Omoda 5 review

It’s the very first car that Omoda brought to the UK. Yep, back in late 2024 the brand launched on our shores with the petrol-powered 5 and an all-electric version that was inventively titled the E5.

Then, just a year later, Omoda announced that it had overhauled its crossover in response to customer feedback. That meant bigger screens, a repositioned drive selector and a new steering wheel on the inside, but there were even more changes underneath.

The 1.6-litre petrol engine had its power curtailed to improve emissions, while the front suspension geometry was altered, new front wheel hubs, brake lines and bearings were fitted, and the electric power steering was refreshed. Good news, because when we drove the 5 before those updates in our Chinese car megatest, we weren’t exactly impressed. 

Wait, give me a quick refresher on Omoda’s background…

Ah yes, well given the previous sentence you might have guessed that Omoda is a Chinese brand. It’s actually a sub-division of Chery (which now also sells cars on our shores) and a sister brand to Range Rover admirers Jaecoo. And yes, the British public can’t seem to get enough of them…

Okay, tell me more about the 5.

As well as the petrol and electric versions, there’s now also a hybrid that’s known as the 5 SHS-H. That’s the one you see in the images up above, with all three 5s getting slightly different styling at the front to differentiate them.

The pure petrol is perhaps the most visually arresting with its blingy grille, but the rest of the design doesn’t stray too far from the generic crossover mould. You do get LED lights on all variants though, and there’s the option of two-tone paint, plus 17, 18 or 19in wheels depending on spec.

How much power are we talking?

Not that much. After its update the 1.6-litre turbo four-pot in the entry level ICE 5 now makes just 145bhp and 203lb ft of torque. That means the 0-62mph sprint is more of a leisurely jog, taking a full 10.1 seconds.

The hybrid is a little more potent, with a 1.5-litre petrol engine and an electric motor combining for 221bhp and 218lb ft. That drops the 0-62mph time to 7.9 seconds.

We’ll focus on those that run on dino-juice in this review, but you can click these words here to find out all about the electric E5.

What is it going up against?

The 5 is here to rival established bestsellers like the Nissan Qashqai and the Kia Sportage, but every manufacturer has a medium-sized crossover these days, so we’re sure Omoda won’t be fussy about where it gets its buyers from.

How much does it cost?

Great question, because Omoda is undercutting those aforementioned rivals by a huge chunk. The petrol-powered 5 starts at just £24,040, while the hybrid isn’t that much more at £25,755. Even the MG HS can't compete with those numbers. Click through to the Buying tab of this review for more detail. 

We can see why Omoda has shifted plenty of cars since it first launched on our shores with the 5. The design is fairly inoffensive, and you get an impressive amount of kit for not very much money, particularly if you’re paying monthly.

Unfortunately, you also get a car without any real dynamic ability or refinement, and if you go for the pure petrol then you’ll be spending a good chunk of the cash you thought you’d saved on fuel. Oops!