The Jaecoo J7 has gotten quite a reception since it was launched last month, thanks to prices starting just slightly higher than the related Chery Tiggo 7 Pro – and significantly below initial estimates. In fact, yours truly has already seen one in his housing area, such is the speed the Chery-owned brand is working at.

There’s a reason for that. The company has announced it has delivered the first 500 units of the J7 to dealers – just three weeks after its launch – putting it well within its planned timeframe of the third quarter of the year (although it should be noted the launch itself was postponed slightly from its original schedule of the first half of the year). Jaecoo Malaysia said it has been building up a self-sufficient ecosystem and network over the past seven months for this moment.

Initial units leaving the Chery Corporate Malaysia Shah Alam plant – exclusive to the Jaecoo brand at the moment – are all-wheel-drive cars, priced at RM148,800 on-the-road without insurance. The next batch of J7s, slated to be delivered in September, will be of the RM138,800 two-wheel-drive model.

“It has been a great year for Jaecoo beginning with an exciting preview period which led to an overwhelmingly positive reception during the official launch of the J7, said Chery Corporate Malaysia executive vice president Leo Chen. “We are very excited to deliver the first 500 units of our J7 and we are equally excited to place customers in the driver’s seat of Malaysia’s hottest premium off-road SUV.”

The J7 is being positioned as a more premium alternative to the usual C-segment SUVs, what with its mildly Land Rover-inspired design, a higher level of interior fit and finish and massive 14.8-inch portrait infotainment touchscreen. Both variants are powered by the same 1.6 litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine as the Tiggo 7 Pro, making 197 PS and 290 Nm – routed through a seven-speed wet dual-clutch transmission.

Aside from the driven wheels (and additional drive modes on the AWD model), the equipment list is also identical between the two, including automatic LED headlights, 19-inch two-tone alloy wheels, keyless entry with remote start, push-button start, power-adjustable seats with memory, heating and ventilation, a head-up display, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a 50-watt Qi wireless charger, a panoramic glass sunroof, a 360-degree camera, an eight-speaker Sony sound system and a hands-free powered tailgate.

The list of driver assists is also vast and includes autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise control with stop and go and curve speed reduction, lane centring assist, an intelligent evasion system, rear collision warning, blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert with auto brake, front departure alert, a door opening warning, auto high beam and park assist.

“Our focus is on maintaining a steady momentum of delivering orders for the J7 in the coming months,” said Jaecoo Malaysia vice president Emily Lek. “We are also very happy to share that our network is ready to immerse our customers in the Jaecoo “From Classic, Beyond Classic” premium customer experience, from vehicle handovers to after-sales service.”

GALLERY: 2024 Jaecoo J7 AWD in Malaysia

Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.