Jaecoo J5 2026 review: SHS-H Summit | Hyundai Kona rival tested

Chinese carmaker Chery Group loves a sub-brand and its Jaecoo nameplate arrived here just over 12 months ago as a more premium option relative to its Omoda sibling. Stand by for Lepas hitting Aussie showrooms any minute as well as iCaur and Freelander in 2027.

Think of Jaecoo as a mainstream Hyundai, Kia and Toyota alternative and the J5 on test here as a sharply priced small SUV challenger to the Kona, Seltos and Corolla Cross.

Read More About Jaecoo J5

• How Omoda Jaecoo plans to maintain momentum in crowded Chery brand family as Lepas prepares to join in 2026 and Freelander in 2027
• Twin for 2027 Chery Stockman? Jaecoo hybrid ute on the cards as new rival to the 2027 BYD Shark 6 and GWM Cannon Alpha
• Australia’s fastest-growing brand is grabbing sales from BMW, Audi, Mercedes and more, as buyers jump at affordable models like 2027 Jaecoo J5, J7 and J8

And we spent a week behind the wheel to see if it has what it takes to upset the established order in one of the Aussie new-car market’s most hotly contested segments.

Clean, solid, no-fuss design

Elaborate decoration is notable by its absence when it comes to the Jaecoo J5’s exterior. Broad, largely unadorned surfaces give this SUV a clean, solid, no fuss look with the bold waterfall grille and flower petal-style 18-inch ‘Aero’ alloy wheels the closest things come to embellishment.

The interior is similarly minimalist although some visual interest is added via configurable ambient lighting, white perimeter piping and cross stitching on the seats, a diamond pattern on the upper section of the dash and a piano black finish on the front centre console and around the multimedia screen. The colour palette is multi shades of grey, although off-white headlining lifts things a bit. 

For its sub-$35K drive-away price the J5 Summit is loaded with standard equipment, the highlights being:

• All LED exterior lighting
• Intelligent high beam
• Roof rails
• Rain-sensing wipers
• Heated and power-folding exterior mirrors
• Glass sunroof (with power sunshade)
• Power tailgate
• Synthetic leather trim
• Six-way power-adjustable (heated & ventilated) front seats
• Dual-zone climate-control
• Interior ambient lighting
• 8.9-inch digital instrument display
• 13.2-inch multimedia touchscreen
• Eight-speaker audio
• Wired & wireless Android Auto/Apple CarPlay
• Intelligent voice command

We’ll get to safety equipment soon, but without even going there that list of included features is as good or better than pricier hybrid rivals like the Hyundai Kona (from $36,950) or Toyota Corolla Cross (from $37,440), both before on-road costs. 

A lot of capacity in a relatively compact footprint

At just under 4.4m long, less than 1.9m wide and a bit over 1.6m tall with a 2620mm wheelbase the Jaecoo J5 packs a lot of capacity into a relatively compact footprint.

No shortage of breathing room upfront and the rear is surprisingly roomy with ample headroom and decent legroom (for me sitting behind the driver’s seat set for my 183cm position).

The synthetic leather trim is claimed to “stand up to pet claws and everyday spills” and our always enthusiastic doggo put it to the test without any immediate signs of damage.

Heaps of storage with everything from generous door bins (front and rear) to storage bays and boxes, multiple cupholders, pockets and power sources including wireless charging, USB-A and -C ports as well as 12V outlets (front and boot).

Speaking of the boot, it boasts an average 314-litre volume to the top of the rear seatbacks, 410L to the roof and even more with the 60/40 split-folding rear seat lowered. 

There's a big black mark against the lack of a physical spare, though, compounded by the fact Jaecoo puts it right in your face with a spare tyre-shaped cavity under the boot floor and the 12-volt battery plonked in the middle of it. Boo. 

Three powertrain options in Australia

The Jaecoo J5 is offered in Australia in petrol internal-combustion, pure-electric and as tested here, series-parallel hybrid form.

The SHS-H in the car’s name stands for ‘Super Hybrid System-Hybrid’, which is a self-charging powertrain consisting of a 1.5-litre (105kW/215Nm) turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine working in concert with a single (150kW/310Nm) permanent magnet synchronous motor which together send 165kW/295Nm to the front wheels through a dedicated hybrid transmission.

The Jaecoo J5 SHS-H Summit’s official fuel-economy figure on the combined (urban/extra-urban) cycle is 5.6L/100km and over a week of city suburban and some freeway running we saw an impressive average of just 4.6L/100km which equates to a range of more than 1100km. Wow.

This hybrid feels more electric than petrol with plenty of surge from rest and more than enough grunt for the cut and thrust of city traffic and easy freeway cruising.

It’s commendably quiet, although the ride from the strut front, multi-link rear suspension is firm and sensitive to smaller, high-frequency bumps and thumps.

Steering is accurate and road feel is okay, the standard Continental EcoContact 7 rubber is quiet and grippy but the brakes are relatively abrupt on application unless you consciously focus on greasing them in.

All around vision is clear and the inclusion of a quality reversing camera and 360-degree overhead view makes parking a breeze.

Safety tech is extensive

Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) tech is extensive covering everything from auto emergency braking (AEB) to rear cross-traffic alert with any warning, assist, detection and prevention measure you can think of in between. The airbag count is seven, including a front centre bag.

Most of the crash-avoidance systems work well enough, although lane keeping in adaptive cruise mode is manic with micro adjustments constantly tweaking the wheel in your hands. And the driver monitoring system is overly zealous, which is doubly annoying as it typically slaps you on the wrist with a visual and audible alert when you’re digging into the central screen for functions like ventilation that would be better handled by physical controls. Grrr.

Jaecoo Motor Australia covers its cars with a competitive eight-year/unlimited km warranty (including the traction battery) with an initial 12 months of roadside assistance extended for another year each time you carry out a scheduled service at an authorised Jaecoo dealership. 

Recommended service interval is 12 months/15,000km and eight-year/120,000km capped-price servicing can be locked in for an average of just over $426 per workshop visit. Not the lowest when you consider a Toyota Corolla Cross service will set you back $255 for each of the first five years.

There are around 50 Omoda Jaecoo dealers in Australia covering all states and territories except the NT.