Since the turn of the decade, several automotive brands have landed on New Zealand’s shores, many of which are from China.
Among those newcomers is JAC, otherwise known as Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Corp.
Of course, JAC isn’t some spirited start-up. Instead, they’ve been manufacturing vehicles in China for decades, and have exported commercial vehicles around Asia and to Latin America for some time.
Yet for New Zealanders, JAC is a fresh face. Their first foray into our market is led by the T9 Ute, heavily marketed as the “JAC-of-all trades” projecting the company’s history as a truck maker.
It’s a bold push by JAC, especially when they’re entering a market heavily consolidated around Toyota Hilux’s, Ford Rangers and Mitsubishi Tritons. In other words, swaying the opinions of New Zealand’s Ute-buying public won’t be easy.
So, can the new T9 sway our opinion?
What We Like and Dislike About The 2025 JAC T9
| What we like | What we don’t like |
| Feature list Build quality Value for money Engine refinement Gearbox calibration | Performance not as good as competitors Ride quality Safety systems need some calibrating Crap stereo Doesn’t actually have a pie warmer. |
What’s In the 2025 JAC T9 Range?
At this stage, there is only one variant of the T9 in the range. It’s priced at $49,990 plus on-road costs.
Underneath the bonnet of the T9 sits a 2.0-litre turbodiesel engine, outputting 125kW of power and 410Nm of torque. The engine is paired with an 8-speed automatic gearbox, sending power to the T9’s wheels via selectable 4WD.
There are seven standard colours available for the JAC T9:
- Red
- Blue
- Black
- Grey
- Star Grey
- Silver
- White
For more information on JAC T9, check out the JAC New Zealand website.
How Does The 2025 JAC T9 Compare To Its Competition?
This table compares the top-spec utes from other manufacturers against the T9, on a feature-for-feature basis.
From this, we can see that the T9 is considerably cheaper than the established incumbents, such as the Hilux, Triton and Ranger, but faces some stiff price competition from other Chinese newcomers, such as the Cannon and the T60.
You can get into a Ranger, Hilux or a Triton at a closer price to the T9, but you’ll need to go down a trim level to do it.
| Make/Model | Engine | Power/Torque (kW/Nm) | Fuel (L/100km) | Towing capacity (kg) | Price |
| Ford Ranger Wildtrak | 2.0-litre 4-cylinder twin-turbo diesel | 150/500 | – | 750/3,500 | $76,990 |
| Isuzu D-MAX X-Terrain | 3.0-litre 4-cylinder turbodiesel | 140/450 | 9.2 | 750/3,500 | $66,990 |
| Toyota Hilux SR5 Cruiser | 2.8-litre 4-cylinder turbodiesel mild hybrid | 150/500 | 8.7 | 750/3,500 | $65,490 |
| GWM Cannon Alpha Ultra | 2.4L 4-cylinder turbodiesel | 135/480 | 8.9 | 750/3,500 | $59,990 |
| Nissan Navara Pro-4X | 2.3-litre 4-cylinder twin-turbo diesel | 140/450 | 7.6 | 750/3,500 | $59,990 |
| Mitsubishi Triton VRX | 2.4-litre 4-cylinder twin- turbo diesel | 150/470 | 8.8 | 750/3,500 | $59,990 |
| JAC T9 | 2.0L-litre 4-cylinder turbodiesel | 125/410 | 7.6 | 750/3,200 | $49,990 |
| GWM Cannon | 2.4L 4-cylinder turbodiesel | 135/480 | 8.4 | 750/3,500 | $43,490 |
| LDV T60 Lux | 2.0L-litre 4-cylinder twin-turbodiesel | 160/500 | – | 750/3,000 | $39,990 |
First Impressions Of The 2025 JAC T9
It takes a trained-eye to identify details, but many of us have a base ability to discern whether or not a product is of reasonable quality.
When considering cars, you’ve probably heard someone say “it feels safe” or “it’s built like a tank”, when describing a vehicle they’ve owned. They can sense the tangible qualities, without necessarily being able to describe it.
In the past, Chinese vehicles haven’t earned many accolades for conveying that sense of quality. The JAC T9, however, is different.
Up front, there’s an imposing grille, bordered with a contrasting fascia that appears to be Dodge Ram inspired.
The (Mitsubishi) Triton-esque blocky headlamp housings and sharp LED daytime running lights add some sophistication, while the T9’s 18” alloys, the solid-steel side running-boards and rear bar look commercial-grade.
In short, the T9 definitely looks like a solid machine.
What’s The Interior Like In The 2025 JAC T9?
So, the T9 sets a good initial impression from the outside, but what about the inside? Before that, I ought to quickly consult this spec-sheet, because it’s longer than you’d might expect.
For $49,990, the T9 has heated seats, a 360-degree camera, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and a pie-warmer? More on this later.
From the perspective of the spec-sheet alone, the T9 is off to a strong start. If you wanted an equivalently spec’d Triton or Hilux, it’ll set you back upwards of $10,000 more. Even more, if you wanted a similarly spec’d Ranger.
For all this standard equipment, it wouldn’t have shocked me to see a few compromises in terms of fit and finish. Although, that wasn’t the case for the T9.
In terms of materials, the T9 is on-par, if not better, than some of the competitors. There’s leatherette with contrasting red stitch lining the dashboard, doors and armrests. Quilted leatherette upholstery adorns the seats, and there’s durable plastics in high traffic areas instead of those disastrous gloss black plastics.
It’s not a superficial quality either, as it appears to be well screwed together.
Occupying the centre of the dash is a 10.4” portrait-oriented infotainment system, and sitting beneath is a wireless charging pad.
Despite its size, the infotainment is relatively basic. The screen resolution isn’t especially sharp, and it does lag slightly when interacted with. Although, I wouldn’t consider it to be any worse relative to the competition. The system is rigged up to several exterior cameras, all of which have good resolution.
The user interface isn’t anything swish. However, it is simple to navigate and the icons are well-sized, for if you’re interacting with them on the go.
The infotainment is paired with a 6-speaker audio system, which unfortunately, is rather rubbish. I think an aftermarket system would be on the cards.
Ahead of the driver is a digital instrument display. Again, the screen is basic, but functional. The resolution is good enough, and there’s minor configurability through pre-set displays.
Anyway, shall I end the tech talk, and get to matters of greater importance? Earlier, I mentioned a pie warmer, and I bet you’re itching to know about it. Sadly, it’s not really a “pie warmer” as such. Instead, it’s an insulated cool (or hot) box, which directs cold or hot air from the climate control into an insulated centre console.
Unfortunately, the box also doesn’t appear to have an independent climate zone, meaning it only feeds the same air for whatever is going into the cabin. In other words, if you want your pie ‘warmed’, you need to turn up the cabin temperature.
At this point, you may as well put your pie on the heated seat. Funnily enough, JAC does suggest this in their brochure. So, perhaps they do have a sense of humour.
What’s The 2025 JAC T9 Like To Drive?
There aren’t many subjects which I can reasonably claim to have much expertise in, but cars might be one exception.
So, it’s rare when I know little about an automotive brand, before my butt touches the seat of one of their new cars. Yet, here I am with the keys in hand for the JAC T9, admittedly knowing JAC-all about it.
I am not alone in this respect either. At least, that was what I could tell based on the reactions of those who asked. So, who is JAC? Well, according to their own marketing bumpf, JAC has been manufacturing cars and commercial vehicles for over 61 years. Although, their vehicles never left China for many of those years.
Anyway, because of their ‘new’ status in New Zealand, JAC has been forward with their marketing to highlight their manufacturing history. They’ve also taken their marketing blitz one step further, by listing the brand-named suppliers from which JAC has sourced parts.
Among them are Bosch, Gates, BorgWarner and more. I’ll admit, it all seems quite promising. But, what does the T9 deliver in the real world?
Underneath the bonnet is a JAC-designed and built 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel, outputting 125kW of power and 410Nm of torque. The engine is paired with an 8-speed ZF gearbox, delivering power via BorgWarner transfer case to all four wheels, via switchable 4WD.
On paper, the T9 trails the segment leaders for performance, although it isn’t far behind the mark. After all, the previous generation Mitsubishi Triton outputted 135kW and 437Nm, and nobody who bought one seemed too fazed by that.
In the real world, the T9 doesn’t feel lethargic. Peak torque is delivered between 1,500rpm – 2,500rpm, and power peaks at 3600rpm. When on boost, the mid-range performance delivery is quite good.
The engine is also on-par for refinement, and it doesn’t sound too strained when you lean on it.
However, it’s the snappy 8-speed ZF gearbox which really ties everything together. The ZF shifts through the gears seamlessly, keeping the T9 in its sweet spot for delivering boost when shifting up through the gears.
Interestingly, the T9’s powertrain is similarly packaged to early versions of the GWM Cannon, which also used a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel, an 8-speed ZF gearbox and a BorgWarner transfer case.
Back when we reviewed the Cannon in 2021, I recall the transmission tuning was a tad too overactive for GWM’s powerplant. This resulted in a transmission that would often hunt for gears, particularly when driving uphill. By comparison, the JAC has optimised it far better.
That said, the T9 does rely quite heavily on the gearbox to keep the turbodiesel at its happiest. More specifically, it relies on the kick-down before you’re able to squeeze any real performance from it.
This mightn’t sound out-of-ordinary for those that have been driving turbodiesel utes for a while. These days, many newer Utes begin building boost before the downshift, which improves their throttle response and provides access to performance sooner. By comparison, the T9 doesn’t feel as stout nor as responsive as its competition.
Off-the-line performance isn’t the T9’s strong suit either. Sometimes, there was a slight delay between touching the throttle before any forward thrust was provided. So, the T9 mightn’t have the strongest powertrain in the segment. However, the performance compromise isn’t massive, especially when you consider that many Utes spend more time on tarmac than on the trail.
The T9 does have some genuine performance compromises, particularly if you frequently tow. The T9’s rated braked towing capacity is 3,000kg, or rather it was, because it got uprated to 3,200kg while we were testing it.
Anyway, the point is that many of its competitors (including the revised GWM Cannon) are rated for 3,500kg. While we were unable to perform a towing test, we’d anticipate that the T9 might need to work harder than others.
Ride quality isn’t especially good either. It’s fine around town, but on state highways, it never seems to properly settle, and over poorer surfaces can be quite chatty. I’ll admit, no ute rides well, but the JAC is behind the competition.
Still, the T9 does make relatively a compelling argument for itself when price is considered.
Speaking of, the running costs aren’t too bad either. We achieved a fuel economy result of 8.9L per 100 km over 750 km during our test. Although that’s quite a bit higher than JAC’s claimed figure of 7.6L per 100kms, it’s not bad comparatively.
If you’re still not convinced, JAC will tell you that the T9 is the ‘safest’ ute on sale in 2024. JAC stakes this claim on account of the T9 scoring a 5-star rating under ANCAP’s latest criteria for 2024, where the competition was tested prior.
Scoring five stars in 2024 means achieving a good score for active safety assistance systems. The T9 is well-equipped, featuring adaptive cruise control, autonomous emergency braking, rear cross traffic alert, and several more acronyms.
The T9 also has lane keep assist, which many competitors do not. Although having it is one thing, but it working well is another. To put it bluntly, the lane keep assistance is better left off in the T9.
There are a few other systems which you’ll want to switch off too. In particular, the driver attention monitoring system and the overspeed alert. These systems aren’t unique to JAC, but are mandated by new safety standards. I’d have appreciated it if JAC could make it easier to switch these off, as they switch on every time you start the car.
2025 JAC T9 – Specifications
| Vehicle Type | 4-door dual-cab Ute |
| Starting Price | $49,990 |
| Price as Tested | $49,990 |
| Engine | 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbodiesel |
| Power, Torque (kW/Nm) | 125/410 |
| Transmission | 8-speed automatic |
| Spare Wheel | Full size |
| Kerb Weight (Kg) | 2,055 |
| Length x Width x Height (mm) | 5330 x 1965 x 1920 |
| Tray Payload (Kg) | 1,045 |
| Fuel tank capacity (litres) | 76 |
| Fuel Economy (L/100km) | Advertised Spec – Combined – 7.6 Real-World Test – Combined – 8.9 Low Usage: 0-6 / Medium Usage 6-12 / High Usage 12+ |
| Towing Capacity (Kg, unbraked/braked) | 750/3,200 |
| Turning circle (metres) | Not available Small: 6-10m / Medium 10-12m / Large 12m+ |
| Warranty | 5-year/200,000-km vehicle warranty 5-year 24/7 roadside assist |
| Safety information | ANCAP Rating – 5 stars Rightcar.govt.nz – 5 Stars – RAN317 |
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