Mar 28, 2025 by admin

China’s Chery is going global with its more premium and adventure-focussed Jaecoo spin-off brand, and the latest market it’s set to launch in is Australia.

• 

The first cab off the rank is the Jaecoo J7, which is a mid-sized SUV rival for the likes of the GWM Haval H6, MG HS, and even the mechanically related Chery Tiggo 7 Pro. It also goes up against top-selling models like the Toyota RAV4, Mazda CX-5, and Mitsubishi Outlander. The list of competitors in the enormous mid-sized SUV segment continues to grow seemingly every week.

From launch, there will be four variants of the J7 offered in Australia – two front-wheel drive grades, a single all-wheel drive variant, and a plug-in hybrid flagship. On test here is the Jaecoo J7 Ridge AWD, which is priced competitively at $42,990 drive-away and is the top-spec purely internal-combustion variant.

The Jaecoo J7 is built on Chery’s T1X platform, which underpins the likes of the Chery Omoda 5, Tiggo 7 Pro and Tiggo 8 Pro Max.

While you might think the J7 will be sold and serviced at Chery dealers, think again. Chery Australia is now aligning our market with various other global markets by introducing a range of standalone Omoda Jaecoo dealers. Yes, that’s right: Omoda is also set to launch here as a third Chery brand.

WATCH: Paul’s video review of the 2025 Jaecoo J7 Track 2WD

Initially, there will be between 30 to 40 new Omoda Jaecoo dealers, and not all of them will also be Chery dealers.

The Jaecoo brand is launching in Australia with an eight-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, along with eight years of capped-price servicing, and up to eight years of roadside assistance.

Ahead of first customer deliveries of the Jaecoo J7 commencing in the first week of May, we got the chance to experience the J7 AWD and J7 SHS plug-in hybrid on local soil.

How much does the Jaecoo J7 cost?

There is only one all-wheel drive Jaecoo J7 variant offered at launch. It’s priced from $42,990 drive-away.

• 

Model	Drive-away pricing
Jaecoo J7 Core 2WD	$34,990
Jaecoo J7 Track 2WD	$37,990
Jaecoo J7 Ridge AWD	$42,990
Jaecoo J7 SHS Summit	$47,990

To see how the Jaecoo J7 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool

What is the Jaecoo J7 like on the inside?

Combustion-powered versions of the Jaecoo J7 have a different look to the J7 SHS plug-in hybrid, both on the outside and inside. With the latter, it’s more blocky and the finishes appear tactile and robust.

• 

There is also more physical switchgear for things like adjusting the side mirror position, though a volume knob or physical climate control cluster wouldn’t go astray. These are missing across the entire J7 range.

It’s easy to hop in and out of this vehicle, thanks to the lifted ride height that’s synonymous with crossover SUVs. You step across into the vehicle rather than hopping up or down, which is why some many people with limited mobility like these kinds of cars.

Once you’re in, there’s a commanding driving position that feels perched. It’s a little high for my liking, even in its lowest setting, but a lot of people like the feel of a high driving position.

As standard, the J7 range comes with leatherette-trimmed seats, which have an inoffensive design. The driver’s seat has six ways of power adjustment, which is good, but it lacks any adjustable thigh support. This means the seat feels a little flat, which is a common trait with a number of Chinese cars.

There are four directions of power lumbar support, however, which is great if you’ve got a crook back and need to have the seat set up in a particular way to alleviate pain on longer drives.

• 

• 

Both the front seats offer both heating and ventilation, the latter of which got a good workout in the muggy Sydney weather.

Ahead of the driver is a leatherette-wrapped steering wheel which has a similar design to several other Chery models. It’s a nice unit to hold, though the piano black panels over the physical buttons get grimy very quickly. I wish these were matte finished instead because they wouldn’t look scratched when wiped clean.

The steering wheel in this all-wheel drive variant is heated. It’s the only model in the range to have this feature.

Behind the steering wheel is a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster, which is clear and easy to read. There are minimal adjustments that can be made to it, but it always displays the critical content prominently.

On the dashboard, there’s a head-up display, which is bright and great to have. It shows information like the current speed clearly, so you don’t need to take your eyes too far from the road ahead.

• 

Moving across, there’s the clear centrepiece of the cabin, the portrait-oriented touchscreen infotainment system. In the J7 Ridge AWD, it’s a larger 14.8-inch unit than what the front-wheel drive variants get. It looks humongous in the car and immediately draws your eye when you hop in.

The native user interface can take a little bit to get used to but, once you’ve acquainted yourself with it, it’s fairly easy to navigate. As I mentioned above, it’d be nice if there was more physical switchgear because using the touchscreen isn’t always the most intuitive when on the move.

Having said that, there is a swipe-down control centre-like menu that allows you to quickly change a range of key multimedia functions like the volume and screen brightness. This menu can also be customised with a range of shortcut buttons that quickly allow you to turn off some safety systems, like the driver attention monitor, if it frustrates you.

There’s also a swipe-up menu interface for the climate controls, which can be accessed while in smartphone mirroring.

As standard, the J7 range comes with both wired and wireless forms of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. With my iPhone 15 Pro Max connected wirelessly, I didn’t experience any dropouts whatsoever during the launch. The connection process was also surprisingly snappy, and with the full-screen integration it looks fantastic.

• 

Thankfully, to complement the wireless smartphone mirroring, there’s a wireless phone charger. It’s ventilated, so your phone won’t overheat like it can in other cars with wireless chargers. This means your phone actually charges.

Looking around the cabin, there are a lot of soft-touch surfaces in high touch-point areas, like the armrests and dashboard. You have to look hard to find harder, scratchier plastics, but they are there. It’s also airy thanks to the standard panoramic glass sunroof that has a portion that can vent and open.

While the physical switchgear is minimal, what is present looks purposeful and chunky. This goes for the aviation-style gear selector, large round drive mode selector, and also the door pulls.

In terms of amenities up front, there are two cupholders with a phone slot in the middle, an additional phone slot next to the wireless charger, storage under the centre console, and a decently sized glovebox. It’s nothing revolutionary.

What is different, however, is the rear-view mirror, which at first glance looks normal, but when you look closer or properly use it, you’ll see it has concave glass.

• 

This makes it easier to see what’s happening in the second row, but makes it harder to see out the rear window. Using the rear-view mirror is similar to using a camera-based mirror, and it took my eyes a second to adjust to the different depth of field.

After time you do get used to it, but for a lot of the time driving at the launch I defaulted to using the regular side mirrors because they didn’t make my eyes feel funny.

The second row is just as spacious as in other mid-sized SUVs, despite this vehicle being 100mm shorter overall than a RAV4. A lot of Chinese cars prioritise second-row comfort, and the J7 is no exception.

You can easily fit adults behind adults in comfort as the backrest is more reclined by default, allowing for a relaxing seating position. Two adults will be able to fit in the back, though pushing it to three would make things squishy. Kids will be fine, though.

Second-row amenities include air vents mounted on the back of the centre console, USB ports, and a fold-down armrest with cupholders.

• 

Around the back, there’s a power tailgate as standard, which makes a lot of noise and fuss but opens and closes quickly. At least it doesn’t beep incessantly like some cars do (I’m looking at you, Toyota).

The boot space on offer in the J7 AWD is honestly quite small, but there’s a reason for this. Under the boot floor, there’s a full-sized spare wheel, which is fantastic to have and in line with Jaecoo pitching this vehicle as an adventurous model.

These days not many cars like this come with full-sized spare wheels, or a spare wheel at all, so this is a major credit to Jaecoo.

Apart from that, there aren’t many other boot-related amenities besides a light and some cargo hooks. It’s a fairly standard space.

Dimensions	Jaecoo J7 AWD
Length	4500mm
Width	1865mm
Height	1680mm
Wheelbase	2700mm
Cargo capacity	340L (5 seats) 1265L (2 seats)

To see how the Jaecoo J7 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool

What’s under the bonnet?

The Jaecoo J7 AWD is powered by a 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine that’s mated with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission as standard.

• 

Specifications	Jaecoo J7 AWD
Engine	1.6L 4cyl turbo-petrol
Power	137kW @ 5500rpm
Torque	275Nm @ 2000-4000rpm
Transmission	7-speed DCT
Drive type	AWD
Weight (tare)	1628kg
Fuel economy (claimed)	7.8L/100km
Fuel economy (as tested)	6.4L/100km (105km highway/freeway loop)
Fuel tank capacity	57L
Fuel requirement	95 octane premium unleaded
CO2 emissions	181g/km

To see how the Jaecoo J7 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool

How does the Jaecoo J7 drive?

To start up the Jaecoo J7 Ridge AWD, you press a button on the dashboard between the touchscreen infotainment system and steering wheel. Once you do, there’s a sweet petrol engine rev flare, which then settles into a virtually silent idle.

• 

The J7 drives almost identically to the Chery Tiggo 7 Pro, which isn’t surprising because the cars are built on the same platform and share the same powertrain. The only main difference is that this car is available with all-wheel drive for extra security, both on- and off-road.

Setting off, the way the seven-speed dual-clutch auto operates can take a bit of getting used to. It can sometimes flare the revs a fair bit, especially during hill starts, but take-offs are usually smooth, which is rare for dual-clutches.

There’s plenty of power available from the 1.6-litre turbo four, which is made more noticeable by a touchy throttle at low speeds. You need to be careful because in the first few gears as the car can lurch forward a bit more than you might expect, which in built-up traffic can make you jump for the brakes quicker than you’d think.

Thankfully, unlike front-drive versions of the Jaecoo J7, and now also all versions of the Chery Tiggo 7 Pro, this particular J7 has an all-wheel drive system which allows for the power to be put down without wheelspin.

For the most part, the dual-clutch auto will slot up through the gears quickly to keep the revs down low and to minimise fuel consumption. However, this engine is rev-happy and the DCT will effortless row back through numerous gears when required to get the engine revving around or above 3000rpm.

• 

When this happens it doesn’t sound as raucous as some other four-cylinder turbo-petrol engines, but it still feels like the car is working hard. It’s much more settled when driven with lighter throttle inputs and kept within its torque band.

This is an easy car to drive around town thanks to generally compliant suspension, though the steering feels abnormal and artificial regardless of which of the two sensitivity modes you choose from. At low speeds it feels overly assisted and light, whereas at higher speeds it’s too stiff. Goldilocks wouldn’t approve.

As standard, there is an engine idle stop/start system, but during my stint in this car I couldn’t get the system to work at all. For some people this may be seen as a plus.

On the parking front there are both front and rear parking sensors, as well as a surround-view camera which has fairly poor quality. Thankfully, the stitched image of all the cameras is good, but the camera quality is grainy.

Out on the open road the J7 AWD is a fairly competent cruiser and it’ll sing along at 100-110km/h with no worries whatsoever in top gear. The car is also very efficient at higher speeds, as evidenced by my surprising 6.4L/100km as-tested fuel consumption figure.

• 

In the twisties, however, it’s far from a dynamic weapon. Like many crossover SUVs, the J7 has plenty of body roll because it’s softly sprung. Around tighter left-hand corners as a passenger, I almost felt like I was falling into the driver’s side.

Thankfully, the all-wheel drive system limits wheel slip, aided by the proven Continental Premium Contact C tyres fitted as standard on the J7 AWD. Both of these help make the car feel more secure on slippery, twisty roads.

During the launch program we had the chance to take the J7 AWD through its paces off-road. The course wasn’t the most hardcore; in fact it was more like soft-roading.

But it was wet, slippery and a little muddy due to recent rain, so it was a good test to see how the torque-vectoring AWD system works.

In practice, this car is reasonably capable of light-duty off-roading, even if that doesn’t feel like its natural habitat. The car is predominantly front-wheel drive, but will send torque to the rear wheels if it detects slip. There’s even a handy infographic menu on the touchscreen that shows you where torque is being sent across all four wheels.

• 

Compared to the rest of the J7 range, the AWD gets an ‘Off-Road’ drive mode, as well as ‘Snow’, ‘Mud’ and ‘Sand’ drive settings. These change the throttle calibration and sensitivity, as well as the how and when the traction control cuts in.

On the safety front, this car suffers from the same pitfalls as a number of other Chinese vehicles. It has all the safety features under the sun, but some are incessant and annoying to live with.

The adaptive cruise control system is generally fine, though it does leave a generous gap between the car ahead, and will also slam on the brakes when a car cuts in front of you. It also struggles to maintain the set speed, constantly flickering above and below, which is alarming as I can manage my speed a lot better.

The lane-keep assist is okay and doesn’t interact until absolutely necessary, however, the lane centring which works in partnership with the adaptive cruise control is worth avoiding. It’s way too hands-on with its steering inputs, and will ping-pong between lane markings if left to its own devices.

Lastly there’s the driver attention monitor, which is a common pitfall for a number of new vehicles, especially of Chinese origin. But others like the Mitsubishi Triton and Subaru Solterra also have the same problem.

• 

The one in this car is generally happy if you’re actually looking at the road ahead, like you’re supposed to, but the moment you look away it beeps at you. It increases the beep intensity and volume the longer you look away as well.

This is hard when you are basically forced to interact with the humongous touchscreen infotainment system to operate the majority of the car’s key functions.

Thankfully, if the driver attention monitor annoys you too much, you can turn it off via one of the configurable shortcut buttons in the swipe-down control centre menu. Annoyingly, however, you need to do this every time you drive the car as the safety systems default to on.

To see how the Jaecoo J7 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool

What do you get?

Four Jaecoo J7 variants are available at launch. The J7 Ridge AWD is the flagship petrol-only variant, positioned beneath the J7 SHS Summit plug-in hybrid.

• 

• 

• 

• 

2025 Jaecoo J7 Core 2WD equipment highlights:

• 18-inch alloy wheels
• Temporary spare wheel
• Roof rails
• Power-retracting door handles
• Gloss black side mirrors
• Gloss black rear spoiler
• Projector LED headlights
• LED tail-lights
• Rear fog light
• 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster
• 13.2-inch touchscreen infotainment system
• Wired and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
• 6-speaker sound system
• Intelligent voice assistant
• Satellite navigation
• AM/FM/DAB+ radio
• Front and rear USB-A and USB-C ports
• Manual air-conditioning
• Electronic gear shifter
• Premium steering wheel
• Synthetic leather upholstery
• 6-way power driver’s seat
• 4-way power front passenger seat

J7 Track 2WD highlights:

• Rain-sensing wipers
• Acoustic glass windscreen
• Power tailgate
• 50W wireless charger
• 8-speaker Sony sound system
• Dual-zone climate control
• Colour-selectable interior ambient lighting
• Illuminated vanity mirrors
• Heated front seats
• Power child safety locks
• Boot 12V power outlet

• 

• 

J7 Ridge AWD highlights:

• 19-inch alloy wheels
• Full-sized spare wheel
• Red brake calipers
• Panoramic glass sunroof
• Privacy glass
• Puddle lights
• 14.8-inch touchscreen infotainment system
• Head-up display
• Alloy pedals
• Auto-dimming rear-view mirror
• Heated steering wheel
• Perforated synthetic leather upholstery
• Ventilated front seats
• 4-way power driver’s seat lumbar
• Driver seat and mirror position memory

To see how the Jaecoo J7 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool

Is the Jaecoo J7 safe?

The Jaecoo J7 hasn’t been crash-tested by ANCAP or Euro NCAP yet.

• 

Standard safety equipment includes:

• Autonomous emergency braking
• Adaptive cruise control
• Blind-spot monitoring
• Driver monitoring system
• Lane departure warning
• Emergency Lane Keeping assist
• Lane centring
• Lane change assist
• Rear cross-traffic alert
• Reversing camera
• Rear parking sensors
• Traffic Jam Assist
• Tyre pressure monitoring system
• 7 airbags

J7 Track 2WD adds:

• Surround-view camera
• Front parking sensors
• Driver’s knee airbag (total of 8 airbags)

J7 Ridge AWD adds:

• Built-in dashcam

To see how the Jaecoo J7 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool

How much does the Jaecoo J7 cost to run?

The Jaecoo J7 is covered by an eight-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty with 12 months of roadside assistance as standard. If you service at Omoda Jaecoo dealers when required, free roadside assistance can be extended for an additional seven years.

• 

Servicing and Warranty	Jaecoo J7 AWD
Warranty	8 years, unlimited kilometres
Roadside assistance	12 months (up to 8 years service-activated)
Service intervals	12 months, 15,000km
Capped-price servicing	8 years
Total capped-price service cost	$3322
Average capped-price service cost	$415

To see how the Jaecoo J7 lines up against the competition, check out our comparison tool

CarExpert’s Take on the Jaecoo J7

Chery already offers a flurry of SUVs in Australia, but the first one from its new Jaecoo sister brand grabs your attention with its Range Rover-esque looks, eye-catching starting price, and generous aftersales provisions.

• 

While many people likely won’t realise the Jaecoo J7 is essentially a reworked Chery Tiggo 7 Pro with different styling, they likely won’t care.

The former has a much more commanding presence and more soft interior touches, which denotes its more premium positioning. Plus the humongous portrait touchscreen infotainment system is a huge talking point.

Even though the J7 and Tiggo 7 Pro look different, there’s no disguising how similar they are under the skin. Sure, there’s an AWD variant available in the Jaecoo that allows it to be surprisingly capable off-road, but its dual-clutch automatic behaves the same way in traffic as the Chery, the turbo-petrol engine is just as rev-happy, and it gets the leans up just as much in the bends.

We look forward to seeing whether Australians will actually notice whether Jaecoo is different to Chery, given they’re going to be sold separately in Omoda Jaecoo dealerships. Right now everything seems promising, but only time will tell how warmly Aussies embrace the brand into the future.

• 

Interested in buying a Jaecoo J7? Get in touch with one of CarExpert’s trusted dealers here

Click the images for the full gallery

MORE: Everything Jaecoo J7