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Jaecoo is one of a number of new Chinese brands popping up in the UK at the moment, and the Jaecoo 7 is the first of its offerings to reach British shores. It comes well equipped, with a better fit and finish than you might expect from an upstart manufacturer, but it鈥檚 not the most refined SUV on the market.

It鈥檚 almost like a child that鈥檚 discovered a natural talent for the first time. There are flashes of brilliance here and there, but there鈥檚 still some work to be done in honing it all. Think of the Jaecoo 7 as a new alternative to the tried-and-true Volkswagen Tiguan and Kia Sportage.

Though Jaecoo does have more of a leg to stand on than a lot of start-up car companies, because it鈥檚 actually owned by Chery - a Chinese car manufacturing giant. It also owns Omoda, and Jaecoo already has over 70 established dealerships in the UK, with a goal of 130 by the end of 2025.

Speaking of established, you might recognise some design cues from existing manufacturers in the Jaeecoo 7鈥檚 design. There鈥檚 more than a whiff of Range Rover in its side profile, while the bold front grille鈥檚 chrome, vertical strakes resemble a Bentley if you squint. That doesn鈥檛 change the fact that it鈥檚 a handsome car, but it is slightly derivative.

You鈥檒l find more of the same inside the Jaecoo 7, with a good looking, fairly minimalist interior that features one-or-two Range Rover and Mercedes-esque design touches in the steering wheel badge and centre console. Entry level Deluxe cars feature a 13.2-inch portrait infotainment touchscreen, upgrading to a 14.8-inch unit in Luxury models, while both feature a digital driver display.

Material quality is high, with lots of soft-touch trims and sturdy feeling surfaces all around you. The low-down plastics are a bit scratchy, but that鈥檚 as per the norm in mid-sized SUVs at the moment.

There鈥檚 a fair amount of storage all round, and the seats are generally comfortable. There鈥檚 loads of space too, with plenty of headroom, legroom and space for your feet under the front seats. The boot is a little shallow, and while it has a useful 500-litre capacity, it鈥檚 not deep enough for loading bulky items into.

On the road the Jaecoo 7 starts to reveal why it鈥檚 cheaper than its established alternatives. It鈥檚 easy to drive around town, with good manoeuvrability on tight roads and plenty of forward visibility to place the car, but the suspension does thud over bumps in the road and it鈥檚 not confidence inspiring on country lanes.

You get a choice of two engines in the Jaecoo 7, a 1.6-litre petrol unit and a 1.5-litre plug-in hybrid (PHEV). Neither are particularly fast, but the PHEV has more pep in its step and a claimed 54-mile electric range. It鈥檚 much cheaper to tax, too.

As a well-equipped, handsome family car the Jaecoo 7 offers good value for money, and you can check out new Jaecoo 7 deals here on 莲花直播, as well as Jaecoo 7 lease deals. There are also used Jaecoo 7s available through our network of trusted dealers, and you can even sell your current car through 莲花直播 when the time comes to change.

The petrol Jaecoo 7 starts at a hair over 拢30,000, which is phenomenal value considering you get heated seats, a crisp 13.2-inch touchscreen display, LED headlights, heated seats, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity and a panoramic roof as standard on the entry-level Deluxe car.

That鈥檚 over 拢5,000 less than the more sparsely-equipped base model Volkswagen Tiguan, and around the same price as the entry-level Nissan Qashqai and Kia Sportage. Neither are as well equipped as the Jaecoo 7 either, though.

The Luxury model is only available as a plug-in hybrid and costs around 拢5,000 more than the Deluxe model, but you do get heated rear seats, ventilated front seats, a heated steering wheel, posh Sony sound system and the larger 14.8-inch display as standard.

Light steering and good visibility make it easy to thread around town, but the Jaecoo 7 loses its shine at higher speeds

In town

The Jaecoo 7 looks big in photos, but in reality it鈥檚 well sized for city driving while still being spacious inside. It鈥檚 a little bit shorter than the Hyundai Tucson, making it fairly easy to find a parking space, but while the high seating position gives you a good view of the road ahead, rear visibility is disappointing.

Still, the big door mirrors at least take some of the stress out of parking, as does the tight turning circle and light steering. The brakes manage to avoid feeling grabby at low speeds in the hybrid models too, as befalls so many hybrid cars these days, doing a good job of masking the transition between regenerative braking and the physical brakes kicking in.

It鈥檚 not that comfortable over bumps and potholes though, with an audible crash resonating through the cockpit when you鈥檙e driving over a bad road.

On the motorway

The Jaecoo 7鈥檚 driving experience is more disappointing at higher speeds, as road noise builds up noticeably the faster you go and the crashy suspension is exaggerated when you鈥檙e at a cruise. Joining motorways is easy, but the petrol version sounds slightly strained under hard acceleration.

Jaecoo鈥檚 active lane assist could do with some relaxation tips too, as it is too oversensitive when you鈥檙e even slightly to one side of your lane - and it jerks you back towards the centre rather violently.

The rest of the safety assistance systems are just as intrusive - particularly the driver attention warning setup - as they bong away merrily when you鈥檙e not expecting them to. You can鈥檛 turn them off without the car thinking you鈥檙e not paying attention to the road either, so you really have to strain to use your peripheral vision and focus on your hand inputs. Ironic, and annoying.

On a twisty road

Even by the standards of other family SUVs, the Jaecoo 7 still feels slightly out of its depths on a twisty road. The light steering that does well in town provides little idea of what the front wheels are doing on a winding road, or how much grip they have.

The lane-keep assist jerk is particularly noticeable here, but it鈥檚 the jiggliness over bumpier high-speed corners that unsettles both you and the Jaecoo the most. Country lanes are best taken at a moderate pace.

There鈥檚 a spacious cabin in the Jaecoo, but the boot is awkwardly shaped

It鈥檚 easy to get comfortable in the Jaecoo 7, with plenty of room in the front and lots of movement in the standard-fit electrically adjustable seats. An odd touch, but the dashboard layout changes depending on which engine you opt for in your car.

The plug-in hybrid (PHEV) model moves the great selector up from the centre console to the steering column, allowing for extra cubby space between the seats. Speaking of which, there are a pair of (slightly too large to be useful) cup holders in the centre console, as well as a button-operated hidden cubby and an open storage space in the middle by your feet.

Large door pockets and a large glove box are handy, with easily enough space for a one-litre water bottle, as is the cooled phone storage tray which doubles up as a charger. The hidden central cubby is cooled too, should you wish.

Space in the back

You get plenty of headroom in the back thanks to the Jaecoo 7鈥檚 boxy shape and tall roofline, and there鈥檚 a good amount of space for most people鈥檚 knees. Tall occupants might find kneeroom a little tight, but under-seat foot space is acceptable.

There鈥檚 a pair of cupholders in the rear armrest but again, they don鈥檛 do a great job of holding a bottle securely, though there are useful pockets on the front seat backs for storing both phones and larger items in separate spaces. They do feel a little flimsy though.

Three adults can fit in the back in relative comfort thanks to the flat floor and relatively flat bench, but you鈥檒l want to keep five-up trips short. Luxury-spec cars get heated rear seats, but there鈥檚 not much more in the way of creature comforts back there.

Boot space

The Jaecoo鈥檚 500 litres of boot space isn鈥檛 particularly generous, lagging behind the Volkswagen Tiguan (615 litres), Kia Sportage (591 litres), and Nissan Qashqai (504 litres). It鈥檚 usefully square and equipped with bag hooks and a 12-volt connection, but if you regularly carry bulky items then the Jaecoo could be an inconvenience.

The depth of the boot is lacking compared to its alternatives, and while there鈥檚 under-floor storage space for stowing cables and other odds-and-sods out of sight, you can鈥檛 lower the boot floor for a larger overall volume. There鈥檚 also nowhere to put the parcel shelf if you do need to remove it.

Drop the rear seats down and the space becomes much more useful, as the seats almost fold flat and expand the boot鈥檚 volume to 1,265 litres. There鈥檚 an odd nifty feature too, where you can hook the parcel shelf to the boot floor and the open bootlid to create a projector screen. Why? Well, why not?

There鈥檚 plenty of standard kit, but the Jaecoo 7 isn鈥檛 without its quirks

At first glance the Jaecoo 7 makes a good impression, looking easily posh enough for its price point, and it stays impressive once you鈥檙e sat in the car. The steering wheel badge resembles a Range Rover and the hidden box in the centre console is giving Mercedes, and the material quality isn鈥檛 all that far off posher brands.

The dashboard, armrests and door tops are all trimmed in soft leatherette and pleasant plastics, and it鈥檚 only lower down that you begin to feel the scratchier, harder trims. That鈥檚 not unique to the Jaecoo though, and it鈥檚 something you鈥檒l even find in luxurious alternatives from Audi and BMW.

Standard kit is pretty great too, with a panoramic roof on both trim levels and a head-up display, ventilated front seats and heated steering wheel as standard on the higher spec Luxury car. Entry level Deluxe cars feature a 13.2-inch infotainment screen as standard, where the top trim level gets a 14.8-inch unit instead, but they鈥檙e identical to operate.

Infotainment is crucial to the Jaecoo鈥檚 cabin, as the central display controls everything from music to the climate control system. It鈥檚 hit and miss though, because while the touchscreen has clear graphics and feels responsive to the touch, it鈥檚 still fiddly to change settings on the fly.

What鈥檚 more, the complete lack of a volume knob means that passengers can鈥檛 turn the music up or down. While in theory that shouldn鈥檛 matter, it鈥檚 annoying having to rely on the steering wheel control alone.

The main annoyance comes when you鈥檙e on the move, because the Jaecoo 7 is fitted with a rather sensitive driver awareness sensor. If you adjust the settings, look in your mirrors or just turn to face your passenger for a brief moment the car thinks you鈥檙e no longer focused on your driving. It鈥檚 very annoying.

There are two engines to choose from on the Jaecoo 7, a 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with a seven-speed automatic gearbox and a 1.5-litre plug-in hybrid engine that comes equipped with a CVT gearbox instead. The petrol-powered model can be had in front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, where the hybrid is exclusively front-driven.

The petrol model isn鈥檛 all that efficient, especially in all-wheel drive trim where it only offers a claimed 35mpg. Front-wheel drive cars are slightly better at 38mpg and emit 169g/km of CO2, where the all-wheel drive version outputs 183g/km.

Both the front-wheel drive petrol Jaecoo 7 and the four-wheel drive car fall into fairly high first-year tax bands, dropping down to the flat rate for year two onwards. All models escape the luxury car tax, fortunately.

The hybrid model is much cheaper to tax, with CO2 emissions of just 23g/km. Company car drivers will be happy to know that the hybrid Jaecoo 7 sits in one of the lowest Benefit in Kind tax rates, thanks to its CO2 emissions output of 23g/km and claimed 53 miles of electric range.

The Jaecoo 7 scored an excellent five-star safety rating when tested by Euro NCAP in 2025, scoring above 80% in all four testing categories: adult occupant, child occupant, vulnerable road users and safety assistance tech.

It comes fitted as standard with a suite of driver assistance technology, including an attention and drowsiness detector, 360-degree parking cameras, automatic emergency braking and a lane assist system.

You get a pair of ISOFIX child seat anchor points in the back, and while it鈥檚 a shame that there isn鈥檛 one in the front passenger seat, they do have handy flip-open covers which make attaching the seat a piece of cake.

Jaecoo is too new to have had any real-world feedback when it comes to reliability. In fact it鈥檚 so new that it didn鈥檛 place on the 2024 Driver Power reliability survey, nor did its sister company Omoda.

You do, however, get a hugely competitive seven-year/100,000-mile warranty with the Jaecoo 7. Compared to the European alternatives at three years/60,000 miles, that鈥檚 some good going.

Jaecoo also offers an eight year warranty on the PHEV mode鈥檚 hybrid system. Only Toyota and Lexus offer better, with a ten year warranty if you keep up regular servicing at a main dealership.