Another new mid-size SUV from China with a competitive price-tag, interesting looks and lots of tech … but, hey, where’s the electric involvement?

How much? $37,990.

Powertrain: 1599cc four-cylinder turbocharged petrol, seven-speed dual clutch transmission, 137kW/ 275Nm; front-wheel-drive.

Dimensions: Length, 4500mm; width, 1865mm; height, 1680mm.

We like: A sizeable crossover in the sub-$40k zone; comprehensively kitted; roomy cabin.

Not so much: Not a lot of pizzazz to driving demeanour; usual nutsy ADAS; not rated for towing.

ELECTRIC vehicles are where Chinese brands are focusing; they have the battery processing and production capabilities, and seem able to present products more cheaply than other global manufacturers. 

The past three years have seen a steady influx of battery-involved electrics from that quarter; a fair swag from domestic brands with no brand equity here.

Such as Jaecoo. Or, as I often heard during this test, ‘Jay-who?’ (Quick explanation: Sister brand to Omoda, both owned by Chery, China’s largest car exporter that had a previous short-term pitch to Kiwis in another life).

But, anyway, here’s the Jaecoo J7. It’s different by being the five seater crossover that could have been part of that battery-involved crowd, but isn’t. 

Jaecoo produces the J7 in two drivetrain formats. There’s the pure petrol, which is as New Zealand sees it, and there’s also a plug-in hybrid format; which allies the same engine with dual electric motors, fed by a big battery. It’s also exported in right hand drive, including to the United Kingdom. 

The Brits’ market requirements so closely mirror ours it is not uncommon for NZ to take the same cars that go there. But that hasn’t happened. 

So, for us, it’s this car purely with a conventional ICE choice; seemingly the sole model line from China introduced this year that doesn’t include a battery-involved alternate.

Would it be a stronger headline-maker had it also arrived with low emissions, very sharp economy and 90 kilometres’ pure electric range?

In the here and now, Jaecoo’s distributor might say going ICE only lends a pricing advantage - batteries always carry a premium - and also avoids a headache. 

This year has become a mare for PHEV. The removal of subsidies for sub-$80,000 electrics was a bit of a hit, but the mortal blow to their previously healthy status was the implication of Road User tax in April. Suddenly clear-cut cost advantages fell away. And, with that, so too consumer interest. 

Even so, PHEV is still fundamentally a solid technology for those making the shift away from full-out allegiance to fossil fuels. Also, with international interest in fully EV product also hitting a road bump just now, manufacturers are increasing their PHEV planning. 

Beyond that, with RUCs set to hit full petrol and diesel product next year, the cost versus efficiency imbalance that is noticed right now might again swing back the other way. While all this is going on, the cost of EVs keeps dropping, and there’s no reason why that sector also won’t regain health because, ultimately, it’s the future. Plain and simple.

As a 1.6-litre petrol car, here in as-tested front- and alternate $6000-dearer four-wheel-drive format, the J7 cannot be seen to be at edge of technological advancement, yet is hardly a square peg in a round hole, regardless that it is all but square-edged.

Sure, it competes in a sector dominated by a hybrid, Toyota’s RAV4, and will soon include two like-sized PHEVs from China, yet that category also still contains plenty of other fully ICE opportunities of similar size and similar performance and practicality. 

If cross-shopping and looking for like-priced alternate choices, you’ll have to consider other models from makes that are also on the fringe. The MG HS and Haval H6, the models soon to also go PHEV, are better known now than they were a few years ago, but still aren’t quite mainstream yet. As for the Mahindra XUV? Well, it’s almost India’s J7.

Competitor choices still come from Japan and South Korea, but you spend more for a Toyota, Nissan Qashqai, Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sportage. Suzuki’s Vitara is subject to a discount that makes it lineball with the Jaecoo. But it is a physically smaller car.

Actually, at least half of those models listed above are. It’s reasonable to argue that a slightly generous physical dimension will be a selling point for the J7. Primarily, nonetheless, the promise from this car is based on familiar 101s. 

While it’s fair to suggest Kiwi car buyers aren’t wholly convinced by the merits of going to a Chinese brand - I still hear concerns about political matters, build quality and a lack of familiarity - there’s no argument this fare is being associated with value for money and delivery of more and better technology than normally avails for that spend.  

In respect to that side of things, the brand whose name derives from the German for hunter (‘jaeger’) and the English word ‘cool’  does deliver.

The J7 arrives in two trim levels; the EX and the EX Plus; the latter is the all-wheel-drive car but as both are all but lookalike in external appearance, you’ll likely need to rely in badging to determine which is which. 

The J7 sports traditional SUV looks, with an upright front end and a giant “waterfall” front grille. The stacked front headlight array is just as interesting but seem to do the job well enough.

It’s understandable why those LED tail-lights and clean lines are drawing favourable comparisons with those who like a certain like-sized Solihull-based premium marque. Coincidence? Here’s something you mightn’t know about Chery. The ties it has to Jaguar Land Rover are close, to point it builds the new Freelander just for China.

The EX plus has the fullest gamut of equipment, but those going for the sub-$40k type will hardly be crying penury. 

You get the now mandatory huge centrally-sited portrait formatted touch-screen, reversing camera, different coloured lights inside, a head-up display, adaptive cruise control and a load of safety and driver assist features. Wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, wireless charging, a Sony sound system, a power tailgate and voice commands are generous inclusions for this level of spend.

The quality of materials compares favourably with any other car in this market and though that ambience really isn’t as upmarket as it might appear, but overall Jaecoo has done a good job of building the J7 to a price, while still achieving a decent level of perceived quality. 

Sure, there are cheaper plastics if you go searching, and some glossy surfaces that may scratch up over time, but that’s the case across this part of the market. But it does have some genuinely soft-touch surfaces to offset that. The largest is that cross-hatched textured soft panel across the dash. You have to wonder how UV-resistant it might prove, but in the short-term it’s a pleasant inclusion.

The instrument layout will look good to anyone into minimalism but, as so often the case, there will be some who might well instantly consider the paucity of hard buttons in this cabin to be an unwelcome challenge. 

The display ahead of the driver is a mixed bag; you see all the fundamentals, but much more besides. There’s almost too much information and the small font used for some of it makes it difficult to read with a glance. 

The infotainment touchscreen is friendlier - to a point. As result of it running a very powerful (Snapdragon) processor,  the function-rich smartphone-like interface is very responsive and the display is extremely crisp. Sadly it isn’t quite as intuitive as you might hope and swishing between different menus is required to accomplish some functions. That becomes a bit hit and miss when you’re on the move. 

Some logics aren’t quite that. You want to adjust the climate control? It’s a matter of going into a sub-menu; if the screen is already being dedicated to something else - the audio, for one - it becomes a bit of a faff. Same if you need to switch off some of the safety systems to quell the beeping and bonging every time you approach a white line or new speed limit.

The driver’s seat is generous in size but lets itself down with lack of lower back support. Another issue - shared with the C5 from sister brand Omoda - is that the front passenger seat might prove awkward for tall occupants, as it lacks seat base lowering adjustment facilitated to the driver, who even when sitting low still achieves the slightly higher view that SUV buyers love.

Crossover vehicles live and die on their practicality, and on that level the J7 does fairly well. It has a decent count of thoughtfully-shaped cubbies -one designed to swallow and feed out tissues - and interior space is good enough to make it a decent family car. 

With a couple of six-footers in the front seats, there’s enough room for a couple more in the second row, and only the transmission tunnel in the floor limits the space for a central passenger. Generosity to passenger space means boot capacity is smaller than the class average, with  just 410 litres’ with the rear seats up; a sliding rear bench might have been a good idea. Utility space only looks good when enhancing to a much handier 896 litres with the second-row seats stowed.

Comprehensive driver assists are among ingredients required for optimal NCAP/ANCAP outcomes and the J7 is another product that meets that requirement, with radar/camera-driven active driving assistance systems ticking off lane keeping, traffic sign recognition, adaptive cruise control, and fore and aft crash mitigation features.

All well and good, but as with all China arrivals you have to steel yourself to the technology suite being rather over-zealous. 

With this car it seemed the driver had to be absolutely laser-focused on the road ahead to avoid reprimand. It does irritate when viewed against what’s otherwise a reasonably satisfying driving experience.

In respect to the performance, the 137kW/275Nm 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder is better than some, but hardly the single strongest reason for buy-in. 

The engine itself is by and large smooth just to a point - hit it hard and coarseness comes through - and as much as it feels initially strong as you pull away, it is less of a dragon overall and you will feel its lack of mid-range punch. Still, in all fairness, that’s not going to be an issue for most daily driving tasks and it doesn’t seem overly thirsty, either. 

Provision of a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission will be welcomed by those who prefer to steer well clear of constantly variable transmissions. But it’s not as good as those served up by a certain European specialist, the main issue being that it seems affected by occasional hesitancy. A set of paddles on the steering wheel would alleviate this issue somewhat.

The front-drive has the same 200mm ride height as the AWD and also seems to have retained the same suspension tune, which might intrigue given it’s obviously the more road-focused type. The AWD obviously has a traction edge, but it also has a lot of traction aides, all absent from the dollar-saver choice. So, you know, tread carefully …

The suspension strikes a fairly good balance, but ultimately puts comfort over control. Other than a slightly lumpy feel at low speeds, it rides smoothly and is compliant enough to be unruffled by pocked surfaces. 

On the reverse side, it handles more like an SUV than a slightly-jacked up hatchback; bringing up the pace along a twisting road delivers little enjoyment. 

If you settle back into a more relaxed driving style, that plays to the car’s strengths and slightly pork 1563kg weight, though even then, other elements of driver interaction seem a touch undeveloped. For instance, the steering feel is always just too light and distant. The brake pedal is too heavy. And those 235/55 R18 tyres aren’t going to win ‘grip of the year’. And, unless you really light foot, you can feel the torque steer.

Around town you’ll likely get annoyed with the stop-start intruding overly-abruptly. So here’s a pro tip: Drive the car in its Sport mode. That keeps the engine running at idle and, frankly, the hike in fuel consumption seems negligible. The transmission responsiveness also enhances, of course, but not to point of it feeling feral. It’s just not that kind of car.

On that side of things, there’s really not much about how it acquits to leave impression it gains any particular advantage over the established incumbents, but realistically few of those are overly characterful either.

At end of the day, the J7 being overall okay to drive but nothing more could well be accepted as a small price for a car that fares relatively well for functionality, is well-provisioned and has a decent warranty. It’s also from a parent that knows its business; Chery has been China’s biggest car exporter for the past 20 years, selling nearly 1.9 million cars in 2023 alone.

The pricing position puts it in a sweet spot. The challenge, of course, is simply being noticed when in a category that has no small count of choices and involves all the established name brands.

Plug-in hybrids always carry a premium; in this case it’s highly likely that, with the electric drive, this car couldn’t contain within that sub-$40k zone. But you never really know, do you? Chinese brands always seem to have ways and means of absorbing that cost to point they can still undercut. Either way, when the climate for that tech warms up again, you could imagine a J7 in that format might achieve a higher profile.