New Jaecoo 7 family SUV revealed: upmarket off-roader costs less than £30,000
New petrol and plug-in hybrid family SUV combines tech-laden interior with lashings of equipment and off-road ability...
On sale now | Price from £29,435
Hunter-cool. That’s what Chinese brand Jaecoo’s name stands for in English, and whether or not you end up thinking it lives up to that moniker or not, it’s hard to argue against the sheer size of the new Jaecoo 7 SUV.
Jaecoo is one of two brands created by Chinese car giant Chery in 2022 to take a slice of the European and UK car market. And Jaecoo’s first offering aims to show that it’s ready for both on and off-road adventures.
With a premium looking interior and a sloping roofline that’s very reminiscent of a Range Rover Evoque, it’s obvious that Jaecoo hopes to take sales from this British brand. However, with prices starting as low as £29,435, it’s also taking aim at mainstream models, such as the Kia Sportage and Nissan Qashqai. It undercuts the Qashqai on entry-level pricing and is less than £100 more than the cheapest Sportage.
At launch, the Jaecoo 7 is available as a petrol and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) with a choice of two and four-wheel drive. The range starts with a two-wheel drive model with a 145bhp 1.6-litre turbo petrol engine that has official economy of 37.7mpg.
This engine is also offered as a four-wheel drive, priced from £32,850. The 4WD variant has seven driving modes, including sand, mud, snow and off-road, and is claimed to have significant off-road capabilities.
It has a Bosch-developed power brake system that simulates a differential lock. This locks the vehicle's front and rear axles to provide equal power to all wheels and make them spin at the same speed, improving grip on mud, snow and other low traction surfaces. It also has a wading depth of 600mm, which is far more than a Qashqai or Sportage, but not as good as the 900mm of an Evoque.
The Jaecoo 7 PHEV pairs a 1.5-litre turbo petrol engine with a 18.3 kW total capacity battery. It has a total output of 201bhp and an official all-electric range of 56 miles, which is better than the 43 miles of a Sportage PHEV and the 39 miles of an Evoque. This version of the Jaecoo 7 costs from £35,065. It has an official range of 745 miles and a combined fuel economy figure of 403mpg, and can achieve 47mpg once the battery has been depleted.
Equipment levels on all versions are impressive, with standard kit including a 14.8in infotainment touchscreen alongside a 10.25in driver’s display and a head-up display. Wireless mobile phone charging, an eight-speaker Sony audio system and a panoramic roof are also available.
The Jaecoo 7 gained a full five-star rating in Euro NCAP crash testing. It has a suite of advanced driver-assistance (ADAS) technologies, and a 540-degree panoramic camera system that provides a transparent view of the car’s surroundings.
Like other new brands to the UK, Jaecoo offers a longer than average new car warranty. The seven-year, 100,000-mile cover matches that of Kia and offers a higher mileage limit than that provided by MG and Dacia.
It’s too early to say what the 7 will be like to drive, but Jaecoo says it has undergone extensive re-engineering at Chery’s R&D centre in Germany to ensure it meets European and UK driving requirements.
The Jaecoo 7 sits on the same underpinnings as the Omoda 5, the first European model launched by the Chery group in May 2024. The Omoda 5 is more of a budget offering than Jaecoo, majoring on practicality and high levels of standard equipment.
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