Can this cheap Chinese SUV compete? (Jaecoo J7 Ridge AWD 2025 Review)

The J7 is Jaecoo’s first model launch in Australia. But what is Jaecoo? A sub-brand of Chinese carmaker Chery, Jaecoo promises premium vibes and rugged performance. Sounds like a Range Rover, right? Well the price is nothing like that, starting at just $34,990 driveaway, we drove the all-wheel drive Ridge, which costs $42,990 on-the-road, and top-spec plug-in hybrid.

Jaecoo offers a total of four trims for the J7, which shares its underpinnings and T1X platform with other Chery products, including the 7 Pro. It’s exactly 4.5 metres long, putting it in the medium SUV space with favourites like the Toyota RAV4 and Volkswagen Tiguan — but the Ridge AWD has a party piece

Chasing Cars Road Test Editor John Law takes an in-depth look at the Jaecoo J7 range, talking about the benefits of the well-priced plug-in hybrid and seeing if the all-wheel drive’ torque splitting rear diff actually works.

Time codes:
0:00 - Intro
0:23 - What is Jaecoo?
0:46 - Rivals
1:02 - Design
1:50 - Boot space
2:36 - Front seats
3:45 - Tech
4:54 - Row two
5:51 - Ownership
6:35 - On road
10:08 - Safety systems
11:09 - Off-road test
12:39 - Verdict

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