Ten years after its inception as the first automotive startup in China, the near-premium brand Qoros is getting serious about expanding its portfolio?and has started sharing platforms with Chery, a Chinese mass-market brand that owns 50 percent of Qoros (the other half is owned by the Singapore-based investment firm Kenon). Qoros introduced the Young, a new entry-level crossover SUV, at the Chengdu auto show last week.
At 177 inches long, the Young is just slightly shorter than a Honda CR-V or a Mazda CX-3; power comes from a turbocharged 1.5-liter inline-four rated at about 150 horsepower and mated to a six-speed dual-clutch gearbox. That’s the only available powertrain, which makes sense: The Qoros Young will be priced significantly below the other Qoros models, and the company wouldn’t want the new model to cannibalize the more upmarket offerings. While all other Qoros models are built on a stand-alone platform designed with input from Austrian engineering house Magna Steyr, the Young shares its platform and many components with the Chery Tiggo 7. It is also built in a Chery production plant?but to Qoros-specific quality requirements, meaning to a more rigid standard than the Chery-badged models.

From its looks, you couldn’t tell the Qoros Young and the Chery Tiggo 7 are related; styled under former Mini chief designer Gert Hildebrand, the new Qoros looks powerful, masculine, and remarkably upscale both inside and out. While Qoros borrows a Chery pla...