s catalogue, the brand’s sales have risen 216.6 per cent compared to the same period last year.Interested buyers can test drive the Chery Tiggo 4 Pro at the brand's showrooms from today.

Chinese newcomer Chery has admitted it has work to do fine-tuning its advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) for the Australian market.

Chery's new Tiggo 4 Pro aces ANCAP test despite rivals recently falling short.

The cut-price Chery Tiggo 4 Pro small SUV has been hit with an urgent recall.The recall notice posted by the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts, said close to 2000 of the fast-selling SUVs were affected by an issue regarding its autonomous emergency braking tech.According to the notice a software issue is to blame.“Due to a software issue, the vehicle may not have the Autonomous Emergency Brake (AEB) sound alarm activated.”If the AEB sound doesn’t go off it could increase the risk of an accident causing injury or death to the vehicle occupants or other road users, according to the recall notice.Owners of affected vehicles are urged to contact their nearest Chery dealership to have the AEB software updated at no cost.The Tiggo 4 Pro was one of the top selling small SUVs in the country at the start of this year. More than a 1000 found a new home in January, outselling familiar favourites such as the Kia Seltos, Honda HR-V and Subaru Cross Trek.A big part of this sales bonanza is due to the Tiggo 4 Pro’s low, low starting price of $23,990 drive-away. This makes it one of the cheapest new cars on sale in Australia.The Tiggo 4 Pros without proper working AEB fall foul of Australian Design Rule 98/01.A similar design rule 98/00, which was recently updated has caused the end of sale of several vehicles in Australia.This rule change meant new vehicles had to have advanced auto emergency braking, this caused the end of the current Mitsubishi ASX, Pajero Sport and Eclipse Cross as well as several Suzuki models.

Having expanded its line-up from one model to four, on the way to huge year-on-year sales growth in 2024 (+114 per cent), Chery Australia has confirmed it is bringing no less than three hybrid SUVs to the local market around the middle of this year.