JAC T9 UTE vs Cavan C1

What's the difference?

Although Chinese manufacturer JAC Motors (Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Company Ltd) is a relatively new player in Australia’s 4x4 ute market, it has more than six decades of experience in automotive design and production and is one of China’s largest exporters of utes and other light commercials.

Its local T9 range of 4x4 dual cab utes launched in 2024 has recently expanded to include a cab-chassis variant, given company estimates that around 60 per cent of its tradie audience customise their vehicles. So, in offering what JAC calls a ‘blank canvas’ for T9 buyers, the cab-chassis provides an ideal platform for installation of a custom-made tray or other service body to suit specific owner requirements.

We recently put this new work-focused model to the test from a tradie’s perspective to see if it has the credentials to be a compelling alternative to its many rivals.

It was, of course, inevitable that electric cargo vans would fall in price. Even allowing for the front-loading of running costs inherent in an EV, the fact that many cargo vans are company-owned and, therefore, purchased largely on price, meant somebody would hit the market with a cheapie that did the job.

In Australia, the cut-price last-mile vans include the Kia PV5 EV and Farizon V7E, both with price-tags under $56,000. The Farizon was the title-holder at sub-$50K drive-away, but a newcomer called the Cavan C1 rewrites that script with a starting price of under $45,000, drive-away, for the cheapest version.

A sub-brand of Chinese behemoth Foton, the Cavan brand will be distributed and retailed in Australia by a separate company to Inchcape (the local Foton distributor) and at the moment, there’s but a single dealership (in Melbourne’s south-east suburbs). That will surely change, however, as deliveries ramp up and the word gets out. In fact, as we go to press, a second dealership, also in Melbourne, has been announced.