JAC News

Plug-in hybrid utes are taking over the diesel dominated segment in Australia.There has been an influx of PHEV utes into the Australian market.The BYD Shark 6 has captivated buyers' attention, but it faces increasing competition from Chinese rivals such as the GWM Cannon Alpha, along with the Ford Ranger Hybrid.With these utes chasing higher payloads and towing capacities, they are battling against each other to be the dominant player in a still emerging segment.The JAC Hunter is the latest entrant, joining with a competitive price tag and performance figures.How does the Shark 6's latest predator shape to the rest of the competition?Pricing The Hunter will enter the Australian market at a price of less than $50,000, making it the cheapest PHEV ute to date. The BYD Shark 6’s cheapest pick-up variant starts from $57,900, with the Canon Alpha a small step up at beyond $60,000. The Ford Ranger PHEV has had a recent price cut, with a new entry-level XL variant arriving to slip between the Hunter and Shark 6 at $59,000 drive-away.Engine and efficiency *Driving range figures not provided by Ford Australia but calculated over several CarsGuide road tests once battery had been depleted. Ford Australia has been contacted to obtain driving range figures. The JAC Hunter leads the way for power with 360kW for its 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine and dual electric motors, with an official torque figure still be revealed.The Shark 6’s 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine and dual electric motors pumps out 321kW, which betters the 2.0-litre engine and single motor from the Cannon Alpha. GWM’s PHEV ute beats the Shark 6 on torque.A new Shark 6 Performance variant is coming soon with a more powerful 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine. It produces total system outputs of 350kW and 700Nm, and boosts towing to 3500kg, but is $5000 more than the Premium version.Ford’s Ranger PHEV has a 2.3-litre unit, producing 207kW - the least power of any of its competitors, despite competitive torque. For the purposes of a consistent comparison, more generous NEDC figures have been used where possible. NEDC testing is generally more lenient than WLTP, so real-world experience may not match up to the numbers. The important fuel efficiency figure is edged out by the Hunter at 1.6L/100km, but the GWM Cannon Alpha is not far behind at 1.7L/100km. The Shark 6 offers fuel efficiency of 2.0L/100km, with the Ford Ranger at 2.9L/100km. While BYD is the only brand to advertise its fuel use figure without a fully charged battery, it highlights the general importance of these utes having the battery charged to achieve low fuel efficiency figures.JAC has confirmed the Hunter will have an electric-only driving range of 100km from its 31kWh battery, with a total range of 1005km. The Shark 6 has a 30kWh battery, with a total driving range of 800km, and an all-electric range of 100km.The Cannon Alpha has a bigger 37kWh unit, boosting range to 1060km total and 115km for electric-only.The Ranger PHEV has a significantly smaller 12kWh battery, offering an all-electric driving range of 49km, according to WLTP standards. This also means it has the least driving range of the four. BYD’s cheapest Shark 6 pick-up variant is the only one of the PHEV utes to not offer 3500kg braked towing capacity, although there is a more expensive performance variant offering this. The Ranger has the most payload in this group, with the Hunter coming in close, followed by the Shark 6 and then the Cannon Alpha.Verdict The JAC Hunter will launch in Australia with the cheapest price for a PHEV ute by some margin, and also comes in with strong performance figures. Ford's recent price cuts make the Ranger Hybrid a more compelling proposition.But the Shark 6 remains the leader of the PHEV ute market, but with more competitors coming, it could be about to change. GWM will release a cheaper, smaller Cannon ute in the coming weeks.Chery is not too far away from launching a diesel PHEV ute, which will add further choice for buyers. 

JAC has joined the race to be the new Chinese Holden in Australia, raiding the the now-defunct homegrown brand's former engineering stocks to deliver an Aussie-feeling ride and handling tune to its vehicl

A new ute price war is forming as rivals pile in to battle the smash hit petrol-electric ute of the past 18 months.The BYD Shark 6 ute’s arrival in Australia in late 2024 was a moment in time for the local new vehicle market, with the petrol, dual-motor powered plug-in hybrid (PHEV) soon upsetting the seemingly rock solid Ford Ranger / Toyota HiLux duopoly at the top of the 4x4 ute category.Soon enough, Ford introduced its own take on the petrol-electric plug-in ute formula with the Ranger PHEV hitting showrooms mid-last year.But so far it’s barely made a blip on the new vehicle radar map, to the point where ‘MY25.75’ and prior examples have been marked down to a recommended drive-away price of $62,000, a chunky 14 per cent reduction from its previous sticker of $71,990. And that’s before taking into account the latter number did not include on-road costs.That price is available to private as well as fleet and government buyers and shifts cost-of-entry for a Ranger PHEV into the same ballpark as the mid-tier Shark 6 Premium (about $62,900 drive-away).The entry-grade Lux version of the petrol-electric GWM Cannon Alpha PHEV kicks off at $61,490, drive-away, and the just-released JAC Hunter is lining up for a super-aggressive “less than $50K drive-away”.Toyota, so well known for hybrid tech across its passenger car and SUV line ups, has so far only offered a relatively timid 48V mild-hybrid version of its diesel HiLux, starting at $57,990, before on-road costs.Which leaves a four-way PHEV ute cage fight between the BYD Shark 6, Ford Ranger, GWM Cannon Alpha and JAC Hunter.But wait, there’s another combatant due to step into the octagon before the end of this year, the diesel-electric Chery ‘KP31’ - yet to be named, but Orca is looking likely. Get it? Orca, higher up the predatory food chain than Shark.And with a petrol-electric version set to follow sometime in 2027 there’s no doubt (given the way Chery has repositioned the small SUV market with its Tiggo 4) it will be priced to take a sizeable bite out of the opposition.GWM is also preparing a plug-in hybrid version of its cheaper and smaller Cannon ute for later this year to complement the Cannon Alpha workhorse.Stand by for further price movements and positioning tweaks in this ongoing PHEV ute conflict.

Diesel utes have been one of the categories hit hardest by rising fuel prices in Australia, compounding an already slowing segment of the market. Even the best-selling Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux are experiencing sales declines, with month-on-month drops for April.Ute options have grown substantially in recent times, with the addition of several new Chinese competitors. The BYD Shark 6’s success is well-documented, but it is somewhat of an anomaly in a segment where Chinese utes have experienced stuttering sales performances.One of these utes is the Foton Tunland, which was recorded in sales data for the first time in April, managing 97 registrations for the month.The Tunland returned to Australia after a more than eight-year absence Down Under, with a starting price of just under $40K, before on-road costs. The MG U9 is another experiencing a tough sales run, having amassed only 94 units in April and less than 700 units over the course of 2026 so far.With a drive-away price of $52,990, it is not priced too dissimilarly to the segment leaders like the HiLux and Ranger in the dual-cab category. JAC’s T9 also continues this trend, mustering only 56 registrations in April, and only 359 sales so far in 2026.The brand recently released a new cheaper dual-cab chassis ute, starting from $38,990 (before on-road costs) to try and boost its market appeal. One other Chinese ute falling into a similar category, bucking the wider market trend, is the LDV T60, with just 214 sales in April 2026. This number is better than many of its rivals, but still a decent chunk less than the established pack. It is priced from $45,253 (before on-road costs).Meanwhile, many Chinese brands are turning to plug-in hybrid power for their ute offerings, with many announcing new models launching before the end of the year. JAC unveiled its Hunter petrol PHEV ute, which is already open for orders, while the GWM Cannon PHEV will also join the competition soon alongside its larger Cannon Alpha sibling. Later in the year, Chery will enter the ute race with a first-ever diesel PHEV, as a point of difference to the successful Shark 6.Whether this flood of hybrid offerings can change the tide for many of these brands remains to be seen.

LDV is set to muscle in on the rapidly-expanding plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) ute segment in Australia with a two-pronged strategy covering all bases and budgets.Unveiled in Beijing late last month, the T70 PHEV and Terron 9 PHEV are both expected to land locally sometime next year, though importer Ateco Automotive has yet to confirm this.The cheaper of the two will be the T70 PHEV. As a substantial update of the existing, 10-year-old T60 ute (it may retain the old name for Australia), it is expected to match and even undercut other similarly-electrified dual-cab utes also from China.These include the just-announced JAC Hunter PHEV that starts from $50,000 before on-road costs, the GWM Cannon PHEV that is due in Australia from August with pricing yet to be confirmed, as well as the as-yet-unnamed Chery ‘KP31’ that is being prepared for launch in a few months.Meanwhile, the Terron 9 PHEV will be the more-premium choice, taking on the BYD Shark 6 PHEV that kicks off from $57,990 before on-road costs in Premium grade (though a recently-released Cab Chassis version costs $2000 less).GWM’s larger second ute option, the Cannon Alpha PHEV that starts from $61,490 drive-away in base Lux guise, as well as the coming Nissan Frontier Pro PHEV, may also be in the larger LDV PHEV’s crosshairs.In contrast, Australia’s best-selling vehicle over the past two years, the Ford Ranger, is not even in the hunt against these Chinese alternatives, with the PHEV (imported from South Africa instead of Thailand like the rest of the range) commencing from $71,990 before on-road costs in XLT specification, soaring to $86,990 for the Stormtrak flagship.Despite anticipated sharp pricing, the LDV’s powertrain promises to be advanced, combining a petrol engine and an electric motor to offer both mechanical and electric four-wheel-drive capability.Other PHEV details, including powertrain outputs, battery size and range, will be revealed at a later stage.So, what are the other changes to the latest, facelifted T60/T70 series?More than just a makeover, it appears that almost every exterior panel is new from the windscreen forward and the rear window-back, including the sheetmetal and nose cone.And while the basic centre section carries over, the interior has also come in for a complete redesign, with its restyled dashboard incorporating a sizeable central touchscreen/instrumentation display, mimicking that of the Terron 9.Speaking of which, the latter is also set to donate its 163kW/520Nm 2.5-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine to the smaller ute, replacing the 160kW/500Nm 2.0-litre unit as found in the existing T60 in Australia. Whether the same power and torque outputs also carry through is not known at this stage.The coming PHEV is not the first electrified LDV ute to be sold in Australia.The existing T60 has gone down in history as the first ute to offer a battery electric vehicle (EV) option as the eT60 back in 2022.But stratospheric pricing (from nearly $100,000), rear-drive only (so no 4x4 availability) and low carrying capacity scuppered any chance of success, leading to the EV's discontinuation in 2024. That failure seems to have also delayed the eTerron 9 EV indefinitely.LDV is unlikely to make the same mistakes with either the Terron 9 PHEV or T60/T70 PHEV if/when they get the green light for Australia.Watch this space.

JAC is taking the plug-in hybrid ute game to the BYD Shark 6, unveiling its cheaper Hunter rival. It will start from less than $50,000 (before on-road costs), making it around $8000 cheaper than the base dual-cab pick-up variant of the Shark 6. It is not just BYD’s ute the Hunter will take on, with the GWM Cannon also confirmed to be gaining a PHEV set-up to compliment the more expensive Cannon Alpha. There is a PHEV version of the best-selling Ford Ranger on sale in Australia, which is in excess of $20,000 more expensive than the Hunter. The Hunter will also have company from Chery’s codenamed ‘KP31’ diesel PHEV ute coming before the end of the year, with a petrol example following in 2027. JAC’s PHEV ute is powered by a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine and dual electric motors, producing 360kW and a likely near 1000Nm. These figures eclipse even those of the new performance variant of the Shark 6, which launched earlier this year with a price tag of nearly $13,000 more than the Hunter. The Hunter boasts a highly-sort-after 3500kg braking towing capacity, with a payload of 915kg, highlighting its towing potential is in line with diesel rivals, while carrying capacity is little behind. According to the brand, the car has been tested extensively in Australia, facing harsh conditions such as extreme heat and rough unsealed roads.  In conjunction with a 31kWh battery, the ute offers more than 1000km of total driving range, at least according to more generous NEDC testing. Fuel consumption sits at 1.6L/100km, so long as the battery is charged. It has also been given some serious off-roading ability, with a full-time four-wheel drive system as well as front and rear differential locks. Other useful features include vehicle-to-load capabilities, which enables large devices to be charged and powered directly from the car. The Hunter gives JAC an alternative to its diesel-powered JAC T9 ute, which has endured a slow sales return in the competitive ute segment. Reservations on the car open later today.

Utes have been affected substantially by increasing fuel prices, thanks to their large fuel tanks and often thirsty turbo-diesel engines.Diesel fuel prices have jumped to more than $3 per litre, making filling up a diesel ute more expensive than ever.CarsGuide has compiled a list of all the diesel dual-cab pick-up utes on sale, calculating the yearly cost of each at $3.07 per litre (the average price in NSW on 31/3/26) over 15,000km.Isuzu Ute’s D-Max and Mazda BT-50 2.2-litre turbo-diesel variants are the efficiency leaders. The mechanically identical pair of utes cost $3038.02 in fuel in a year, averaging 6.6L/100km.The Ford Ranger’s single turbo-diesel 2.0-litre is next on the list, averaging 6.9L/100km, which equates to $3177.45 over 15,000km. The new mild hybrid Toyota HiLux also has a competitive efficiency figure of 7.1L/100km, which is a little cheaper in fuel than the standard turbo-diesel variants. Three-litre variants of the BT-50 and D-Max vary in cost, given fuel consumption fluctuates between 7.1L/100km and 7.8L/100km depending on the variant.The KGM Musso is one of the thirstiest of the utes, with its up to 9.0L/100km, costing more than $4000 over the course of a year.  The GWM Cannon Alpha diesel was the other ute to exceed the $4000 mark. Concluding the list are the gas guzzling full-size American pick-ups, in Ram’s 2500 and the Chevrolet Silverado HD. Both have V8 diesel engines with a capacity of more than 6.0-litres, meaning they cost more than $7000 over the course of a year.2026 ute fuel figures Australia  *Dependent on variant**Ram does not provide official figures for fuel consumption. This figure is sourced from CarsGuide's real world testing.***Chevrolet does not provide official figures for fuel consumption. This figure is sourced from CarsGuide's real world testing.

If you think you’re seeing a lot more new utes with unfamiliar badges on them, you’re probably not alone.The arrival of new utes from predominantly Chinese brands like the 2026 MG U9, JAC T9 and of course the BYD Shark 6 might seem sudden, but those in the industry have been familiar with many of the seemingly new models for years.Don’t fret, though, we ran the numbers to see just how speedy the rise in new Chinese utes landing in Australia has been, because while the models themselves have been around for a while, some of them have become much more popular lately.In fact, you’re really not just imagining it - a few years ago the number of Chinese utes arriving annually doubled. Over the past decade, the total number of Chinese utes sold in Australia over a year has gone from less than 1000 to almost 40,000.And while the total number of utes sold each year overall also rose, from 190,000 to 235,000 over the same time, you don’t have to be a mathematician to see the massive increase in market share for Chinese brands.Years ago, Great Wall (now GWM) was laying the groundwork, building a more reliable reputation over time and learning how discerning many Aussie ute buyers can be. Anecdotally, early Great Wall utes were hated by mechanics, but GWM now has more than 120 dealers and a seven-year warranty.By the mid-2010s, things were improving, Great Wall utes and the Foton Tunland were still really the only Chinese utes here, racking up annual sales in the hundreds and making up less than 0.5 per cent of the new ute market.In the first couple of years of the 2020s, LDV had arrived and was doing much of the heavy lifting while GWM was in a lull before new generation Cannon utes showed up.Through 2021 to 2024, Chinese utes made up around 6-8 per cent of the new ute market in Australia, though 4x2 utes didn’t follow the trend, with brands focusing on cracking the 4x4 market rather than fighting with the big players in the fleet space.This decade has seen the presence of Chinese utes rise from being sold in the hundreds or four-digit thousands to finally cracking and exceeding 10,000 sales comfortably each year, perhaps with the increasing cost-of-living pressure and subsiding mistrust of early Chinese utes from the ‘bad old days’.But 2025 was the year it really changed, and one name is responsible: Shark.Not Australia’s most storied golfer, but BYD’s plug-in hybrid ute. In 2024, 6.8 per cent of new utes sold in Australia were from Chinese brands - in 2025, that jumped up to 16 per cent.About 15,600 Chinese utes sold in 2024 versus just shy of 37,700 in 2025 comes thanks to the 18,000 new BYD Shark 6 utes bought by Australians in 2025. The total number of utes sold (across 4x2 and 4x4) in Australia didn’t even increase as much as the number of new sales the Shark 6 brought in, 229,219 sales in 2024 is only a few thousand less than the 235,614 sold in 2025.And it doesn’t seem to be slowing, with the Shark 6 performing well even into its second year on sale and helping maintain a 17.6 per cent market share for Chinese utes in the first two months of 2026. Even if BYD’s game-changer doesn’t maintain its place leading the Chinese ute charge, there’s a strong chance it continues to build upon the enthusiasm for the category built up by the likes of GWM.

It might so far only be known for a single dual-cab ute, but Chinese brand JAC has big plans for Australia, recruiting the dynamics engineer behind models like the VE and VF Commodore to prep its vehicles for local conditions.Michael Barber, now of Multimatic but formerly of Holden, has been tasked with tuning the model's next ute, the T9 Hunter plug-in hybrid, for sale in Australia, but the project will likely balloon from there, with JAC confirming a host of new vehicles on the cards for Australia. "There's a huge range, including trucks. There are passenger cars. There are small electric vehicles, which we're also considering," says Ahmed Mahmoud, Managing Director of JAC Motors Australia."We can access the majority of those. We just need to make sure they're fit for purpose, five-star ANCAP, all of those things."They're the requirements of the average Australian. You can't just bring junk into the country, right? "If you're going to bring something in, you've got to make sure that it fits the brand and what we're trying to do. But it's also not going to be ripped apart from an ANCAP or a driving perspective."Next to arrive for the brand will be a Ford Everest-style ute-based SUV that rides on the T9 platform, though it's unclear whether it will take the diesel powertrain or the new and potent plug-in hybrid system. It is expected to arrive within the next 12 months.Beyond that, the brand says "we have options for small passenger cars and SUVs in that hybrid or full electric space".Top of the list would surely be the JS6 PHEV - a mid-size SUV that pairs a to deliver a 120km all-EV driving range, and a total 1150kms on a tank of fuel and a charged battery. A bigger JS8 SUV offers three-rows of seating.Also on the table is the smaller E30X city EV, a direct rival to models like the BYD Atto 2 and GWM Ora. With a Holden flavour to the ride and handling, and a growing product portfolio, it makes JAC the latest Chinese brand to lean on local expertise to produce fit-for-purpose vehicles in our market."(Barber) is contracted to do a lot of the testing," Mr Mahmoud says.

The latest details on Chinese brand JAC's Hunter PHEV (plug-in hybrid) have been revealed – along with some bold suggestions about its price.First revealed at the Melbourne Motor Show in April 2025, the plug-in hybrid powerhouse is now targeting June deliveries ahead of a July on-sale date in Australia.Powered by a new 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine which combines with twin electric motors — one on each axle — the Hunter PHEV produces an approximate 385kW and 1000Nm in total output.Joining the engine and motors is a 31.2kWh lithium-iron phosphate battery, which JAC suggests should deliver an all-electric driving range ofaround 100kms.The brand today confirmed the NEDC efficiency figures for the Hunter PHEV, with the plug-in hybrid ute to use a claimed 1.6L/100km combined, and deliver a total 1005km in total driving range.There will clearly be an off-road focus, too, with the Hunter grade to spawn a small family of utes, including cheaper entry-level models to diff-lock equipped off-road models.While the brand won't be drawn directly on price, JAC is promising "the right ute at the right time, and it will be at the right price", with its local Managing Director, Ahmed Mahmoud, suggesting it could be the most affordable plug-in hybrid ute in the country."Suffice it to say, (the price) is going to be very, very strong," he told CarsGuide.Asked directly whether the Hunter would be cheaper than the $57,900 (drive-away) BYD Shark 6, Mr Mahmoud replied: "It could be".JAC is also yet to confirm the official zero to 100km/h time of the Hunter PHEV, but international reports from is Chinese reveal claim the run takes just 5.9 seconds – about the same as the 5.8-ish seconds the Ford Ranger Raptor has been tested at. "We’re launching the right ute at the right time, and it will be at the right price,” Mr Mahmoud says.“The Hunter PHEV is arriving in Australia mid this year, and we believe it is going to get the attention of Australians looking to move into a plug-in hybrid without compromising on the capability, practicality and toughness they need from a ute.”