Jetour X70 Plus value for money

DRIVE: TRANSLATORS, ENGINEERS MUST FINE TUNE STUFF

- Mark Jones

A brand new Jetour X70 Plus arrived on my driveway, and I thought to myself, why would Chery International bring in another SUV brand into our market when they have their own Chery, Omoda and Jaecoo brands all already playing in a segment that is offering SUVs that might look different, but all do the same thing?

The first answer I could come up with was that they are not here to fight each other for your money; they are here to try and lure you out of Toyota's, Hyundai's, Kia's, VW's, Ford's, and whoever else's showrooms you can think of.

The second answer, which is a massive part of their success strategy, is that they are offering well-priced vehicles that come fitted with an impressive array of luxury features and tech on board, all as standard fitment.

The Jetour X70 Plus is just such a vehicle, in that it is a mid-size SUV that comes in at R484,900 and has plenty of space as a usable 7-seater.

It's not as lavish as a range-topping Omoda C9 or as pricey as a Jaecoo J7, and as such, it falls neatly somewhere between a Chery Tiggo 7 and Tiggo 8.

Perhaps I should mix the positives up with the negatives as I go along. There is a list of things that ranged from being quirky in typical Chinese fashion, that most new owners will probably live with, to some things that really frustrated me.

I thought the look of the Jetour, though very Audi-like and nothing like its smaller Urus-looking Dashing sibling, was not bad at all. Many complimented the car during the week I drove it.