Not just a pretty face: The C5, the first offering from Chinese marque Chery’s Omoda sub-brand, has eye-catching looks, decent performance and good fuel consumption.
The automotive space remains a hive of activity. What with established brands creating watershed moments and new ones entering the space, it is fascinating to behold.
The Chinese manufacturers have been shaking up the industry of late, making significant strides, all the while stealing market share from the older marques.
Economies of scale are at work here. Chery has made considerable progress in recent months with models that are a far cry from the subpar products they brought into Mzansi more than a decade ago.
In its quest to elevate its status, the Chinese brand has launched a sub-brand, Omoda, which offers a more stylish proposition than its Chery models — think of Citroen and its DS sibling brand.
Omoda? What does that even mean? Well, according to the firm, the O is for oxygen, new life and vitality and “moda” refers to the modern and fashion-forward characteristics of the new brand … Um, make of that what you will.
Sold across 30 Chery dealers, the first model under the Omoda umbrella is the C5 — yes, I know, the Citroen C5 comes to mind, so no prizes for Omoda for their lack of imagination here — and there will be others joining the lineup soon.
One of the C5’s drawcards is its eye-catching styling, thanks to that mesh grille up front, with its plastic chrome finish, which had admirers glancing and a handful of people coming to enquire about the vehicle.
It is a model that gets people talking, so I reckon that is a good start to the C5’s sales journey.
It features the wedge-like coupé stance that is popular among trendsetters, while the cabin’s architecture is minimalist, yet functional for the most part.
You have a customisable 10.25-inch screen nestled atop the dashboard, while the centre console tunnel houses the gear lever; sound system volume and on/off buttons; cupholders and a usable storage binnacle.
The smartphone charging pad is just below the climate-control buttons which, although conveniently placed, does mean your device is likely to be in direct sunlight. I tried it out and, lo and behold, my handset was so hot it needed cooling before it would function again. This charger is not strategically placed for our hot climate and harsh sunlight.
Rear vision is awkward, due to the narrow, letterbox-slot back windscreen, which is not helped by the magnifying rearview mirror, which impairs depth perception — you feel as though the vehicles behind you are closer than they actually are.
While some of the plastics used, particularly on the doors, feel cheap, the rest of the interior is more than average. Things feel relatively well screwed together, so it will be inter esting to see how these fare in, say, the next 20- to 30 000km.
Despite the tapered roofline, there’s surprisingly decent headroom, even for rear passengers.
The standard automated boot lid gives access to a relatively small 310-litre space, so strategic packing is required to make the most of it.
Beating under the C5’s bonnet is a 1.5-litre turbo engine with 115kW and 230Nm driving the front wheels via a “stepped” CVT gearbox.
It offers decent performance for daily trudges, as long as you don’t rush it, as this adds to the incessant drone from the CVT, and the engine sounds rather harsh and unrefined at higher revs.
Fuel consumption was surprisingly amiable and we managed about 7.2 litres/100km with careful driving. The figure was 9 litres/100km when we asked the C5 to gallop a bit faster.
Handling is fairly neutral and the ride quality, even on the 18-inch wheels, proved good enough, with the damping dealing well with our uneven and scarred tar roads.
Most safety aspects seem to have been thoroughly licked, thanks to a five star EuroNCAP rating
As our first taste of the Omoda models the C5 has its shortcomings, but the overall product is decent and has its merits.
The 5-year/70 000km warranty is strange as it gives you four services at 15 000km intervals, leaving you with a 10 000km balance. That would mean forking out a bit more for your fifth service. So why not just make it 75 000km, I wonder?
At R507 900, the Omoda C5 is a welcome addition to a segment of mostly staid and conservatively designed offerings but how it fares in the long term remains to be seen.