Could China's take on the Ford Falcon ute actually work in Australia? Chery prepares a new SUV-based ute to rival the US's Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz

We now know that Chery will be among the wave of new Chinese utes hitting Australia (think BYD, MG, GWM et al), with the relative newcomer to launch not one but two new utes.

One will be a Toyota HiLux- and Ford Ranger-rivalling ladder-frame ute, of the kind we've become very familiar with, but it's ute number two that is the most curious.

Unlike Ford and Hyundai, both of whom have kept the Maverick and Santa Fe locked out of Australia, Chery will launch a car-based lifestyle ute in Australia that will channel the spirit of the Holden Commodore- and Ford Falcon-based utes of yesteryear.

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If it works, it will it would mark a return to 2017 and earlier, when car-based monocoque utes roamed the roads.

"I think towards the end of next year we'll have two different options. One is going to be more of a recreational style, you know, that sort of 600 or 700 kilo payload. So that'll be really interesting," Chery Australia Chief Operating Officer, Lucas Harris, has told CarsGuide.

As previously reported, the Jaecoo J8 large SUV could underpin the 'lifestyle' ute, which would deliver a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine that makes 183kW and 385Nm paired to an eight speed auto.

It would also be no more or less capable off road than an AWD-equipped SUV, meaning the really rough stuff would be off the table.

While it's expected to be bigger than the US-spec Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz, and adopt more a tray-backed SUV body shape, the punt on a lifestyle ute could potentially pay big dividends in Australia.

Consider that, in the US during the first six months of 2025, some 86,000 examples of the Ford Maverick have been sold, while more than 12,000 examples of the Santa Cruz found homes – albeit in a much bigger market.

It would also be a fresh face against an increasingly congested dual-cab ute segment — which some manufacturers are warning has peaked.

The 4x4 ute category has been essentially flat over the first six months of 2025, up 0.1 percent to 108,105 sales, while 4x2 sales have fallen by 16.9 percent to 11,613.

Toyota has warned that the segment will fall, or, at least, each manufacturer's market share will drop, as more and more products are launched in the more traditional dual-cab space.

"We already know that the number of ute models available to Australian buyers will expand rapidly,” Toyota Australia Vice President Sales, Marketing and Franchise Operations, Sean Hanley, has previously told CarsGuide.

“They’ll be competing for an overall ute market that is likely to remain steady, which suggests that the average sales per model will come down as a result."

All of which puts new lifestyle utes in an interesting position, in that they could present a fresh alternative in the segment, or they could be lumped in with the existing ute crop and struggle.

Only time will tell if the brand's back-to-the-future gamble will pay off.