Omoda Jaecoo: “Not the Lexus of Chery”

If you’re in the market for a large SUV, here’s another name to add to your list: Omoda Jaecoo.

The 2025 Omoda 9 launched – from $61,990 – this week as the premier model of the Chery Group’s growing and revamped portfolio which now comprises the core Chery brand as well as the more premium-oriented Omoda Jaecoo spin-off.

Speaking to carsales in Sydney, Chery Motor Australia and New Zealand chief commercial officer Roy Munoz explained how the new two-pronged set-up that would see Omoda Jaecoo offer a smaller but more expensive range of vehicles than its parent company.

“It (Omoda Jaecoo) is a step up from Chery, but I wouldn’t say that it is the Lexus of Chery,” he said.

“Certainly, there’s different brand hierarchies from global (head office), but the Omoda Jaecoo brand is definitely at that next level up from Chery.”

Lexus has become the master of customer service and virtually turned it inro an artform over the past 30 years, and Munoz says he’s looking at ways to make Omoda Jaecoo customers feel special.

“I encourage the team to find innovative ways to enhance the customer experience,” he said.

“But in terms of ownership experience, we do have the My OJ Club, which is an owner’s portal, which will become an owner’s community and a bit of a loyalty sort of program, so to speak, for Omoda Jaecoo owners.”

Measuring 4770mm long, the 395kW plug-in hybrid Omoda 9 blurs the line between the medium and large SUV segments – but is being pitched as a large – which can make it hard to predict what the next Omoda Jaecoo model might be, and Munoz wouldn’t be drawn on an expansion.

“We’re assessing by model, by segment, what makes sense in this market, what would appeal to Australian customers more and what sort of makes sense for our product portfolio as well,” he said.

“We’ll look at that SUV space, small, medium, large, and we’ll do our assessment of that and see what is the next available product from HQ.”

Munoz also noted the Omoda Jaecoo brand would also feature more advanced features in its cars, pointing to the Omoda 9’s so-called ‘Super Hybrid’ system which gives the SUV a theoretical range of more than 1100km on a combination of petrol and electricity.

“It’s not just about the actual model segment or size, but also the powertrains,” he said.

“The Omoda 9, our flagship, has our latest and greatest in terms of Super Hybrid, so that’s exclusive at the moment locally to our Omoda 9.

“The Super Hybrid [system] in the Jaecoo J7 is the 1DHT version. So there are different levels of Super Hybrid as well.”

There are currently 32 Omoda Jaecoo dealers nationwide, with Munoz suggesting that another 18 will come online to service the brand.

“My team are fielding a lot of phone calls [from perspective dealers], which is a good position to be in,” he said.

“We are just making sure that we are acting on the right opportunities in the right primary marketing areas; not just for us but also for the dealer itself. It’s a delicate balancing act.”

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