For the U.S. enthusiast, Chery might not ring a bell because the Chinese automaker doesn’t operate in this part of the world. Even though the company plans to take Europe by storm in the coming years, Chery has plenty of issues to address before it can start making a name for itself in the west. One of them is the durability of the accelerator pedal of the Russia-spec Tiggo 2.
A compact crossover packing a lot of value for the money, the Tiggo 2 sports a high-riding stance and a fair interior. What it lacks, as you’ll notice from the video at the end of the story, is a sturdy gas pedal. While it’s hard to understand how Chery failed at designing the accelerator to endure the use and abuse of daily driving, there’s no denying that pedal broke off easy.
The unfortunate event happened during an acceleration test, which implies building up the revs and letting go of the clutch for the front wheels to “bite” into the asphalt and thrust the car forward. The driver didn’t get into 2nd gear, and once he stopped the Chery Tiggo 2, the damage was obvious.
Of all Chinese brands dreaming about challenging the western status quo with their value-minded cars, Chery finds itself between a rock and a hard place. There’s no mistake build quality has gone up in the past years, but it’s not nearly enough to challenge compact crossovers from the likes of Renault in Europe and Ford in the United States. It’s far from it, as a matter of fact.
More curiously, the Tiggo 2 for the Russian market is powered by a peppy 1.5-liter engine that relies on natural aspiration for the suck-squeeze-bang-blow action. Paired to a five-speed manual transmission as standard, the four-cylinder plant makes do with 106 PS (78 kW) and 135 Nm (100 pound-feet).
On the flipside, European automakers had more success at upping their game with Chinese money. Volvo comes to mind, with the Swedish automaker now preparing to take the wraps off the XC40. The model is the first Volvo to ride on the CMA platform, which will be shared with the Lynk & Co 01.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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