Philippine-Bound Jaecoo 7 Will Let You See What’s Under The Car

Sister brands Omoda and Jaecoo are set to enter the Philippine market this year, and these two brands have been countlessly teasing their two upcoming vehicles as the official launch date draws nearer. Unveiled recently at the 2023 Auto Shanghai is the Jaecoo 7, which is the Chinese automaker’s first model and is positioned right at the heart of the compact SUV segment.

As a recap, the Jaecoo 7 measures 4,451 mm long and with a wheelbase of 2,650 mm. It rides on the same T1X platform as the Chery Tiggo 7 Pro. And yes, as a reminder, Jaecoo and Omoda are part of Chery International–hence the similar platform. But unlike the Omoda 5 and Tiggo 7 Pro’s 1.5-liter four-cylinder turbo engine, the Jaecoo 7 has now been confirmed to get a bigger and more powerful 1.6-liter four-cylinder turbo engine.

The numbers are impressive, as this engine produces 197 horsepower and 290 Nm of torque. Jaecoo Philippines has also revealed that it’s able to spring from 0-100 kph in just 8.9 seconds, yet is capable of achieving a mixed city and highway fuel economy figure of 13 km/l. By 2024, however, Jaecoo has confirmed that its model range will become hybrid and fully electric.

The Jaecoo 7’s feature list has also been confirmed. From the outside, the flushed pop-out door handles will be offered as standard, along with the expected full LED lighting. Inside, there are two large screens–one for the digital gauges and the other is a portrait touch screen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. You even get a power-adjustable driver’s seat, an 8-speaker sound system, and what Jaecoo calls “leather fabric” upholstery. And as with most Chinese cars, the Jaecoo 7 will come with a panoramic sunroof.

Perhaps the most impressive feature of the Jaecoo 7 is its “540-degree view camera”. That’s beyond surround view, because according to Jaecoo, through the use of “spatiotemporal image stitching and processing”, the system can also stitch together a view of what’s directly below the car along with the 360-degree surroundings–thus 540 degrees.

Lastly, the Jaecoo 7 is expected to come with a suite of advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), which includes your usual automatic emergency braking, full-speed adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, lane keeping assist, blind spot warning, and rear cross traffic alert, just to name a few. Actually, not even a few because Jaecoo says that this SUV has a total of 21 ADAS features!

When the Jaecoo 7 does finally arrive in the Philippines before the end of 2023, it will share the same dealer space with Omoda. Expect pricing to be on the affordable end of the spectrum when compared to its more mainstream rivals.