For years, the arrival of Chinese car brands in Britain was treated as something of a curiosity. There would be talk about low prices, huge screens and long equipment lists, followed by the usual question: yes, but are they really any good? That question is getting harder to ask with a straight face.The latest car to make the point rather neatly is the Chery Tiggo 4, which I’ve spent some time in recently. While it is far from perfect, I came away thinking that cars like this must be giving the established names a fairly serious headache. Why? Because the Chery Tiggo 4 is not just cheap, it is astonishingly good value.The entry-level Aspire costs £19,995. The range-topping Summit I drove costs £21,995. That is a remarkably low price for a compact hybrid SUV in 2026, but it is the amount of kit you get for the money that really makes you stop and look.Even the £19,995 Aspire gets a properly modern cabin with twin 12.3-inch digital screens, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a rear-view camera, keyless entry with remote start, heated door mirrors and a voice-control system that Chery calls “Hello Chery”. It also gets a seven-airbag safety package and a long list of driver-assistance systems, including adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking, blind-spot detection, lane-departure warning and rear collision warning.Trust me, that is not the sort of specification you would expect to find on a car sitting below £20,000.Sign up for Steve Fowler’s DriveSmart newsletter hereMove up to the Summit and you get eco-leather upholstery, a 360-degree camera system, privacy glass, an electrically adjustable driver’s seat and cooled wireless phone charging. It rides on 17-inch alloy wheels, gets LED lighting and feels like a car that has been deliberately loaded with the things buyers now expect, rather than one where every useful feature has been held back for a more expensive trim level. And that is where the pressure starts to build for the legacy car makers. Take Britain’s best-selling car, the Ford Puma. It is a very good small SUV and its popularity is completely understandable. It is fun to drive, neat to look at, practical and comes from a brand with a dealer network that used to be on every other roundabout (although there could well be a Chery, BYD or MG dealer these days). However, the Puma starts at £27,145. That is more than £5,000 above the Tiggo 4 Summit and more than £7,000 above the entry-level Chery. The Volkswagen Taigo starts at £24,985. It has the reassurance of a Volkswagen badge and a smart enough coupe-SUV shape, but it is still nearly £3,000 more expensive than the top-spec Chery before you start comparing what is included as standard. Then there is the Renault Captur, which gets closer on price at £22,495. It is a good-looking little SUV, with a clever interior and a more established European feel. But even there, the Chery offers a stronger equipment list, a hybrid system and a longer warranty for less money.The Tiggo 4 comes with a seven-year, 100,000-mile warranty, plus an eight-year, 100,000-mile warranty on its hybrid battery. For buyers tempted by a newer name, that is a reassuring part of the deal. Chery knows people may be wary of putting their money into an unfamiliar badge, so it is clearly trying to make the ownership package as hard to resist as the price.There is also the fuel economy. Chery claims 53.2mpg on the official combined cycle, which would already be respectable for a small hybrid SUV. But I got close to 70mpg in everyday use. That is genuinely impressive. And because this is a full hybrid rather than a plug-in hybrid, there is no cable, no charger and no need to remember to plug it in each night. You just get in, drive it and let the system do its thing.Chery Tiggo 4 (PA)For plenty of buyers, that will be exactly what they want. There are people who like the idea of lower fuel bills and some electric assistance, but who are not ready to go fully electric and do not want the bother of charging. The Tiggo 4 gives them an easy route in.Of course, it is not the finished article in every respect. The ride and handling are fine, but they are not quite as sophisticated as the best European alternatives. The Ford Puma is much sharper and more enjoyable to drive, while the Renault Captur has more of that settled, easy-going feel on British roads. The Tiggo 4 gets the job done, but it does not have the final layer of polish that comes from decades of building cars specifically for this market.My test Tiggo also had a small rattle from the dashboard. It was not enough to spoil the experience, but it was noticeable. It is the sort of detail that Chery will need to get on top of quickly if it wants to turn early interest into long-term trust. The styling will divide opinion, too. The Tiggo 4 is smart enough, tidy enough and absolutely acceptable, but it is not the freshest-looking small SUV on the road. It is not going to turn many heads, although that may not matter to buyers who simply want a practical family car that looks respectable outside the school gates or supermarket. But when you look at the whole package, it is difficult not to be impressed. For £21,995, the Tiggo 4 Summit gives you a hybrid SUV with a very healthy amount of standard equipment, proper digital technology, a 360-degree camera, a strong safety package, a lengthy warranty and fuel economy that can get close to 70mpg in real-world driving.At just under £20,000, the Aspire looks even more disruptive.And that is the real issue for Ford, Volkswagen, Renault and the rest. Whether it was with the arrival of the Japanese brands in the 1970s or Korean companies in the 1990s, buyers have traditionally accepted that a familiar badge costs a little more. They have paid for the dealer network, the reassurance, the driving polish and the confidence that comes with buying a car from a brand they have known for years. But the price gap is getting harder to justify.When a Chinese newcomer can offer this much equipment, this much warranty cover and this much efficiency for thousands less, it is no surprise that consumers are starting to lap it up. The Tiggo 4 may not be the best small SUV to drive. It may not be the most stylish. And it is not flawless. But for value, it is in a different league.And for the legacy car makers, that is a very uncomfortable place for China’s new car brands to be.Sign up for the DriveSmart newsletterTo get the latest motoring insights from EV editor Steve Fowler delivered straight to your inbox, simply enter your email address in the box at the top of this page.Each edition of DriveSmart offers clear, expert guidance on the fast-moving world of electric vehicles and modern motoring, from trusted reviews and practical tips to the biggest industry news of the week.You can also head to our newsletter preference centre to sign up for the email.