- China’s Premium SUV Challenger Has Arrived – Backed by automotive giant Chery, Jaecoo hits Aussie roads with the J7, offering European-inspired design and features without the Euro price tag.
- Built For Australia, Not Just Rebadged – Jaecoo vehicles are locally adapted for Aussie roads and tastes, with suspension, steering, and safety systems explicitly tuned for our conditions.
- More Than A One-Off – With the J8 and more models inbound, Jaecoo isn’t here to test the waters — it’s a long-term push to shake up Australia’s crowded SUV market.
The Australian SUV market is about to get even more interesting with the arrival of Jaecoo, the premium offering from Chinese automotive powerhouse Chery.
While you might not have heard the name yet, this ambitious newcomer has the substance to make waves within the already turbulent new car marketplace.
With the company’s first model Down Under, the J7, officially on sale, we enlisted Peter Matkin, Chery’s Executive Director of Program Management and Vehicle Concepts, for a crash course in Jaecoo.
The J7 Is A Cut Above
Jaecoo represents auto giant Chery’s push into the premium lifestyle space. As Matkin told DMARGE.com, it is a brand aimed at “new elites — a little bit more middle management — looking to set themselves higher.”
In Chery’s brand hierarchy, Jaecoo sits near the top of what Matkin describes as a pyramid: “We have Chery at the bottom, then Omoda, then we have Jaecoo, and then right at the top of this pyramid we have the Exceed, which is our luxury brand.”
Exeed is, for now, a non-starter Down Under. Instead, Jaecoo aims to deliver premium features, styling and driving experience without the premium price tag that typically comes with European badges.
Jaecoo Is Tailored For Australia
Unlike some previous entrants who’ve stumbled by bringing vehicles ill-suited to local tastes and conditions, Jaecoo is taking the Australian market seriously with substantial local adaptation efforts.
“The adaptation is extremely important,” admits Matkin. “Traditionally, we in Chery have been quite fortunate in some of the markets that we’ve exported the cars. We’ve been able to translate the existing China specification into those markets and it works… but in some markets [like Australia] it doesn’t work and you have to do some adaptation work.”
This commitment extends beyond just marketing talk. Chery has invested in a European R&D centre in Frankfurt with 70 engineers working on adapting vehicles for different markets and road conditions.
As Matkin explains, “If you go to Germany, the roads are nice and smooth, lots of money spent, they’re rich enough. In Spain and Italy, [there are] much rougher roads. And then if you get to Eastern Europe, those roads haven’t been maintained for 30 years.”
Says Matkin, this experience in adapting vehicles for Europe’s diverse conditions is now being applied to Australian market Jaecoo models, with focus on suspension, steering and safety systems calibration.
Rapid Response To Feedback
A key advantage of Jaecoo’s Chery parent is the ability to implement changes quickly.
“One key attribute is we’re extremely fast,” Matkin points out. “As soon as we get negative feedback, we have got a whole bunch of engineers now working on this.”
This approach has already paid dividends according to Tim Krieger from Chery Australia, who notes that each vehicle they’ve brought to market has improved on the last. The team currently has around 30 engineers from headquarters working with the Australian team to ensure their vehicles meet local expectations.
More Than A One-Hit Wonder
Released in March and on-sale in May, the J7 marks Jaecoo’s Australian debut. But it’s just the beginning.
“Jaecoo is not going to be a one model wonder,” confirms Krieger. “There’s a whole raft of products that’s going to be made available to us over the course of the next few years.”
The larger J8 SUV is scheduled to arrive in June, with “a couple of other models which we’ll see before the end of the year,” says Krieger.
“We’re not in any of this for the short term,” insists Matkin. “Everything that we’re doing is for the long term. It’s just a constant increase in products in markets, and it’s the same here.”
Jaecoo Is A Brand That’s Worth Watching
For those who’ve grown tired of the same old options, Jaecoo represents something genuinely interesting — a new player with serious backing, premium aspirations, and a commitment to understanding what Australian drivers actually want.
Backed by Chery — China’s number one auto exporter for 21 consecutive years — and protected by an eight-year unlimited-kilometre warranty, Jaecoo isn’t just dipping a toe in the Australian market.
As the automotive landscape continues to evolve, Jaecoo is a name worth keeping an eye on. The new J7 is just the beginning of what could be a significant new presence on Australian roads.
