JAC JS6 review: Compact and quirky ride for those after an automotive alternative

The Chinese brand's new mini-SUV is unusual, but it remains a challenger for more established options

The JS6 is JAC's newest Middle East arrival. All photos: JAC

That's what you might call subtle lighting

Room for three in the back

The JS6 gives little impression of being a budget option

The JS6 has been kitted out with a 1.5-litre turbocharged engine

Through the desert in convoy

The JS6 is a midsize affair, but the boot space is decent

The JS6 is a front-wheel drive option, so you may not want to get involved in anything too rough

Chinese car manufacturers are continuing to make their presence felt in global motoring circles.

Domestically, many of these automakers are already well established, but a lot of us in other parts of the globe are still playing catch-up.

A case in point is JAC, a state-owned manufacturer who, in one shape or another, has been knocking vehicles out on its home turf since 1964.

Admittedly, it was all commercial stuff like lorries and vans in the early days, but in recent years, the company has branched out with a rather more alluring selection of cars geared towards your average road-using punter.

One of the company’s latest arrivals comes in the shape of the JS6, a mid-size SUV that’s clearly been designed to take on more globally recognised vehicles in the same class bumper on.

It’s a budget option, but as is often the case these days with cars fitting into that bracket, that is not necessarily a negative.

The first thing you notice about the JS6 is its neat looks, having been fitted with some appealing, lateral curves that suggest go-faster stripes, married to an array of properly modern external features.

To cite a couple of examples, the twin sets of whip-thin lights, both at the front and rear, and assertive grille, all give the impression the car’s design team threw any retro considerations into a skip outside the studio right at the outset.

There are faster cars in the same segment – the JS6 has a 0-100kph time of 9.8 seconds – but that still feels sufficient in a car of this size.

Less expensive cars used to really show their true colours when you got inside them, but the JS6 cabin is a distinctly agreeable place to sit down in.

The seating is as comfortable as any worthy competitor and the panoramic sunroof adds to a feeling of spaciousness.

The dashboard set up is easy to navigate, with information being provided across the length of a 24.6-inch dual screen.

The JS6 is not an outstanding vehicle, but it is hard to find an area where it isn’t, even at worst, competent.

That might sound like damning the car with faint praise, but not a bit of it – with all the efforts being made by manufacturers to improve their vehicles these days, there are still quite a few models that don’t pass this basic test.

The simple fact of the matter is the JS6 is cheerful to drive and fun to be seen in.

It’s a zippy, urban ride with enough gadgetry to raise it well above the kind of cost-effective offering buyers might have expected only a few years ago.

You get a lot of kit for your money – any decently sized car being sold for nearly a third under the six-figure dirham mark can only go well in its favour if you’re looking to maximise your value for money quotient.

Naturally, with any vehicle it's impossible to comment on long-term reliability over the course of a test lasting only a few days.

The JS6, though, has the feel of a car with its nuts, bolts, electrical components, windscreen washer, the lot, all in the right places, and that alone is likely to make it a contender.