The battle among Australia’s small SUVs will get a new entrant later this year from Chery’s spin-off brand, Omoda.
The Chinese carmaker has confirmed it will reveal a new city-sized runabout, the Omoda C3 compact SUV, at a media event in Wuhu following a barrage of new model arrivals due to be unveiled at next week’s Shanghai motor show.
Chery yet to release any official information on the C3, other than a line-drawing design sketch that indicates the car will feature an angular exterior that is reminiscent of a baby Lamborghini Urus, a theme which carries over into the interior with a symmetrical cabin layout separating the front seat occupants.
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Chery Omoda C3 sketch
It has, however, provided a more definitive glimpse of what it will look like via a glitch-heavy teaser video released on social media that, when capturing a single frame, showcases its chunky wide-body appearance, two-tone black-on-blue paint work and intricate alloy wheel design.
Chery says the C3 features a cyber-inspired aesthetic and that it will be positioned below the Omoda C5, which is expected to drop the Omoda nameplate later this year as the company intends to spin-off Omoda as another sub-brand alongside Jaecoo.
“Combining lightning and cyber-futuristic sharpness, the result is an exterior and interior that rewrites the rules of automotive art,” the brand said in a statement.
It is unclear whether the C3 will be able to keep that nameplate in Australia if it joins the Omoda range, as Citroen owns the trademark to the nomenclature locally. Even though the French brand is no longer officially selling vehicles in Australia, the C3 trademark is not up for renewal until 2031.
Before the covers come off the C3, Omoda has also confirmed that plug-in hybrid variants of the Omoda C5 and C7 will be revealed at the Shanghai show next week, as well as an electric version of the smaller Jaecoo J5.
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2025 Omoda C5 -
2025 Omoda C5
Both the C5 and C7 will utilise the same ‘Super Hybrid System’ found in the Jaecoo J7 that launched in Australia last month, pairing a 105kW/215Nm 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine with a 150kW electric motor, 18.3kWh battery and a dedicated hybrid transmission to drive the front wheels.
The J7 has maximum combined outputs of 255kW/525Nm, an electric-only driving range of 90km (WLTP), and a total driving range of approximately 1200km on a single tank of fuel.
The smaller Jaecoo J5 is already earmarked to arrive in Australia later this year as a rival to the likes of the Hyundai Kona, Nissan Qashqai and Toyota Yaris Cross, with regular variants set to be powered by a 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine that delivers 137kW and 275Nm via a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.
Jaecoo has confirmed it will also reveal a battery-electric version in Shanghai next week.