The JAECOO J8 promises to take the fight to premium brands like BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo.
Chery Malaysia today previewed the JAECOO brand for our market with two SUV models – the J7 and J8 put on display. In this article, we’re looking at the J8, the larger and more expensive of the two.
What Is The Jaecoo J8?
The Jaecoo J8, also known as the Jaecoo 8 is large SUV – around the size of the Kia Sorento. It can be configured as a 5-seater or a 7-seater and the model previewed today was the former.
Bumper-to-bumper, it’s 4815mm long and at 1924mm wide and 1710mm tall, we’re dealing with a vehicle that’s about as large as you’d want it to be on Malaysian infrastructure.
In terms of its platform and underpinnings, the Jaecoo J8 shares the fundamental building blocks of the recently released Chery Tiggo 8 Pro.
That means you get a 2.0L turbocharged 4-cylinder petrol engine mated to a 7-speed DCT. Performance figures have yet to be disclosed but you can expect it to match what premium SUVs are offering in their mid range products.
Unlike the Chery Tiggo 8 Pro, which is a mass market product competing against existing Japanese and Korean makes, the Jaecoo J8 is being positioned as a premium product that takes on the European premium marques while offering an unmatchable price.
Chery is already offering more equipment than the competition for a lower price, so to distinguish itself, the Jaecoo J8 has flush door handles, twin curved displays, magnetic suspension, a 10-airbag 360-degree safety system and goes as far as using 85% high strength steel in its chassis.
Jaecoo, A New Brand With No History
Of course, it still has an uphill battle to fight. For one, it’s a Chinese brand, and Malaysians have only started to show acceptance of some Chinese brands when the price is right. The other thing is that it’s an all-new brand with no history and no electrified products. Jaecoo is so new and unknown that Malaysian buyers might even struggle to find any solid information on the brand or its products online.
Still, Chery Malaysia are very serious about bringing some serious competition to existing premium marques with Jaecoo. Expect to see independent Jaecoo showrooms and the possibility of local assembly. We’re not sure what pricing will be like, but knowing Chery, we’ll be in for a surprise.
We personally expected the Tiggo 8 Pro to come in at RM180,000 but its launch price was about 10% lower than our estimate. We anticipate this product might come in at RM260,000 but let’s wait and see.
