JAC of all tradies? 2024 JAC T9 ute pricing confirmed as Chinese LDV T60, GWM Ute Cannon rival hits Australian shores

JAC is back, and, with its big, brash and bargain-priced ute - and a national network of more than 50 dealers - it’s going to be hard to miss.

It is pronounced “Jack” rather than J.A.C, and that means you’re definitely going to hear an ad line along the lines of “JAC of all tradies”. And you’ll hear it a lot, because JAC is taking our market very seriously indeed.

The Chinese state-owned manufacturer made a failed attempt to launch into the Australian market with its commercial vehicles, before quietly skulking away with its tail-hitch between its legs, but now it’s back in a big way, with a national launch yesterday in Sydney for its new JAC T9 Ute attended by a number of Chinese executives, including the JAC Group Chairman, and former NSW Trade Minister, the Honourable Stuart Ayres.

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Xiang Xingchu, the JAC Group Chairman, announced, via a translator, that his company had spent “100 million Australian dollars” on the launch of the JAC T9 ute, powered by a 2.0-litre diesel engine, “to craft it specially for this market”.

The launch of the large, dual-cab “luxury ute”, which will go on sale in April with a starting price of $42,662 before on-road costs, was variously described as a moment that would “shape the future of automotive excellence” and an example of “the relentless pursuit of perfection”, which sounds a bit more like the kind of language usually used at Porsche or BMW launches.

Danny Lenartic, Managing Director of JAC Motors Australia, added that his team was going to “deliver a portfolio with… European-inspired fit and finish that sets us apart in the market”.

The launch of the large, dual-cab “luxury ute”, which will go on sale in April with a starting price of ,662 before on-road costs.

In the metal, the T9 Ute also succeeds by looking less like its Chinese rivals, and more like a Japanese ute with a big American pick-up truck nose.

Those Chinese rivals include the GWM Ute Cannon and the LDV T60, while other models in its crosshairs are the SsangYong Musso, Mitsubishi Triton, Nissan Navara, and the three big guns - the Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux and Isuzu D-Max.

Mr Xingchu pointed out that JAC is one of the top 500 employers in China, is already on sale in 132 countries in the world and has 19 factories operating outside of China. It also has joint-venture agreements with global car giant Volkswagen and IT company Huawei.

It has already sold one million vehicles around the world and has its first fully electric vehicle set to launch in Australia this year.

It has already sold one million vehicles around the world and has its first fully electric vehicle set to launch in Australia this year. EV and PHEV T9 Utes are on the way, and JAC is invested in hydrogen technology and, in China, trucks with battery-swapping ability.

“JAC aims to become a mainstream automobile in the Australian market, and we will only increase our investment in terms of the Australian market in terms of research and development,” Mr Xingchu added.

Mr Ayres, for his part, said he was excited about a future in which we would all be driving electric utes and that Australian consumers were voting with their pockets and “purchasing Chinese manufactured vehicles in greater numbers than ever, because of their value, and because they’re safe”.

They come with seven airbags as standard and a suite of advanced safety systems.

He said the fact that the top-three selling vehicles in Australia currently were all utes meant there was “a great opportunity for JAC to slip into the market”.

Mr Lernatic added that it was his belief that consumers had spoken and that, for many families, "the new SUV is the ute”.

As such he said JAC’s T9 Ute, with its “cutting-edge technology, luxury and comfort” was the perfect vehicle “for the next chapter in automotive history”.

The T9 will be offered in just two grades, the Oasis, at ,662 before on roads, and the slightly more up-spec Haven at ,630, both offered with a seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty.

The T9 will be offered in just two grades, the Oasis, at $42,662 before on roads, and the slightly more up-spec Haven at $45,630, both offered with a seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty.

The utes have yet to be ANCAP tested, but they will be, and JAC is confident of a five-star safety rating. They also come with seven airbags as standard and a suite of advanced safety systems.

The T9 Ute has a 3.5-tone towing capacity, a 1000kg payload capacity (the track fits a standard Aussie pallet).

The T9 Ute has a 3.5-tone towing capacity, a 1000kg payload capacity (the track fits a standard Aussie pallet), an 800mm wading depth, a 3110mm wheelbase, width of 1965mm, height of 1920mm and a kerb weigh of 2055kg.

Motivating all that metal is a 2.0-litre turbo diesel engine with 125kW and 410Nm, and a claimed fuel-economy figure of 8.5 litres per 100km.