Since the beginning of 2023, we’ve been hearing about the arrival of Omoda and Jaecoo, two Chery International brands, in the Philippines. 

And while we’ve driven models from both brands a couple of months ago on our recent visit to Wuhu, China, we seem to have missed sitting in the driver’s seat of the Jaecoo 7, until now.

Omoda & Jaecoo Philippines invited AutoFun Philippine to the mother brand’s international user summit last October. As luck would have it, there was a Jaecoo 7 test drive in the itinerary. But this wasn’t a run-of-the-mill drive around a manicured test course (like the one we had in September with the Omoda 5 and the Jaecoo 8. This drive was on an off-road track set up to give the Jaecoo 7 a beatdown. And it sure got it.

Classy and practical

The Jaecoo 7 is a crossover positioned for a more premium market, says Jaecoo Philippines. Its classic lines and soft edges (read as clean, prim, and proper) make for a car designed to outlast trends. We do get some of the Land Rover vibes with the Jaecoo 7; there’s no denying that.

Stylish restraint

The Jaecoo 7’s cabin is a mix of boxy-utilitarian and plush. Padded surfaces on the armrests, the dashboard, the faux leather seats with ventilation, and the stitched accents around the cabin all combine to render a well-finished interior. Worthy of the “premium” adjective indeed. 

You’ll see more off-roadish details on the large side air conditioning vents and the interior door handles with torx screws protruding around.

The steering wheel is reminiscent of the Jaguar i-Pace’s, fat and easy to hold with haptic buttons. And the use of metallic accents around the cabin suggests a solid, reassuring feel inside.

With its large infotainment tablet controlling the car’s functions and settings and tactile controls built reassuringly solid, the Jaecoo 7 achieves a sound mix of modern and classic. It just avoids being tacky by this much and can very much accommodate five in relative comfort. 

But how will its passengers fare in the Jaecoo 7 when it’s driven off-road? Well, this is where it becomes interesting. 

Acing the rough and tumble

The Jaecoo 7 we drove was equipped with all-wheel drive. As such, it had various drive modes to choose from to maximize traction. The course we went to was anything but paved. It featured ruts, ramps, and even a water-crossing. So, do the math.

Suffice it to say, the Jaecoo 7 was able to negotiate all that. And not just during our test drive session but over the course of a few days, apparently. Waves of visitors from the Chery User Summit dropped by the course and took turns thrashing the Jaecoo 7 units. Now, that’s a proper endurance test if ever there was one.

In our case, we had a Chinese instructor on board to guide our drive. While we were instructed to drive over the jumps at only 20 km/h, the rest of the course was free game and pretty much balls out! We could hear the rocks hitting the underbody and the tires digging into the loose surface as we negotiated the turns in full song. 

With thumbs out, I was able to turn into the corner with relative ease despite the dust, dirt, and loose gravel. I could feel the car rotate over the low-grip surface and the traction and stability controls kicking in to get the car back into the straight and narrow.

Using Sport mode throughout the run, it felt as if the Jaecoo 7 behaved like any typical crossover. With its responsive throttle, I was able to modulate the throttle if needed to get the vehicle back in line. With 197 PS available from the 1.6-liter turbocharged GDi engine, I was able to power out of corners with hardly any hesitation. 

Complementing the speed are the brakes, which were pretty much spot on and behave like any decent, well-sorted vehicle out there. And again, this was all done over loose surfaces, a challenge for any urban crossover or SUV. 

And if the Jaecoo 7’s driving dynamics weren’t enough, NVH was likewise well-managed. As a reflection of build quality, the Jaecoo 7’s interiors held on tightly all throughout the drive. Rattles were minimal and not disconcerting at all. The dashboard and the door cards stayed stuck and secure if you're dying to ask. They showed no signs of looseness even as the vehicle jumped over ruts and landed full force on the rough course. 

After the instructor drove the Jaecoo 7 through a makeshift pool, the interiors stayed dry, showing off the effort done in sealing the cabin from the environment outside.

You’d be hard-pressed to find anything mechanically wrong with the Jaecoo 7. And this is just an affirmation of the quality of the vehicles being churned out from the Wuhu factory. 

Ready for the Big Leagues

With Chery International all primed for global expansion, it has to be said that the Jaecoo 7 and the Omoda 5 are both well-equipped and built to high enough standards to lead the charge. We did not see any second-class treatment with regard to the production line here. All of the vehicles shown to us emanated from the same factory and assembly line. And they all adhered to the global quality and safety standards that Chery has been implementing for a while now. 

And this begs the question, how much and when? 

As of now, Omoda & Jaecoo Philippines brand manager Uzzi Asuncion can only commit to a 2024 start of sales target. The local subsidiary (yes, Omoda & Jaecoo will be pretty much run by Chery International themselves) is still in the process of conforming to due diligence requirements, as any proper corporation would. Though they are now on a hiring spree for local talent, the company is well on its way to being operational very soon. 

They did say that a brand launch is imminent this fourth quarter. So let’s wait and see.