You may have missed it, but last Friday’s J8 launch came exactly a year after Jaecoo Malaysia’s first car, the J7. Since then, the brand has gone from strength to strength, announcing during the event it has sold over 17,000 cars – more than what Mitsubishi sold last year.
Incredibly, the lion’s share of those were the J7, which immediately emerged as a serious threat to the Honda HR-V and Toyota Corolla Cross. The crossover was swiftly followed by the larger Omoda C9 in December, gaining the slightly contrived “by Jaecoo” suffix in Malaysia until the local company officially adopted the Omoda | Jaecoo Malaysia name at the Malaysia Autoshow in May.
In between, the firm launched its first plug-in hybrid, the J7 PHEV, in late February. Complementing the 1.6 litre turbo model, it offered a total power output of up to 347 PS, up to 88 km of pure electric range on the WLTP cycle and a total range of over 1,200 km.
The latter was proved over several long-distance drives, including in China, Singapore-Thailand and South Africa. Jaecoo received the Super Hybrid System (SHS) first ahead of the parent Chery brand, which showcased its own Chery Super Hybrid (CHS) yesterday.
Another area where the brand has seen substantial growth is in the number of dealerships. There are now 50 such outlets nationwide – up from a handful during the J7’s launch – in places as far-flung as Kota Kinabalu. Crucially, this is a completely separate dealer network from Chery.
Omoda | Jaecoo Malaysia came full circle on Friday with the launch of the J8, the second of the two cars it previewed all the way back in January 2024. Priced at RM178,800 for the base five-seater 2WD model and RM198,800 for the six-seater with AWD, it’s powered by a 249 PS/385 Nm 2.0 litre turbocharged petrol engine mated to an eight-speed automatic gearbox. Read the launch story for all the details.
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Good branding in the market, sales volume speaks the truth, one of the TOP 5 car branding now