Omoda will become NZ’s newest car brand when it arrives in 2024

Kiwis will be spoilt for choice when New Zealand’s newest car brand arrives in the first half of next year with an all-new SUV under the Omoda nameplate.

The Chinese carmaker’s arrival comes six months after it landed in Australia, where the Omoda 5 has sold 4513 units to date.

When the model lands on our shores, it will be offered with both a petrol and electric drivetrain, including a turbocharged 1.5- and 1.6-litre petrol engine in the C5 variant, while the EV model is called the E5.

The petrol-powered SUV’s design differs slightly from the EV’s, with the latter featuring a more angular front end, closed-off grille, different headlights, and what looks to be a charge port.

Little else was mentioned about the internal combustion engines’ performance figures, but Omoda did mention that the EV achieves an energy consumption of 15kWh per 100km and can travel up to 450km on a single charge.

Speaking of charging, a DC fast charger is capable of juicing up the E5’s battery from zero to 80 per cent in 35 minutes or less.

The Omoda 5 will also arrive with a five-star safety rating courtesy of the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP), a result owed to its safety and driver assistance features like autonomous emergency braking (AEB) and emergency lane keep assist (ELK).

Pricing and specification have yet to be outlined for the Omoda C5 and E5, but the model will go on sale in the first half of 2024.