Looking to buy a cheap small SUV? Jaecoo Australia has just announced the new J5 petrol, coming in at just $25,990 drive-away. It joins the existing J5 EV fully electric model.
Jaecoo previewed the new variant in Sydney last week, giving media a first-look at the petrol model ahead of showroom arrival kicking off in June. It sits just above the Chery Tiggo 4 in the price rankings in Australia.
Speaking of which, the J5 is based on the same underpinnings as the Tiggo 4, and as far as we’re aware no major changes have been made to the J5 in terms of driving dynamics compared with the Tiggo 4. Although, it does come with a different tyre and wheel package.
Power comes from the same 1.5-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder, so, like the Tiggo 4, the J5 is one of the cheapest ‘turbo’ SUVs on sale in Australia as well. The mighty engine produces 108kW and 210Nm, paired with a CVT automatic with front-wheel drive.
Fuel consumption on the combined cycle is listed at 7.5L/100km, which is not that impressive considering other small SUVs in this class use less. For example, the 113kW Renault Duster FWD petrol uses 6.5L/100km, and the base 110kW Kia Seltos 2.0L uses 6.9L/100km. Although, both of those are around $5000 more.
Two variants are going on sale in Australia, spanning from the Track to the Summit. Both feature a 13.2-inch touch-screen and 8.8-inch digital gauge cluster, wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, acoustic front windows, button start, adaptive cruise control, and even a surround-view camera system.
Going for the Summit adds a panoramic glass roof and powered sunshade, eight-speaker audio (up from six), a 50W wireless phone charger, synthetic leather seats, and unique soft-touch trim for the dash and upper door cards. There’s also a flip-down centre armrest and cup holders added in the back. Both feature a single climate vent in the back of the console, unfortunately (it means only one passenger receives airflow).
Jaecoo is offering the J5 with an 8-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, with eight years of capped-price servicing – scheduled service costs are shown below. The new model arrives in June with prices starting from the following (drive-away):
2026 Jaecoo J5 Track 1.5T FWD: $25,990
2026 Jaecoo J5 Summit 1.5T FWD: $29,990
