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You’ve probably never heard of the car brand Jaecoo before, but you’re about to start seeing a lot of them. The Jaecoo 7 boasts the three things most motorists in the UK are looking for in a new set of wheels: It’s a mid-size SUV; it’s hybrid with fantastic fuel economy and all the latest digital technologies; and it’s extraordinary value. The downside is that it could lead to the extinction of our own homegrown automotive industry. So, on the one hand, comfort and flexibility at a bargain price, on the other the collapse of the western economies.
Jaecoo is Chinese, you see. And China has rather cunningly set about dominating the car industry’s shift to electrification thanks to its unfettered access to half the world’s lithium, cobalt and graphite (which are essential materials for making EV batteries), and its talent for copying what other countries make and doing it much cheaper. In fact, having enticed some of the west’s most experienced executives, designers and engineers with their renminbi, and invested heavily in its workforces and manufacturing plants, China has gone from bootlegger to global leader. It sells 60 per cent of the world’s EVs and 80 per cent of the batteries that power them, and is set to overtake the United States in autonomous driving technologies. There are some 150 Chinese auto manufacturers. Additionally, Tesla, Volkswagen and BMW have factories there.
But there has been a steer towards hybrids, which are less expensive to buy than fully-electric vehicles and are booming in sales. Hybrids offer the best-of-both-worlds; motorists benefit from emission-free journeys in urban areas and long range on motorways and in the countryside. Range anxiety, sluggish charging infrastructure and expensive energy means that fully-electric vehicles are impractical for many customers. That’s true of those living in Zhoushan just as it is for people in Sudbury. And China’s ambitions are nothing if not international and expansive.
Which brings us back to the Jaecoo 7; a car that’s sure to appeal to a lot of Brits. It’s a handsome machine, with styling cues reminiscent of contemporary Land Rovers and Jeeps. Inside it’s minimalist with a huge central touchscreen, like a Tesla or Volvo, and it’s well-equipped. In terms of size, it sits between the Range Rover Evoque and the larger Velar. Incidentally, Jaecoo’s parent company, Chery, builds cars for JLR (Jaguar Land Rover) in China, and some of what you might find under the skin of the British off-roader is to be found here.
Yet were you to spec the Evoque to the same equipment level as a standard Jaecoo, you’d be presented with a £63,000 bill. The Jaecoo’s sticker price: just £35,000, with a seven-year / 100,000 mile warranty thrown in. That undercuts all of its B and C segment hybrid competition, including the Volkswagen Tiguan, Nissan Qashqai and Ford Kuga.
To test drive the car, I headed to Africa, where European motors are not the only endangered species. Africa, it should be noted, is another area where China is making remarkable inroads. Since 2009, the superpower has been Africa’s largest trading partner. It has invested across the continent, funding infrastructure projects, extracting oil and minerals, improving healthcare, importing Chinese workers, establishing military bases, and making multi-billion-dollar loans to African governments. Some might call this neo-colonialism, others development and mutually beneficial cooperation. Presently, Eswatini is the only African nation that officially recognises Taiwan.
To this end, Jaecoo and its owner Chery (China’s fourth-biggest car builder with worldwide sales of 2.6 million in 2024, which is more than BMW) are already deeply embedded here, especially in South Africa. I flew to Cape Town, picked up the new 7, and then drove in convoy with other international media along South Africa’s ‘Garden Route’, a 1,000km (620 mile) drive between Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. Picture the Pacific Coast Highway, but with penguins.
Framed by the towering majesty of Table Mountain and kissed by the Atlantic Ocean, Cape Town is affectionately known as the ‘mother city’, and to its west the Cape of Good Hope has been a meeting place of explorers and legends since it was first sighted by the Portuguese in the 15th century. From its lighthouse, one can see humpback whales in the ocean below and great white sharks circling beyond the deserted Diaz Beach. In the car park, there’s another predator. Jaecoo takes its first syllable from ‘jaeger’, the German word for hunter, and its second syllable from ‘cool’, but no one could be bothered to add the ‘l’ (if you think that’s bad, BYD, another Chinese manufacturer making strides in Europe and the UK, stands for ‘Build Your Dreams’).
Heading back towards Cape Town, Chapman’s Peak comprises 114 curves along a five-mile stretch, which the 7 takes in its stride. This is a smooth machine, with well-weighted steering, seamless switching between electric and petrol propulsion, and sufficient power to spring like a gazelle from turn to turn. Cutting through the city, one passes the oldest working harbour in the southern hemisphere. Enormous cargo ships disgorge and collect containers, many of which have Chinese characters on the sides. And from there it’s on to the Garden Route, which takes us through the picturesque locales of Hermanus, Pearly Beach and Mossel Bay, where hundreds of penguins assemble like the casting of a diminutive Moss Bros campaign. Overnighting at the Misty Mountain Reserve in Tsitsikamma, I stayed in a wooden hut which, I learned the following morning, was located about ten metres from a crocodile enclosure.
We also ventured on safari, visiting Addo Elephant National Park and seeing the other ‘big four’ at Brandwacht Game Reserve, where our guide Mark, a Top Gun-era Tom Cruise lookalike, offered some interesting insights: apparently leopard makes the tastiest meat of all; giraffes look like Chuck Norris gave a horse an uppercut; hippos are the world’s angriest vegans (he’s obviously never been to Dalston); and wildebeest are made up of the spare parts of other animals. Perhaps that makes the Jaecoo 7 the wildebeest of SUVs, for I see a face reminiscent of the Jeep Cherokee, a rear light bar like the latest Range Rover Sport, and vertical rear air outlets that give it a Jaguar F-Pace SVR stance. That said, the only part I can see that’s been directly lifted is the JLR-derived infotainment system.
Mark tells me there are 14,000 white rhino in South Africa. Twelve years ago, that figure was 26,000 and the reduction is the result of illegal poaching. Hunters kill these beasts for their horns. And who insists on buying rhino horn for its supposed medicinal and sexual powers? That’d be the Chinese.
Meanwhile, the Jaecoo is adequately thrusting. A combined 201 bhp from its 1.5-litre petrol engine and hybrid system isn’t about to embarrass the Porsche Macan at the lights, but its 310Nm of torque means it never feels like it’s dragging an anchor. Zero to 62mph is a respectable 8.5 seconds. Capable of a real world 55mpg and a range of over 745 miles, we were easily able to complete the Garden Route without having to refill its 60-litre tank or plug in. Unlike a typical plug-in hybrid, Jaecoo’s third-generation ‘Super Hybrid’ powertrain self-charges when you back off the gas and never drops to zero. Electric-only mode from its 18.3 kW battery pack tops out at 56 miles – more than enough for most people’s day-to-day. Had we needed to re-up, I’m told a 40kW charger will boost the batteries from 30-80 per cent full in 40 minutes or will fully charge in around six and a half hours. The figures for thermal efficiency and carbon emissions (23g/km) are genuinely mighty – the result of innovative ignition timing that lowers combustion temperatures – and its battery safety technology is class-leading.
Should one opt for a combustion-only version, it’s even cheaper. Front-wheel-drive is available from £29,435 and all-wheel-drive from £32k. The hybrid I drove, due to packaging, is only available as a front-wheel-drive. That mightn’t make it a true competitor for Land Rover, but it’s refined enough to pose a serious challenge to the likes of VW, Nissan, Kia and Ford, and may even tempt some customers out of their BMW X1s and Audi Q3s. In these times of economic uncertainty, who wants to spaff an extra £10k on a badge?
This is all very good news indeed, of course, for the Chinese economy. The ‘jaeger’ Jaecoo is on the hunt, ready to eat mainstream European car makers for lunch.
