Is Doubao starting to make cars? Seeing this headline, most people's first reaction is probably exactly that. Don't get the wrong idea—Doubao hasn't entered the fray itself. The one actually putting "Doubao" into a car is Roewe.
On October 23, the Roewe Jiayue 07 officially launched, a brand-new five-seat mid-size SUV measuring 4.9 meters long, starting at 119,800 yuan after benefits, with Qualcomm's 8295 cockpit chip standard across the range, three of its four trims equipped with lidar, and the first to feature Doubao's native large-model cockpit. AI cockpit, lidar, a large five-seat layout, and a starting price of 119,800 yuan are all packed into the same car—and this long-dormant brand finally seems to have drawn a card that lets it sit at the table again.
The pre-sale numbers are nothing to sneeze at either: pre-sales opened on September 21, orders topped 10,000 within an hour, 20,000 within 48 hours, and cumulative orders have now passed 40,000—already showing blockbuster potential.
Exterior design: positioned for family use, taking a steady and enduringly appealing route
The front face of the Jiayue 07 adopts the closed-off design common to pure electric vehicles, with a full-width Starlink headlight stretching the visual width of the entire front end. Nearly 3,000 embossed starlight lamp units are arranged across the front, paired with a standard active grille shutter, giving the whole front end more layering while raising the visual center of gravity—it looks quite imposing.
Moving to the side, the Jiayue 07 uses many horizontal and vertical lines, with semi-hidden door handles and dense-spoke wheels being today's popular pairing. Chrome trim along the window edges adds a touch of refinement, creating a good sense of a large vehicle. In terms of dimensions, it measures 4,900mm long, 1,910mm wide, and 1,745mm tall (1,753mm with roof rails), with a 2,908mm wheelbase—this stature is already on par with some mid-to-large SUVs.
The rear wraps up with a full-width taillight, and the narrow-top, wide-bottom design carries a slight retro feel, raising the overall visual center. Overall, the Roewe Jiayue 07 can be said to have nothing to do with sportiness—it's fully focused on family attributes.
Space: the large five-seat layout is genuinely practical
Space is one of the Jiayue 07's strengths. Logically, its size could easily accommodate a six-seat layout, like the Starlight L and Leapmotor C16, but the Jiayue 07 is a large five-seat layout across the entire range, prioritizing both rear-seat space and loading capacity.
The trunk has a standard volume of 834L, with excellent internal vertical space that can fit 10 20-inch suitcases, and an additional 81L of dedicated storage hidden under the floor, totaling 915L. With the rear seats folded down, the volume can expand to 2,174L, and thanks to the extra-long internal depth and vehicle width, laying down a mattress turns it into a bed—very convenient for road trips and camping.
The rear-seat space is very generous. At my height of 178cm, I can easily cross my legs. The seat cushion length is excellent, the seats support 143-degree power adjustment with heating and ventilation functions, and together with dual zero-gravity front seats and 16-point massage, long-distance comfort is guaranteed.
The "queen's vanity" on the passenger side comes with a soft-light fill light—a detail that caters to the lady of the household. The car also features a 7.5L dual-mode hot-and-cold fridge, using a compressor-plus-semiconductor cooling solution, with a temperature range from -6°C to 50°C, supporting frost-free air cooling, odor removal, and forgotten-item reminders, and can make ice in as fast as 10 minutes. From these configurations, it's clear the Jiayue 07's target audience is well defined—family users who want to care for the whole family's travel comfort without compromising on features.
Cockpit interaction: Doubao cockpit at the core, reconstructing in-car interaction logic
The cockpit system is the most talked-about part of the Jiayue 07. Standard across the range is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8295P cockpit chip + 24GB RAM + 256GB storage combination, paired with a floating 15.6-inch 2.5K central control screen and an 8.88-inch embedded instrument cluster. On hardware fundamentals alone, it has almost no rival in its class.
But the real highlight is the Doubao cockpit assistant it debuts. Unlike other cockpit systems equipped with Doubao's voice large model, the Jiayue 07 is built on over 2,000 SOA full-domain service interfaces, enabling atomic-level scheduling of the vehicle's hardware. When a user gives a continuous stream of requirements, the system can understand intent, break down tasks, and coordinate navigation and vehicle controls to execute them in sequence.
What's even more special is the Doubao screen, which adjusts its orientation and gaze based on occupant position, combining facial expressions and voice to form a triple expression of "action + expression + sound." Relying on OMS and DMS cameras and four-zone voice recognition, it can perceive the state and emotions of people in the car, and respond to dialects, whispers, and role-play. Such features are somewhat icing on the cake, but turning AI from a passive command tool into a perceptive companion is an approach with its own distinctiveness in the industry.
In the rear, there's also a 15.6-inch foldable entertainment screen supporting 110-degree adjustment, dual-screen zoning, and wireless screen mirroring, certified by TÜV Rheinland for low blue light, with an 18+2 speaker audio system standard across the range.
Driver assistance solution: empowered by Momenta
On the driver assistance front, the Jiayue 07 has also invested heavily. Apart from the entry-level trim, the main-selling trims have a lidar module on the roof, with a software-hardware integrated solution composed of Momenta's R7 world model and the XHEART X7 large-model chip designed for the new architecture. The core logic of this system isn't just identifying vehicles, pedestrians, and obstacles in front of it, but combining motion trends to judge where targets will move next. Two-wheelers suddenly darting out at night, fallen objects rolling into the lane—it can combine trajectories to decelerate, brake, or steer around them in advance.
The scenarios it targets are also very down-to-earth: mixed pedestrian and vehicle traffic at hospital entrances, complex roundabouts, six-way intersections, and narrow roads with stone bollards—these high-difficulty road conditions in Chinese cities are all key adaptation directions. For parking, it supports extremely narrow perpendicular parking with just 20cm of clearance on one side, adapts to over 300 types of parking spaces, and includes dead-end parking, remote park-in, and one-tap curb hugging. For a family SUV, this capability covers several of the most headache-inducing scenarios in urban commuting, with outstanding practical value.
Range-extender powertrain and chassis: balancing daily commuting and long-distance travel
In terms of power, the Jiayue 07 is equipped across the range with a 1.5L four-cylinder range-extender dedicated engine, with the range extender producing a maximum power of 72kW and peak torque of 130N·m. As a 4.9-meter mid-size SUV, the 1.5L engine does seem a bit like a small horse pulling a big cart, but as a range extender for generating electricity, it's more than sufficient.
The rear-mounted single motor produces a maximum power of 162kW and peak torque of 350N·m. The battery is lithium iron phosphate across the range, offered in two specifications: 32.6kWh (CATL) and 44.2kWh (Jiangsu Zhengli): the former has a CLTC pure electric range of 220km and WLTC combined fuel consumption of 5.29L/100km; the latter has a pure electric range of 320km, CLTC combined range of 1,480km, WLTC fuel consumption of 4.97L/100km, and 30% to 80% fast charging in as fast as 15 minutes.
Actually, one thing I personally still find quite strange: the entry-level trim uses CATL cells, while the long-range version uses Jiangsu Zhengli—there's a bit of a reverse upgrade feel to it. Presumably the 220-kilometer range version is also a main-selling configuration.
Competitor comparison and market positioning: range-extender only across the range, differentiated competition
Looking at the market, the Jiayue 07's direct rivals are the BYD Sealion 06 and Leapmotor C11, while the Starlight L is also a competitor. The Sealion 06 wins on its dual plug-in hybrid and pure electric powertrains and mature channel system; the Leapmotor C11 also offers both pure electric and range-extender options, focusing on large space and high-configuration value.
The Jiayue 07's differentiated approach is clear: range-extender only across the entire range, fundamentally reducing concerns about long-distance travel; then using the AI-native cockpit and Momenta driver assistance to build its own label, rather than simply stacking parameters like competitors. The product targets family users who use electricity for daily commuting, take long road trips on holidays, and have requirements for in-car interaction experience.
Final thoughts
The Jiayue 07's product strength genuinely lives up to its price. An AI cockpit and a lidar-equipped assistance solution are rare at the 130,000 level, and especially with a 4.9-meter vehicle length and comfort features throughout the car, even Leapmotor has to steer clear. The current pre-sale result of 40,000 units counts as a modest hit, but later delivery, quality stability, and product experience are the keys to determining whether the Jiayue can become a sustained blockbuster.
Jiayue, in Keyboard Guy's view, is short for family off-roading. For this high-value family off-roader from Roewe, would you choose it?
