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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.
Family Cars
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Family Cars Guide
Jordan is a motoring journalist based in Melbourne with a lifelong passion for cars. He has been surrounded by classic Fords and Holdens, brand-new cars, and everything in between from birth, with his parents’ owning an automotive workshop in regional Victoria. Jordan started writing about cars in 2021, and joined the Drive team in 2024.
