New Jaecoo SUV coming to South Africa next month – What to expect

Jaecoo has confirmed that the new J5 will launch in South Africa next month.

The J5 has been in the pipeline for our market for quite some time, but the wait is nearly over as the SUV will make its debut this September with three trim levels on offer – the Vortex, Glacier, and Inferno.

This is the same selection found on the J5’s larger sibling – the J7 – giving us a pretty good idea of what to expect.

As you’ve probably assumed, the J5 is the brand’s smallest SUV to date and will slot in as the entry-level model in the Jaecoo family when it arrives.

Admittedly, that’s not saying a whole lot considering that the J7 is the only Jaecoo on sale in South Africa right now, but the carmaker also plans to introduce the flagship J8 in the near future.

Another interesting point of comparison is Jaecoo’s twin brand Omoda, which currently sells the C5 and C9.

Omoda plans to launch the new C7 before the end of the year, which will serve as a counterpart to the J7.

Jaecoo, meanwhile, is gearing up to launch the J5, which makes for a natural comparison with the C5.

Pricing will obviously give us the full picture of how all these models stack up against one another, but in the meantime, we can take a look at the preliminary specs to get a sense of what the J5 has in store for us.

The J7’s little brother

Jaecoo confirmed that the J5 will be sold with a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine developing 115kW and 230Nm.

This is the same powertrain found on the C5, reinforcing the idea that this is the Jaecoo counterpart.

The automaker specified that the J5 will be front-wheel-drive (FWD), which is curious when you consider that Jaecoo is ostensibly meant to be the more off-road focused of the O&J brands.

It’s possible that an all-wheel-drive model will be added at a later date, but for now it seems that the J5 will be FWD only.

Jaecoo previously mentioned that the J5 will eventually be made available as a hybrid and electric vehicle, however no further details have been shared on these units.

As for the equipment list, the new SUV will feature items like a 13.2-inch infotainment screen with smartphone connectivity, a digital instrument cluster, a panoramic sunroof, wireless phone charger, leather upholstery, ventilated seating, automatic climate control, and ambient lighting, depending on the trim level.

This is in addition to safety functions such as forward collision warning, adaptive cruise control, and blind-spot detection.