With chunky off-roaders in vogue, as opposed to soft-roaders, Chery isn’t one to miss the trend. The Traveller, exported as T2, is the Chinese car maker’s latest entrant under its Jetour brand, which originally emerged in the late 2010s.
It’s being sold with the imagery of getting away to the great outdoors, even in China, where the romance of being away from urban jungles is in the Zeitgeist. Whether it can handle the rough stuff is open to question, given it’s a monocoque, and it’s best described, despite its appearance, as a light-duty SUV. However, 40,000 orders have come in since the Traveller was released for sale in China on September 26.
With the option of front- or all-wheel drive, the Traveller is at least geared to on-road usage, with a Borg–Warner torque manager and electronic limited-slip differential, which can switch between modes according to the conditions. The car has MacPherson struts up front and multi-link suspension down the back. Off-road, the strong passenger cell (31,000 Nm/deg torsional stiffness), 220 mm ground clearance, and approach and departure angles (28 and 30 degrees respectively) help it off-road.
Inside is a 15·6 in central control screen and a 10·25 in instrument screen. Engines for the Chinese market are 1·5 or 2·0 petrol, with a plug-in hybrid option featuring the 1·5 on its way.
It’s targeting the Middle East first, with its international début at the Riyadh Motor Show in January 2024, after an April 2023 première on the domestic market in April. First sales after that will be in the UAE.
You may also like
