Five stars for Chery Tiggo 7 Pro: Chinese SUV scores full marks from ANCAP

The Chery Tiggo 7 Pro has been awarded a full five-star ANCAP safety rating, with the Chinese SUV scoring high enough in the crash body's four core ratings to receive the top star rating across all of its variants.

It's a much-needed return to form for Chinese vehicles in Australia, following a zero-star score awarded to the MG 5 Sedan earlier this month – one of only a handful of vehicles to be awarded the bottom ranking, a dubious honour it shares with the Mahindra Scorpio and the Mitsubishi Express, the latter tested in 2021.

The Tiggo 7 Pro, however, impressed enough in all categories to claim five stars, scoring 88 percent in Adult Occupant Protection, 87 percent in Child Occupant Protection, 72 percent in Vulnerable Road User Protection, and 86 percent in Safety Assist.

“It has been a record year for new-car sales, and coupled with the new ANCAP safety ratings published this year we have seen coverage of a mix of brands, price-points and powertrains from both mainstream and emerging brands,” says ANCAP Chief Executive Officer, Carla Hoorweg.

“This broadens choice for consumers wanting to prioritise safety. Next year we’re expecting to see further choice for consumers with a number of new high-selling models entering the market.”

But it wasn't all good news for the Chery, with ANCAP "identifying an area where protection could be improved through enhanced restraint design, with Weak scores recorded for the chest of the driver in the frontal offset and oblique pole tests."

Still, the safety body praised for its active safety systems, and scored well in a new-for-2023 test - flooding.

"Evaluating the ability for an occupant to safely exit a vehicle if flooded, Chery demonstrated that the doors of the Tiggo 7 Pro would remain functional for the minimum time period required, and to further assist, a safety escape hammer is provided to allow egress via the windows," ANCAP says.

"From 2023 manufacturers are awarded points for door and window opening functionality when submerged in water, with uninterrupted operation of windows or the provision of a ‘break glass’ safety device eligible for scoring. Of the nine vehicles rated by ANCAP this year, three have demonstrated window opening performance, with the Tiggo 7 Pro the first model to offer a safety escape hammer to assist with window exit."

The five-star rating applies of every Chery Tiggo 7 Pro variant.