SA one of first markets in the world to get Jaecoo
CHINA'S Jaecoo car brand has officially announced it is entering the domestic market with its first SUV, the J7 arriving in early 2024.
South Africa will be one of the first countries in the world to welcome Jaecoo, as the company itself is quite young, having made its global debut at the Shanghai Auto Show in China in April.
It doesn’t just have high aspirations with no foundation to back it up, though.
Jaecoo is an independent sub-brand of the wellestablished Chery that focuses on 'urban offroad SUVs' with a slogan that reads 'From Classic, Beyond Classic'.
Jaecoo forms part of Chery’s O&J brands, with the O standing for Omoda, which entered the local luxury crossover market in April.
The name is a fusion of the German word 'jäger' (meaning 'hunter') and the English term 'cool' “... capturing two elements central to the brand’s philosophy: outdoor adventure and urbanism,” says Tony Liu, executive deputy GM for Omoda and Jaecoo.
The J7 and other upcoming products will be sold and supported by a dedicated network of O&J dealerships, with 30 already established across South Africa.
The organisation plans to expand this to a network of 50 dealers by the end of 2024, said Liu.
Specifications
Details about the new Jaecoo J7 are still thin on the ground, considering the nameplate itself is barely six months old, but the company has shared a few key details about the SUV.
The J7 will be a midsized vehicle capable of comfortably seating five adults.
Judging from Chery’s larger Tiggo SUVs that sit on the same T1x platform as the Jaecoo, the newcomer will be in the region of 4.5 - 4.7m long, around 1.8m wide, and 1.7m high.
The particular example of the J7 revealed to the press in China saw a 1.6 litre, turbocharged petrol plant married with a seven-speed automatic transmission, the same setup as in the Tiggo 7 Pro Max and Tiggo 8 Pro, doling out 137kW and 275Nm, according to a hands-on test by The Citizen.
The automaker confirmed that South Africans will have two-wheel-drive and allwheel-drive specifications, and that the J7 will boast its proprietary All Road Drive Intelligent System (ARDIS) with a total of seven drive modes: Eco, Mud, Normal, Off-road, Sand, Snow and Sport.
It’s unclear the types of equipment and features that the new J7 will be kitted out with in the local market.
Thus far, the manufacturer said it will provide a 14.8inch, vertically-positioned touchscreen for media and vehicle functions, as well as “...remarkable safety features and forwardthinking intelligent technologies”.
The model at the
Shanghai Auto Show also had such items as a digital driver display, a heads-up display, a 50W wireless charger, 64-colour rhythmic ambient lighting, leather upholstery, and Matrix LED headlights – and it is safe to assume that these will also be available in South Africa, but probably not on every version of the SUV.
“More details and local specifications will be released closer to the J7’s launch next year,” said Liu.