Avatr 07

First Impressions

Walking up to the Avatr 07 for the first time, it greeted me by unlocking itself automatically. That's a nice touch. The exterior design is clean and understated, which will polarize opinions. Some will find it elegant, others might call it bland. That logo still gets jokes about looking like a housing authority emblem, but in person the light-bar treatment across the front gives it a modern presence.

What grabbed my attention immediately was the sheer amount of tech visible even before getting inside: camera side mirrors instead of traditional glass, sensors everywhere, and a front trunk that pops open on gas struts. This car wants you to know it's from the future.

Design and Exterior

The body wears an eight-layer paint process that gives the purple launch colour genuine depth under sunlight. Side profile is sporty enough with 21-inch Continental rubber on the AWD variant and flush door handles. The rear is clean with a full-width light bar, though I genuinely miss having a rear wiper. In tropical downpours, that sloped rear glass is going to collect water and grime with no way to clear it.

The camera side mirrors deserve special mention. They look fantastic and reduce drag, but they're an acquired taste. At night they're actually clearer than glass mirrors, with better range and no glare. During the day, judging distance takes practice. Reversing at night was where I struggled most.

Interior and Tech

Step inside and it feels like a cockpit from a sci-fi film. The 35-inch panoramic display stretches across the entire dash in 4K resolution, flanked by the camera mirror screens. A 15-inch central touchscreen handles climate and infotainment, with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto both supported. Meridian handles audio duties across ten speakers, and it sounds genuinely impressive.

Materials are top-tier. The Napa leather seats are soft and supportive with heating, ventilation, and massage functions. The rear seats recline electrically and offer enormous legroom and headroom. I'd argue this is one of the most comfortable back seats in any mid-size SUV I've sat in. My only gripe: there are no USB ports in the rear unless you buy the accessory tablet mount kit. That's a bizarre omission for a car this loaded.

Driving Experience

This is where Avatr has clearly done its homework for our market. Previous Avatr models had suspension that was too soft and wallowy for Thai tastes. The 07's air suspension is a different story entirely. In Sport mode, body roll is impressively minimal, the steering tightens up with real weight and precision, and the dual motors deliver a savage 3.9-second sprint that pins you to the seat.

In Normal mode, the character shifts completely. The steering goes light with a free zone around centre, the suspension softens, and the car becomes a relaxed cruiser. It's perfect for city driving and highway trips. The yoke-style steering wheel works better than expected in daily use. It's compact, grippy, and the turning circle is manageable with roughly one full rotation lock-to-lock. Reversing is the only time it gets confusing since you lose track of which way the wheel is oriented.

The auto-parking system deserves a shout-out. It found a tight spot, navigated around a pillar that had me holding my breath, and slotted in cleanly. You can even step out and let it park remotely.

Comfort and Practicality

The 50-litre front trunk is handy for soft bags, though it does get warm so avoid storing anything heat-sensitive. The rear boot expands past 1,000 litres with seats folded. The panoramic glass roof floods the cabin with light, and electric sunshades keep things cool.

One quirk: every time you open a door, all four windows drop slightly to equalize cabin pressure for easier closing. Great in theory, but on humid evenings mosquitoes invaded the cabin in seconds. I learned to manage the window drop settings after a couple of buggy nights.

Value for Money

The Avatr 07 comes absurdly well-equipped. Air suspension, panoramic dash display, Meridian audio, full Level 2 driver assists, electric seats with massage, ambient lighting, auto-parking. You'd need to step into a premium European EV to match this feature list, and even then some items would be optional extras. It competes directly with the likes of the Xpeng G6 and Seres 7X, and in terms of sheer equipment count, it arguably leads the pack.

Final Verdict

The Avatr 07 is a seriously impressive package that shows how far Chinese EVs have come in the luxury space. The suspension tuning is spot-on, the interior is genuinely lavish, and the tech borders on overwhelming. It's not perfect: the software needs more polish, real-world range could be better, and some of the futuristic touches like camera mirrors and the yoke steering demand patience.

If you're shopping for a tech-forward family SUV and you're willing to embrace some unconventional design choices, this deserves a test drive. I'd suggest waiting for the final production software before signing anything, but the hardware foundation here is rock solid.