Watch out US, China's coming for your SUVs: 2026 IM Motors LS9 hybrid revealed in China with its sights set on the Zeekr 9X, Denza N9 and big American SUVs

Move over America, there is a new big SUV titan in town.

China’s love affair with oversized SUVs isn’t slowing down, with MG’s premium brand IM Motors showing off its new hybrid behemoth.

This joins big boy SUVs from BYD’s Denza, Geely, Li Auto and Zeekr.

It’s big, measuring 5279 mm long, 2000 mm wide and 1806mm tall, which dwarfs a Toyota LandCruiser or Nissan Patrol and puts it on a collision course with American brutes such as the V8-powered GMC Yukon that just launched in Australia.

The LS9 is a range-extender hybrid, which uses a petrol motor purely as a generator to charge a sizeable battery that then powers electric motors that drive the wheels. The battery can also be charged by plugging in to a charger.

This set-up in the LS9 uses a 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine, two electric motors that combine for 390kW and a sizeable battery. Exact battery specifications aren’t available yet, but it is claimed to deliver an electric-only driving range of up to 450 via the more generous China Light-duty Test Cycle (CLTC) rather than the benchmark WLTP regime.

Range extender hybrids are said to provide benefits over plug-in hybrids as it delivers the zippy performance of an electric car without the range anxiety of EVs. Plug-in hybrids can be driven with electric-only power, petrol-only power or a blend of both

Pictures of the LS9 show it has all the hallmarks of a Chinese premium SUV, with big chunky styling, a bluff front end with a light bar and dynamic headlights, huge alloy wheels and lots of Lidar to enable driving-assist tech.

There is no word on the LS9's potential availability in Australia, but IM Motors is about to launch here with the IM5 and IM6 mid-size sedan and SUV. Both vehicles will fall under MG’s umbrella here via the IM Presented by MG Motor sub brand.