iCaur V25: Fifth Chery sub-brand launching in Australia next year to rival Land Cruiser, Grenadier and Jimny

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Chery is bringing another sub-brand to Australia, with iCaur set to launch early next year. Its V25 model is set to debut at the Everything Electric Sydney show on September 18^th. 

Amid the Chinese carmaker’s sprawling local offering – as well as Chery itself, it offers Jaecoo and Omoda, and will soon offer Lepas – iCaur hopes to stand out by being deliberately boxy and putting function before form.

The V25 that’ll spearhead iCaur in Australia is new for China too, having only been unveiled in July. 

Looking much like a Mercedes-Benz G-Class or Land Rover Defender 110, the V25 is shorter than both at 4636mm long, 1920mm wide and 1855mm tall. Like the G-Class and Defender, the V25 has generous approach and departure angles (28° and 24° respectively).

The design mimics those two very closely, with fixed side steps that can support 130kg, a side-hinged tailgate, and head- and taillights that are very similar indeed to the G and Defender.

The tailgate hosts either the traditional spare wheel or a 22-litre storage compartment. Whether Australian V25s will be offered with one or both is unknown.

“Classic Never Fades” is iCaur’s slogan, and the brand makes much of resisting trends in favour of enduring design. 

The five-seat-only interior backs this up – buttons and knobs abound, so the V25 should be more user-friendly than touchscreen-heavy rivals.

Chery hasn’t announced the V25’s powertrain, though its local communications boast “clean energy technology” and the model’s debut at the Everything Electric event is something of a giveaway. 

Chinese regulatory filings describe a range-extended electric powertrain. A 33.7kWh lithium-iron-phosphate battery supplies a quoted 145km range (WLTP), with a 115kW, 1.5-litre engine generating electricity if the battery’s depleted.

Approached by Chasing Cars, Chery said it’s too early to say if a fully electric V25 is coming.

Car News China reports the iCaur V25 weighs 2.2 tonnes, and will be sold with either rear-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive.

Pricing is unknown for China, let alone Australia. In China the iCaur V25 sits between the smaller V23 (which costs roughly AU$26,000) and bigger V27 (roughly $52,000). Chinese cars are typically much cheaper domestically than in Australia, so $50,000+ is a safe bet.

iCan’t call it that

In China, iCaur is called iCar. Chery changes this to “iCaur” for export markets.

It’s not just Apple who’d complain if Chery used “iCar” abroad. Mitsubishi has used the “i” name for a kei car, Hyundai has its i30, and BMW prefixes its electric cars’ names with “i”.