New MG S9 vs Chery Tiggo 8: can it beat the reigning Car of the Year? Mat Watson finds out

When I awarded the Chery Tiggo 8 Carwow Car of the Year for 2026, I didn’t think anything would come close in terms of value. The new MG S9 is giving it a run for its money though, offering even more space for the same price.

I’ve thoroughly tested both of these cars, and now I’m going to decide whether the Chery Tiggo 8 is still deserving of its crown, or if the MG has knocked it off its perch.

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New MG S9 vs Chery Tiggo 8: prices and deals

Let’s start by talking about the price, because that’s going to be one of the main deciding factors between these two cars.

The new MG S9 starts from £34,210, and you can save an average of over £4,000 on one through Carwow at the time of writing. Given it’s only available with a plug-in hybrid engine, that’s really cheap.

You can get a Chery Tiggo 8 with the basic petrol engine for £28,545, but in the interest of fairness I’ll be comparing it to the plug-in hybrid version. It’s the one to have anyway, because the petrol engine is pretty thirsty.

A Tiggo 8 PHEV starts from £33,545, but through Carwow you can save almost £4,300 at the time of writing. There’s not much in it, but the Chery is the cheapest – and this theme continues with leasing.

You can lease a Chery Tiggo 8 PHEV over three years and 30,000 miles for £289 per month at the time of writing, and this is with an initial payment of £3,819, bringing the total over the length of the lease to £13,943.

On the same terms, the MG S9 will cost you £394 per month with a £5,071 upfront payment. This brings the three-year total to £18,848, significantly more than the Tiggo 8.

New MG S9 vs Chery Tiggo 8: interior and standard equipment

The Tiggo 8 may be cheaper, but what exactly are you getting for your money?

All cars come with adaptive cruise control, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a 360-degree camera system and wireless phone charging. An extra £3,000 adds heated and ventilated front and rear seats, a Sony stereo, a head-up display and a heated steering wheel.

The MG S9 is also generously equipped. You get heated seats, an opening panoramic glass roof, a power tailgate, interior ambient lighting and a 360-degree camera. For an extra £2,700 you can add a hands-free opening tailgate, heated, ventilated and massaging front seats and a Bose sound system.

As for the cabins themselves, the MG feels impressively posh. I like the multi-layered dashboard, and the materials in your direct eyeline look and feel premium. If you dig down to the lower dashboard you’ll find some cheap plastics, but for the price it’s still impressive.

The infotainment system isn’t so good though. You have a 12.3-inch touchscreen, but the graphics are a bit dark and the menus are pretty complex. At least you do get some proper buttons for the climate control, something the Chery does without.

Speaking of the Chery, I reckon it has an even nicer interior. I like the brushed metal trims on the dashboard, and it feels more solid than the MG. For a car costing half as much as an Audi Q7, it doesn’t feel it inside.

The 15.6-inch touchscreen is also much nicer to use than the MG’s. It’s bright, clear and responsive, with easy menus and loads of options to customise the layout.

It’s close between these cars, but I reckon the Chery has the nicer interior.

New MG S9 vs Chery Tiggo 8: space and practicality

The MG S9 is cavernous inside. For the money, I reckon this is the most practical car you can buy.

There’s acres of space in the middle row, with a flat floor, loads of legroom and plenty of shoulder space for three people. You can even get adults in the very back with ease, providing you slide the seats in front forward a tad. This is a car you can ferry seven people around in easily.

The Tiggo 8 is almost as impressive, but not quite. Space in the middle row is about on-par, but the third row is tighter for adults. Going seven-up is doable, but it’s not as comfortable as the MG – especially for the person in the middle seat.

With all seven seats in place, the Chery has an underwhelming 117 litres of boot space. That’s 215 litres less than the MG, and with the third row folded down the MG has a whopping 1,026 litres of space – besting the Chery by over 300 litres.

Whichever way you slice it, the MG S9 is the more practical car here.

New MG S9 vs Chery Tiggo 8: engines and driving

There’s only one engine to choose from in the MG S9: a 1.5-litre petrol plug-in hybrid with 299hp and 62 miles of all-electric range. It’s a smooth, powerful system, with the engine cutting in and out almost seamlessly.

The plug-in hybrid Tiggo 8 also has a 1.5-litre petrol engine, but it’s down on power compared to the MG with 204hp on tap. It’s still more than fast enough for a car like this though, and you get 56 miles of electric range.

Out on the road, neither car is going to put a smile on the face of a petrolhead. They both feel pretty numb from behind the wheel, although the MG does go around corners a bit better than the Chery. It just feels more planted and predictable.

The S9 is also whisper-quiet on the motorway, making it a relaxing car to cover long distances in. The Chery is slightly louder at speed, and it’s not as comfortable over bumps, but it’s not bad enough to put me off at this price point.

The MG S9 is the better car to drive out of these two, but if you’re looking for a properly comfortable seven-seater at this price then you might want to check out a used Volvo XC90 instead.

Mat’s final verdict

So where does this leave us? Well the MG S9 is the best-value SUV I’ve driven in 2026 so far. When you consider it costs less than a basic Skoda Kodiaq, comes with more standard kit and is more spacious, it starts to look really tempting.

However, the Chery Tiggo 8 is even cheaper still, and while it falls behind the MG on interior space and comfort, I don’t think it’s far enough behind to warrant spending extra on the MG.

So right now, the Chery Tiggo 8 is the better buy. However, keep an eye out for deals on both the models when you come to change your car, because ultimately I think you should just buy whichever car is cheapest.

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