A seven-seat SUV from Chery sub-brand Jaecoo will launch in Australia by the middle of the year as one of three new models coming to local showrooms.
The 2025 Jaecoo J8 – a seven-seat flagship SUV from a Chery sub-brand – has been approved for sale in Australia ahead of its launch by the middle of the year.
Government approval documents confirm the front- or all-wheel-drive Jaecoo J8 will arrive in Australia with a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine, with no hybrid or plug-in hybrid options to be available at launch.
The 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine will exceed the mechanically-related Chery Tiggo 8 Pro Max seven-seat SUV, which develops 180kW/375Nm and is matched to a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.
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Instead, the J8 will have 183kW/385Nm – 3kW and 10Nm more than the Chery – with an Aisin-sourced eight-speed automatic transmission, the approval documents confirm.
The Chery Tiggo 9 – the name of the Jaecoo J8 in its domestic market – is available with a ‘super hybrid’ plug-in hybrid in a 1.5-litre turbo-petrol configuration for a driving range of 1400 kilometres with a full fuel tank and a recharged battery on the European WLTP lab-test standard.
Confusingly, a model known in China as the Chery Tiggo 8L will be sold in export markets as the Chery Tiggo 9 and is not the same car as the domestic-market Chery Tiggo 9 being sold elsewhere as the Jaecoo J8.
MORE: 2025 Chery Tiggo 9 seven-seat SUV confirmed for Australia next year
Chery Australia confirmed last September it would bring the export-market Tiggo 9 here, which will see its seven-seat offerings expand from one – the Tiggo 8 Pro Max – to three by the middle of the year, including the J8 from its Jaecoo sub-brand.
Available features include dual 12.3-inch displays for its instrument cluster and infotainment touchscreen, a 50-inch head-up display, a 50-watt wireless phone charger, a 14-speaker audio system, active noise cancellation, and ambient interior lighting.
It is also fitted with nappa leather upholstery, a massaging driver’s seat, heated and ventilated front seats, heated second-row seats, a heated steering wheel, a 360-degree camera with an under-body view, and electric exterior door handles.
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A full suite of active safety features are standard, such as autonomous emergency braking (AEB), lane-keep assist, lane change assist, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, lead vehicle departure alert, adaptive cruise control, traffic jam assist, door open warning, automatic high beam, and a driver monitoring camera, along with 10 airbags.
It has been approved for Australia with 20-inch alloy wheels as standard, while the all-wheel-drive J8 includes seven driver-selectable drive modes overseas: normal, eco, sport, off-road, sand, mud and snow.
Measuring 4820mm long, 1930mm wide and 1710mm tall with a 2820mm wheelbase, the J8 is closest in size to a Kia Sorento, Hyundai Santa Fe and now-defunct Mazda CX-8 – and 10cm longer than the Chery Tiggo 8 Pro Max.
The Jaecoo J9 is expected to cost more than the Chery Tiggo 8 Pro Max, which currently retails for between $38,990 and $44,990 drive-away in a limited-time ‘second-year anniversary’ deal – but it is still likely to undercut its Kia Sorento and Hyundai Santa Fe rivals, among other large SUV models, which start from around $50,000 before on-road costs.
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The Jaecoo brand will arrive in Australia in the coming weeks with separate showrooms to Chery, starting with its J7 mid-size SUV – a more-premium version of the Chery Tiggo 7 Pro – which will start from around $35,000 drive-away, in line with the MG HS and GWM Haval H6.
Joining the mid-size J7 due imminently and the large J8 due by the middle of the year, Jaecoo will also launch its J5 small SUV in Australia along with a plug-in hybrid version of the J7, while the Land Rover Defender-like J6, sold in China as the iCar 03T, is “under consideration” for local showrooms.
More details on the 2025 Jaecoo J8 seven-seat SUV – including Australian pricing and specifications – will be confirmed closer to its launch by the middle of the year.
The post 2025 Jaecoo J8: Seven-seat Kia Sorento rival from Chery sub-brand one step closer to Australia appeared first on Drive.