The Jaecoo J5 petrol is on sale in Australia from $25,990 driveaway for the Track, with the higher spec Summit at $29,990 driveaway. The J5 EV remains on the price list at $35,990 plus on-road costs, or $36,990 driveaway for the first thousand customer orders. Two powertrains, one body, a $10,000 price spread, and a clear position underneath the Mazda CX-3, the MG ZS, the GWM Haval Jolion, and the Hyundai Venue.

Jaecoo is the upmarket sub-brand inside Chery. The cars are mechanically close to the Chery products they sit alongside, but they are pitched and priced as a step up. The J5 is the smallest of those, sharing a platform and the 108kW 1.5 litre turbo petrol drivetrain with the Chery Tiggo 4.

What you actually get for the money

The petrol J5 Track has a 108kW and 210Nm 1.5 litre turbo four cylinder driving the front wheels through a CVT. The Summit gets a larger touchscreen, a 360 degree camera, synthetic leather trim, a panoramic sunroof, and a wireless phone charger. Both grades include autonomous emergency braking, lane keeping, adaptive cruise, and a seven year warranty.

Boot space is 480 litres with the rear seats up. Length is 4,380mm, which sits the J5 closer to the Hyundai Kona than the smaller CX-3. The 1.5 litre turbo returns a claimed 6.9 litres per 100km on the combined cycle, which is honest for the segment but well behind the Toyota Yaris Cross hybrid at 3.8.

The J5 EV sitting above it uses a 155kW and 288Nm front mounted motor and a 58.9kWh lithium iron phosphate battery for a 402km WLTP range. The EV charges at up to 80kW DC.

Where it lands against the AU price list

The Mazda CX-3 G20 Evolve, the entry point to the segment from a legacy brand, is currently $32,290 driveaway. The MG ZS Hybrid Excite starts at $33,990 driveaway. The GWM Haval Jolion Lux Hybrid is $32,990 driveaway. The Hyundai Venue Active is $26,750 driveaway. Of those, only the Venue is in the same price bracket as the petrol J5 Track, and the Venue is appreciably smaller.

The J5 petrol is not the cheapest light SUV on the market. It is the cheapest light SUV on the market with a 1.5 turbo, a 480 litre boot, a 360 degree camera at the second trim, and a seven year warranty. That is the package.

Cartell Assessment

Two readings of this launch. The first is that the J5 EV at $36,990 driveaway is the version that makes sense if you actually want a Jaecoo, because the EV is the car the badge was built to sell and the petrol is essentially a Chery in a nicer jacket. The second is that almost nobody buying a $25,990 light SUV is going to care about that distinction, because at this price the comparison is the Hyundai Venue and the Suzuki Fronx, both of which are smaller, slower, and worse equipped. The petrol J5 Track is the genuinely interesting one in showrooms this week.

The question to ask if you walk in is which of the two grades you actually need. The Track is good enough. The $4,000 step up to the Summit pays for items most buyers would call nice rather than necessary. If the choice is a Summit on finance or a Track with a five year service plan included, take the Track.

AU Outlook

Watch for two things in the next quarter. First, whether the Jaecoo J5 hybrid lands at the price Chery has been hinting at, which would be the variant that lines up directly against the Haval Jolion Hybrid and forces a response from GWM. Second, whether Mazda blinks on the CX-3, which is now the only Japanese car in this size class with both volume and an outdated drivetrain.