Chery’s Jaecoo plotting full SUV range and maybe a ute

Chery’s luxury SUV brand Jaecoo will be launched in Australia in the last quarter of this year with both petrol and plug-in hybrid versions of the Jaecoo J7 mid-size SUV, which will be sold via a standalone Jaecoo dealers.

Speaking to carsales at this week’s launch of the Chery Tiggo 8 Pro Max, Chery Australia managing director Lucas Harris confirmed the Jaecoo J7 will arrive in dedicated Jaecoo showrooms before Christmas.

“We’re still on track with Jaecoo. It’ll be sold through a separate [retail] network. Although it’s a related brand, it is a different brand,” he said.

Harris said that while local Chery dealers were keen to take on the Jaecoo franchise, there needed to be separation between Chery and Jaecoo retail outlets.

“We’ve had a lot of interest from our existing partners who are keen to extend the range. If a dealer happens to have Chery and Jaecoo, if that showroom shares a wall that’s OK, but they won’t be in the same space,” he said.

Harris also confirmed the Jaecoo J7 will be released here with a 1.5-litre plug-in hybrid (PHEV) powertrain from launch, in addition to a 1.6-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder (ICE) with seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission in both front- and all-wheel drive guises.

“Hybrid EV is definitely on the cards,” he said. “We’re just working though some testing. Certainly our intention is to have ICE and PHEV from the start.”

While Harris said Chery Australia was also planning the local introduction other Jaecoo SUVs – such as the smaller battery-electric J6 and the larger J8 that will also bring PHEV power, it was too early to confirm their release timing.

“It’s probably too soon, but it is definitely in the plan,” he said. “We are working though what we need to do for local adaptability and validation. It’s difficult to give firm timing at the moment.”

Harris confirmed Chery’s passenger car brand Arrizo would be a non-starter Down Under, saying Chery Australia “has no plans” to introduce the Arrizo sedans here.

Chery Australia also rebuffed a US report this week stating another Chery sister brand, Jetour, would be launched in Australia in 2025. But it’s still possible the Chinese brand could launch here next year with the full-size Jetour T2 off-road SUV, whose sister model is the road-focussed VX sold in China by yet another Chery sub-brand, Exceed.

But the Chery brand has plenty happening itself, having just launched its third SUV model here in the seven-seat Tiggo 8 Pro Max, which joins the five-seat Tiggo 7 Pro mid-size and the pioneering Omoda 5 small SUV released last year.

Next cab off the Chery Australia rank is the battery-electric Omoda E5 in mid-2024, followed by the Tiggo 4 small SUV later this year.

“It [Tiggo 4] will follow E5 and be here before Christmas,” said Harris.

Although only a 1.5-litre petrol powertrain has been announced for the Tiggo 4 so far, Harris suggested more was to come – perhaps including hybrid power.

“We are working though the detail at the moment,” he said. “There are a few powertrain options and we’re just trying to work out what’s best for us. It’s hard to say exactly when [another Tiggo 4 powertrain arrives]… it could be at launch or shortly after.”

However, Harris cautioned that the just-announced Tiggo 9 and Omoda 7 large plug-in hybrid SUVs are not locked in for Australia just yet.

“Tiggo 9 is a long, long way away. I’m very interested to bring that out – it’s an awesome car but it has just been announced globally, so it’s very difficult to say when we’ll see that,” he said.

“The Omoda 7 is also just new and under consideration, but it’s too early.”

On a more positive note, Harris said Australia’s love of utes has not gone unnoticed by Chery International, but the company doesn’t have anything suitable for this market – yet.

“There’s no [ute] product globally, but the company is investigating what a ute looks like,” he said.

As part of its desire to become a top-five auto brand here, Harris said Chery Australia would continue to increase its sales volume by adding new SUV models as well as dealers in the short to medium term.

The first steps for us is to bring out some of the core product, what currently there’s most consumer demand for, and we’re working though that in the next 12-18 months,” he said.

“Underlying that, we need to work on what does support look like for customers. No brand is going to be able to make it to the top five and stay there unless they have a robust system and investment in place to support customers on the way though.

“I think it’s going to take time for that to develop.”

While Chery Australia now has 70 dealers, Harris said the company was “slowing down a bit on appointment of dealers [because] real estate has become an issue for dealers planning new sites – it’s become too pricey.”

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