Jaecoo wants to become the car of choice for man’s best friend.
The Chery spin-off brand recently received certification from the German transport authority, TUV SUD, which it says makes the upcoming Jaecoo J5 compact SUV the world’s first pet-friendly car.
The J5 features unique silicone-based seat trim material that has been specifically designed for pet owners, in that it is both anti-bacterial and scratch resistant.
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To achieve certification from the TUV SUD, the material underwent 32 separate laboratory tests to demonstrate its resilience and durability.
And now Jaecoo says the pet-friendly tag is a unique proposition that will become a key element in all of its future vehicles.
“This is a very proud moment for me, and will become something unique for Jaecoo,” Omoda Jaecoo brand CEO, Shawn Xu, told CarExpert during an exclusive interview at the company’s Chinese headquarters in Wuhu last week.
“Jaecoo is a brand for outdoors people, and they must enjoy this with their friends, their children and also their pets. This is what Jaecoo means for everyone, including dogs.
“We are number one with this.”
Mr Xu said the idea came from customer feedback during a trip to Poland last year.
“Because I travel to many countries, we listen to what the customer says a lot about our cars,” he explained.
“I was in a dealership in Poland, and I saw one young couple came in to look at our car, and I asked them what was the reason. The customer said his current car was not big enough for their dog, and they wanted to find something new that was suitable.
“So, when I come back to China, I asked our engineering team ‘okay, how can we create the Jaecoo J5 which makes the car friendly for people’s pets?’”
The end result, after more than 1000 hours of research and development, is a new organic silicon-based seat material that has proven to be twice as resistant to being damaged and scratched, while also maintaining a soft skin-like texture in extreme weather conditions.