According to Luigi Ignacio, Vice-President for Sales and Marketing for Chery Auto Philippines, it’s about time Filipinos experience a brand that offers more in terms of looks, technology, and safety. Those adjectives, he believes, is best encapsulated by the brand’s new flagship SUV, the Tiggo 8 Pro.

“The Tiggo 8 is often compared to the Geely Okavango,” Ignacio says. “We know what Geely offers, but with the Tiggo 8 Pro, we believe that we’re offering much more. This is a different Chery experience. It puts us price-wise against other more established mid-sized SUVs, but without losing sight on offering outstanding value for money.”

Priced at P 1.650 million, the Tiggo 8 Pro finds itself head-to-head against the Fortuner 2.4 G (P 1.723 million) and the Montero Sport GLS (P 1.728 million). And yet, it comes filled to the brim in terms of creature comfort features. For example, it comes with a “premium sporty” exterior design connoted by its standard LED projector headlights, 18-inch bright alloy wheels, and twin exhausts. Inside, it has power adjustable seats with a memory function for the driver, seat heating and cooling for the front passengers, and a large 1.17-square meter panoramic sunroof.

It’s mechanically solid too. Underpinned by Chery’s world-class T1X Comfort Chassis, it uses technology derived from its partnership with Jaguar-Land Rover. With independent suspension on all four corners and a unibody construction, it promises unequalled ride and handling. And as a perfect antithesis to agricultural sounding diesel engines, it uses a 1.6-liter turbocharged direct-injected gasoline engine putting out 195 horsepower and 290 Nm of torque. This is then mated to a 7-speed wet-type dual clutch automatic.

Also unique in its price range, the Tiggo 8 Pro comes with a suite of advanced driver assistance system. It bundles eight different functions: Adaptive Cruise Control; Forward Collision Warning; Lane Keeping Assist; Autonomous Emergency Braking; Lane Departure Warning; Rear Cross Traffic Alert; Door Open Warning; and Blind Spot Detection. Oh, and unlike its pickup-based competition, it has 6 SRS airbags and a 360-degree camera as standard.

If these aren’t reason enough to consider the Tiggo 8 Pro, it comes with a revised Chery Premium Preserv ownership package. It comes with 3 years of free preventive maintenance and 3 years of free roadside assistance—P 150,000 worth of savings right off the bat. This is on top of a 7-year engine and 7-year bumper-to-bumper warranty (other Chery models have a 10-year engine, 5-year bumper-to-bumper warranty).

There’s no doubting that Chery Auto Philippines has every right and reason to call the Tiggo 8 Pro their flagship SUV. It’s impeccably speced, looks great, and yet, continues with the brand’s value-oriented positioning. All that’s left is to actually drive this mid-sized SUV, and we’ll find out for sure if they’ve got a winner on their hands.