Renault Arkana vs Jaecoo J7

What's the difference?

Renault’s Arkana coupe-style compact SUV has been hit with its first makeover, which ushers in a range of styling changes, increased equipment and new model grade names.

There are few cars like it in the compact SUV segment, where vehicles usually favour the boxier, traditional SUV wagon shape over the stylish but often internal space compromised coupe SUVs.

Renault Australia is only expecting about one per cent share of the segment or around 1500 sales a year.

But if you want to stand out from the crowd of Mazda CX-30, Mitsubishi ASX and Toyota Corolla Cross small SUVs then the Arkana might be for you.

Jaecoo has entered the medium SUV space with the J7, pairing a plug-in hybrid powertrain with a sharply positioned price tag. On paper, it’s a compelling formula; electrified efficiency without the 'premium'.

But the J7 doesn’t arrive in a vacuum. It sits above its smaller sibling, the J5, and goes head-to-head with some increasingly polished rivals - the mechanically related Chery Tiggo 7 Super Hybrid, GWM Haval H6 GT PHEV, MG HS Super Hybrid and now the BYD Sealion 5. And all of them are chasing the same buyer.

So the question isn’t just whether the J7 is good value. It’s whether it carves out a clear identity of its own in a segment that’s quickly filling up.