Yet another new name for Australian buyers to grapple with, Jaecoo is one of three
sub-brands from the Chinese Chery brand.
Chery is the leading exporter of Chinese vehicles worldwide with Australian sales
more than tripling over the past 12 months.
Marketed as the group’s premium brand, Jaecoo was launched here in March 2025
with the J7, a mid-sized SUV powered by either petrol or plug-in hybrid powertrains.
It was joined recently by our test vehicle, the J8 family-size SUV. Although they are
built on different platforms, they do share many of the same design elements, most
noticeable being what Chery describes as its Waterfall Grille with 20 vertical chrome
and piano black bars and the Jaecoo name in the centre.
The J8 differs also in that it only comes with a single power option, a 2.0-litre
turbocharged petrol engine although it seems likely that a PHEV will follow.
Although J8 is significantly larger in all dimensions than the J7 both are five-seaters.
It’s highly likely that a third row will be added later to allow it to compete against
similarly-sized vehicles like the Hyundai Santa Fe, Nissan X-Trail, Kia Sorento and
Toyota Kluger.
Jaecoo J8 comes with two variants, the Track 2WD priced at $49,990 and the AWD
$54,990 Ridge. Both prices are driveaway.
STYLING
Chery’s design team, headed by a former Mercedes-Benz stylist, have done an
impressive job with its two Jaecoo vehicles. Both have an understated but stylish
appearance, one that proved to be real head-turners wherever we drove, invariably
followed by the need to explain that Jaecoo was the upmarket version of the Chinese
carmaker Chery.
The 320mm extra length of the J8 over the J7 is the most obvious difference
between the two siblings with its stretched, slightly tapering roofline just crying out for
that extra row of seats.
There’s LED lighting all round, both external and internal, with a light bar connecting
the tail lights
INTERIOR
The quality and premier feel of the Jaecoo J8 extends into the cabin.
The front seats are heated and ventilated with massage function and 4-way lumbar
support. The Ridge variant adds heating and ventilation to outer second row seats.
The driver gets an eight-way powered seat with extended thigh support, 4-way
lumbar support and memory function. The front passenger has 6-way power
adjustment.
The rear seats get their own air conditioning controls and a folding centre armrest.
There’s even an in-built fragrance system in the Ridge that uses replaceable
cartridges, located below the dashboard to release a choice of scents of through the
interior of the vehicle.
One feature that we haven’t encountered are speakers built into the front seat
headrests. We received a few phone calls during our test – backseat drivers indeed !
Boot space is a huge 738 litres expandable to a van-like 2021 litres with the rear
seatbacks folded. Note that these measurements are to the roof
Both variants come with a full-sized spare wheel.
ENGINES / TRANSMISSIONS
The Jaecoo J8 is powered by a 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine that produces
183kW of power and 385Nm of torque from 1750rpm. It is paired with an eight-speed
automatic transmission and comes in either front-wheel drive in the Ridge and all-
wheel drive in the Track.
The engine requires a minimum of 95 RON premium unleaded fuel.
SAFETY
Jaecoo J8 was yet to be tested by ANCAP, however given that it shares all of its
safety features with the J7 which was tested in May 2025 and received the maximum
five-star rating, that would seem to be assured.
Track has eight airbags including front centre and driver’s knee. Ridge adds side
airbags for the outside rear seats.
Both variants get Chery’s advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) package that
includes forward collision warning, autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise
control, traffic jam assist, integrated cruise assist, blind spot detection, rear collision
warning, rear cross traffic alert and braking, lane departure prevention with
emergency lane keeping, driver monitoring system and tyre pressure monitoring.
The Range variant adds extra drive modes, torque vectoring and continuous
damping control.
There are also four lane deviation and three driver inattention/speed limit monitoring
systems. All can be turned off temporarily although, fortunately, they are nowhere
near as intrusive as others we have come across
One thing that impressed us, with both the Jaecoo models that we’ve tested, was
that the vehicle will not move unless the driver’s seatbelt is fastened. Such an
obvious safety but one that very few other manufacturers have adopted. We
understand that ANCAP may add to its testing regime in future.
INFOTAINMENT
In contrast to the portrait format of the Jaecoo J7’s infotainment screen the J8
reverts to the conventional landscape design. The touch screen is 12.3-inch and is
butted up against a driver’s information cluster of the same size to display as a
single, panoramic screen.
Both screens are crisp, clear and easy to access. There’s inbuilt satellite navigation
that can be displayed on both screens.
There are USB-A ports at both front and rear with fast-charge USB-Cs in both
locations. 12-volt power outlets are located in the front and in the boot and there is a
50W wireless charger in both variants.
Audio is through an impressive 14-speaker Sony surround sound system.
Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are both wireless.
DRIVING
There are retractable handles on all four doors that open automatically when the key
fob comes in range. Unlike most other vehicles with such door handles that can be
awkward to open those in the J7 open fully square for easy opening.
Visibility isn’t great with about half of the narrow rear window blocked by the rear
seat headrests. The A-pillar is wide and sharply angled which, together with the large
side mirror, does restrict left-side vision for the driver.
As is rapidly becoming the norm, almost all vehicle functions are accessed through
the touchscreen rather than using physical controls.
While these are among the many important safety features in the vehicle, and no
doubt many drivers will appreciate them, they can be quite intrusive and frequently
require the driver to look at the touchscreen instead of the road ahead.
They can be turned off although with most vehicles they then default back on when
the engine is stopped. Fortunately, with the Jaecoo that’s not the case and, apart
from the driver distraction alert, they remain off until turned on again.
Another problem we found was the location of the gear selector on the right-hand
steering wheel stalk. Typically, that is the location of the right turn indicator or
windscreen wiper controls. On a number of occasions, we inadvertently moved the
vehicle into neutral when we went to use either the indicator or wipers.
The drive experience from the Jaecoo J8 is predictable enough for a large boxy and
relatively heavy vehicle but that applies equally to most vehicles in the medium SUV
field. It does what the typical family owner wants and does it well.
It provides a smooth, quiet and comfortable ride both around town and on the
motorway. Steering is light
Note that, unusually for a relatively large vehicle, J8 does not have any towing rating.
Both variants get an adjustable head-up display.
SUMMING UP
Although the Jaecoo brand doesn’t have the badge prestige of European vehicles of
similar size the J8’s driveaway price starting from just under $50,000 it offers
incredible value for money.
The standard Jaecoo warranty covers eight years and unlimited kilometres.
There’s also 12 months of complimentary roadside assistance, that can be with the
opportunity of extending for the full warranty period provided that the vehicle is
serviced throughout at authorised Jaecoo dealers.
Another Jaecoo initiative is a “Future Price Promise” that guarantees a minimum
resale value subject to specific conditions being met including the aforementioned
servicing criteria.
The Jaecoo J8 certainly gets our nod as one of the best offerings yet from China,
certainly the best SUV. The combination of its, excellent interior space and comfort,
safety equipment and pricing make it well worth checking out.
RATINGS
Looks: 9/10
Performance: 7.5/10
Safety: 8/10
Thirst: 7/10
Practicality: 8/10
Comfort: 8.5/10
Tech: 8/10
Value: 8.5/10
AT A GLANCE
MODEL LINE-UP
Jaecoo J8 Track 2WD: $49,990
Jaecoo J8 Ridge AWD: $54,990
Note: These are driveaway prices and include government or dealer delivery
charges.
SPECIFICATIONS (Jaecoo J8 Ridge 2.0-litre turbo-petrol AWD five-door wagon)
ENGINE:
Configuration: Four cylinders in line
Maximum Power: 183 kW @ 5500 rpm
Maximum Torque: 385 Nm @ 1750-4000 rpm
Fuel Type: 95RON petrol
Combined Fuel Cycle (ADR 81/02): 8.6 L/100km
CO2 emissions: 204 g / km
DRIVELINE: Eight-speed automatic, all-wheel drive
DIMENSIONS, WEIGHT AND CAPACITIES:
Length: 4820 mm
Wheelbase: 2820 mm
Width: 1930 mm
Height: 1710 mm
Turning Circle: 12.6 metres
Kerb Mass: 1890 kg
Fuel Tank Capacity: 65 litres
STANDARD WARRANTY:
Eight years / unlimited kilometres
