JAC unapologetically chasing fleet volume

JAC Motors Australia is determined to crack the fleet market with its T9 and forthcoming Hunter PHEV utes, but getting risk-averse fleet managers to take a chance on a new brand is no easy task. While a sharp sticker price helps, managing director Ahmed Mahmoud says it’s less about the upfront cost of the ute and more illustrating that the brand has the support in place for commercial use.

“We make no apologies about the fact that we want to also focus on the fleet market,” he said.

Convincing Australia’s tradies and businesses that a cheap Chinese ute is the answer is no mean feat, but this is not Mahmoud’s first rodeo.

A 20-year veteran of the Australian automotive industry, including 11 years at Toyota and a six-year stint at Deloitte, he understands the scale of the task ahead and what fleet buyers are after.

“We are first and foremost about building trust and the foundations of the brand [are] super critical in the early years,” he said.

“We’re expecting all of our focus to continue to be around that foundation, around building that trust. So that’s about the local dealer network, it’s about local parts supply, that’s about our warranty programs.

“We run by an internal philosophy around it’s not too difficult to sell the first car, selling the second, third and fourth is the most important to us, and the only way to do that is to make sure that their experience with the product and our service is above par.”

A key element of the aftersales package, beyond the seven-year/unlimited kilometre warranty (even for commercial use), seven-year capped price servicing and seven-year 24/7 roadside assistance programs, is the ‘ute-for-ute’ replacement scheme.

“You get presented to a dealership with a warranty concern and the vehicle is off the road, you won’t get a small passenger car or a large van, you will get a ute so you can continue doing your job,” Mahmoud said.

JAC currently only offers the T9 diesel dual-cab in Australia, which starts from $38,990 plus on-road costs in Tradepro guise, rising to $47,079 for the flagship Osprey X, but it will be joined later in 2026 by the Hunter PHEV.

This 360kW/1000Nm electrified ute has its sights set on the BYD Shark 6 and has undergone local development at the hands of former Holden engineer Michael Barber in conjunction with engineers from JAC China.

“It wasn't that JAC Motors Australia demanded it or JAC China demanded it,” Mahmoud said.

“I think we both understood that this is strategically important for us to get it right here in Australia, we can’t just import the car, get the compliance certificate, hope for the best.

“Here we focused on ride and handling. We know that Australian drivers will be the first to pick up [that] this is rough, or it’s not handling well, or it’s not tuned for Australia.

“Stability under load is critical, because while in other ute markets around the world, maybe they don’t carry 800kg or a tonne in a lot of cases here.

“And with two electric motors and a petrol motor, you’ve got a lot of power coming through that car, so power delivery is absolutely critical for us.”

Replacing the tray has been a sticking point with electrified utes, with the high-voltage cables and battery meaning any modifications would void the warranty.

The re-engineered BYD Shark 6 cab-chassis, revealed at the Melbourne Motor Show, solved this.

“We are working with our suppliers at the moment to launch with a very solid range of accessories,” Mahmoud said.

“The Hunter that gets launched will be launched not as a cab-chassis, but we’re talking months, not years afterwards there will be a cab-chassis.

“You can’t just take the tub off and stick a tray there because there’s lots of orange wires and what have you, but watch this space.

“Because of our focus on fleet, we know it’s critical and we don’t want customers taking tubs off and having a go – we want to do this properly.”

Findings from the Hunter PHEV local development program are also expected to benefit the T9 in time.

“Without a doubt, it would be silly for us not to pass on those learnings from a suspension tuning point of view, chassis stiffness point of view, whatever it may be to the diesel as well,” Mahmoud added.

“It’s not two separate entities, it’s one company, so if suspension can be optimised for the Hunter … then absolutely there’s no reason why we wouldn’t do it [for the T9].”

Reservations for the JAC Hunter PHEV open on May 5, 2026. Sales of the T9 totalled 1582 units in 2025, though as of March 2026 volume is down 42 per cent year-on-year.

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