JAECOO has officially announced their entry into South Africa, making it one of the very first countries in the world to welcome the newly established urban off-road SUV brand.
JAECOO made its global debut at Auto Shanghai 2023 in China as recently as April, when it was announced as an independent brand with a focus on urban off-road SUVs and a fitting brand slogan of “From Classic, Beyond Classic”.
The brand’s no-compromises driving solution is called All Road Drive Intelligent System (ARDIS), which offers seven unique driving modes, each optimising the vehicle’s dynamics, power delivery and other aspects for specific driving scenarios. Each mode delivers a unique experience that brings out the best in the SUV for that chosen condition.
Technical advancements such as these were brought to life by JAECOO’s team of highly skilled specialists, such as chief engineer Peter John Matkin, who brought vast experience from his time at a leading British brand. It’s a similar case in the design department, where individuals such as chief designer Chris Rhoades applied extensive styling knowledge from years at top European manufacturers.
JAECOO will launch with the J7 in early 2024. Positioned as a mid-sized SUV, the J7 boasts as many as seven drive modes and comfortably seats five adults in a luxurious cabin that also features a 14.8-inch vertically positioned touchscreen.
The J7 and other upcoming JAECOO products will be sold through and supported by a dedicated network of OMODA&JAECOO dealerships, with 30 already established across South Africa.
“Earlier this year, South Africa was the first country on the African continent to offer the OMODA brand and our nation is now among the first in the world to welcome JAECOO. We have big plans for JAECOO, including the expansion of our dealer network to approximately 50 by the end of 2024,” said Tony Liu, Executive Deputy General Manager for OMODA&JAECOO.
“At JAECOO, we’re setting new standards for sports utility vehicles, crafting models that can excel both as luxury on-road SUVs and as capable off-roaders. Our elegant SUVs are as comfortable transporting you to your desk in the city as they are taking you to the dunes in the desert,” added Liu. “They will thus appeal to a strong, fearless person in work who is equally adventurous at leisure.”
To lead this new urban off-road SUV space, JAECOO offers two-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive performance, innovative designs, remarkable safety features and forward-thinking intelligent technologies.
The JAECOO name is inspired by a fusion of the German word “jäger” (meaning “hunter”) and the English term “cool”, capturing two elements central to the brand’s philosophy: outdoor adventure and urbanism.
More details and local specifications will be released closer to the J7’s launch next year.
hermopolis
Vusi Thembekwayo – CEO of Motiv8, and Founder of The Inspiration Project, My Growth Fund and Iconoclast: At 25, Vusi Thembekwayo served on the operations board of Metcash Africa. He was tasked with launching a new division, which he built into a R461 million turnover business. He then left to launch his own business in 2013, Motiv8 his own consulting business, which he bootstrapped with speaking engagements. \”In my experience, the only way to succeed is to invest time in your own development and have \”skin in the game.\’ Time enables you to build technical ability and establishes your credibility in the market,\” says Thembekwayo. He went on to become one of the \”dragons\’ on the South African edition of Dragons\’ Den, where he was responsible for allocation over R10 million worth of investment, as well as one of the \”sharks\’ on M-Net\’s Shark Tank. In 2011, he co-founded Watermark Capital Partners, a private equity firm. In 2013, he was appointed non-executive director at RBA Holdings Ltd. In 2014, he founded The Inspiration Project, a tech enabled narrative lab reshaping the story of Africa, qualified to join the National Speakers Association of New York, and founded My Growth Fund, a fund to support business people as they start, build and grow their businesses. In 2015, he founded Iconoclast, a boutique specialist public speaker representation management agency.