New Chinese luxury ute incoming: Australia playing a key role in the SUV-based Omoda or Jaecoo ute, which is a successor to the Holden Commodore ute or the modern day Ford Maverick

The boss of Omoda Jaecoo, Shawn Xu, told CarsGuide how the sub-brands are likely to score their own version of the upcoming Chery ute, and Australia is a key part of the puzzle.

When asked if Omoda and Jaecoo would stick to an SUV-only plan, at least for Australia, Xu said: “Right now SUV is still the largest segment so we are focused on SUV, but pickups [utes] also have a huge demand, so we’re going to have a few different pickups for different markets.”

“Chery will consider pickups, and we will also consider [them],” he explained, stressing that Omoda and Jaecoo would share platforms with their parent company, but with a specific design and powertrain focus more suited to their techy and more luxury aspirations, respectively

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“Omoda and Jaecoo are differentiated — and the pick-up will be the same — we will try to differentiate with Chery. Some things will be shared, but some things will be different, it could be Chery will consider the one-tonne [ladder-frame] pick-up. We won’t just consider this, but also a compact [monocoque] pick-up.” he said.

The brand was able to explore the possibility of multiple versions of utes thanks to demand in other markets, not just Australia, where Chery and its sub-brands already have a big presence.

“Not only Australia, but Brazil and these kinds of markets also have a large demand for this kind of pick-up,” he said.

Xu’s comments add to other recent comments to CarsGuide by Chery’s global head of engineering, David Lu, who said Australia was a key market for 4x4s and the brand considers it a staging ground for a potential future entry into the US market.

2026 Rely R8

How long may it be before we see the Omoda Jaecoo ute? If Chery sticks to its timeline, it could be as soon as next year, with the local boss of the Chinese parent company, Lucas Harris recently telling CarsGuide we could see its version as soon as the second half of 2026.

Don’t expect either ute to look anything like what we’ve seen so far. Harris confirmed the coming Chery ute won’t “even a little bit” look like the Rely R08, which was revealed at the Shanghai Motor Show earlier this year.

“It’s a totally different platform, a totally different car,” Harris said at the time. He said the ‘Chery Himla’ version of the R08 seen in Shanghai was a left-hand drive vehicle with “no relevance for our market.”

2026 Chery ute render (Image: Thanos Pappas)

Far from being just another ute though Chery has plans to try something different with what could be Australia’s first diesel plug-in, which Harris said was his preference for the Australian market as a point of difference.

“I personally think that is a really exciting proposition because it is so different” he told CarsGuide previously.

Of course, the brand has also confirmed a slew of more predictable combustion power sources, including the 2.3-litre turbo diesel four-cylinder (120kW/420Nm) which will debut on the Rely R08 overseas.

Rely, which is yet another Chery sub-brand designed specifically to rival GWM’s Cannon range of utes, is plotting five new models over the next few years, all seemingly pick-up trucks or utes in different size brackets, leaving the door open for plenty of donor products to wear Chery, Omoda, or Jaecoo badges in export markets like Australia.