First Drive: Omoda flexes muscles with new 7 SUV

So, meet the 7, another high-rider from Omoda that’s focused on offering outstanding value for money for customers.

It’s the same battleground that its sister, the more premium-positioned Jaecoo 7, finds itself in. That car was the second best-selling car in the UK in January, so parent firm Chery has high hopes for this Omoda 7.

That’s actually pretty impressive, as more expensive rivals like the Kia Sportage PHEV are around 10 miles down on the Omoda 7. Also, Omoda claims an eye-opening 403mpg fuel economy, but you’ll have to drive purely on EV power to get anywhere near this.

The ride is quite firm at low speeds and then softens to give quite wallowy handling on a fast, twisting B-road – European, Korean and Japanese rivals give a better blend of ride comfort and handling. But, I would guess that for most buyers who will have the Omoda 7 on their shortlist, they won’t be too bothered about this. The fact that it’s comfortable for most of the time, has light steering and is generally very easy to drive is good enough.

There are only five colours to choose from – white is free of charge, with black, silver, green, and grey each costing £600. They’ve been named after natural crystals and minerals, by the way

The dashboard has a very horizontal design, with a large 15.6-inch touchscreen attached to it, a smaller display ahead of the steering wheel, and a high centre console that is home to plenty of storage places along with a pair of phone holders, one of which can wirelessly charge your phone. Thankfully, the infotainment system seems easier to use than in earlier Omoda and Jaecoos, and the advanced safety systems are slightly less intrusive; turning off features like lane-keep assist and speed warning seems easier than before, too.

But, while the design is kind of conventional, the quality is typically Omoda – and by that I mean the interior seems to be solidly put together, and there are plenty of soft-touch materials everywhere. It’s a spacious car, too; three can fit in the back despite the bench seats being deliberately designed to look like two individual seats with a perch in the middle, and the boot, at 590 litres (639 litres for the petrol), is big for the class.

The Omoda 7 comes in two trims, Knight and Noble, with the former getting 19-inch alloys, synthetic leather seats, a six-way electrically adjustable driver’s seat, wireless and cooled phone charging, and a 540-degree camera with under-car view. Noble adds features such as 20-inch wheels, an electric panoramic sunroof, ambient lighting, heated and ventilated front seats, a Sony 12-speaker audio system, a powered tailgate, and ‘headlight ceremony display’. The Noble also gets an air conditioning fragrance system.

The plug-in hybrid is priced at £32,000 for the Knight and £35,000 for the Noble – the latter is just £165 cheaper than the supposedly more premium Jaecoo 7 and yet the Omoda 7 feels just as plush. The petrol version only comes in Knight trim and comes in at £29,915; it’ll be arriving later this year.

While the Omoda 7 might not be the sharpest or most competent car in the class to drive, it’s hard to ignore the car’s overall packaging.

It offers a high level of standard equipment, strong interior fit-and-finish and space, and the potential for some seriously low running costs, all at very competitive prices – it’s a recipe we’ve seen Chery and Jaecoo deploy so successfully. The Jaecoo 7 has clearly struck a chord with UK buyers, and it’s fair to assume that its Omoda 7 sister will follow.