Chinese carmaker Chery has been expanding in fits and bursts. Its first model, the Omoda 5, was plagued with some safety assistance annoyances, but the cut-price Tiggo 4 Pro is finding plenty of success.
The next step for Chery to break top-10 new car sellers in Australia will be a dual-cab ute, and word from Australian chief operating officer Lucas Harris is that a diesel-based plug-in hybrid is likely.
Add to that a one-tonne payload and allegedly tougher looks than the left-hand-drive-only Himla revealed at Auto Shanghai 2025, and Chery could have a hot potato on its hands with the ability to hurt the Ford Ranger, Toyota Hilux, BYD Shark 6 and more.
Chery Himla (image: Weibo)
Chasing Cars has commissioned exclusive renders from digital artist Theottle of the potential future Chery dual-cab ute. You can see them above, but more on the looks below.
Harris told Chasing Cars that there’s plenty of interest from Chery’s global chairman.
“We had the chairman out, we [told] him: We really strongly desire to have input to that ute, and have the engineers come out here so that we can spend time with them. A week later, we’re being sent support requests to help six engineers get visas,” said Harris.
Jetour F700 pick-up concept (image: Car News China)
While there’s admiration for Australian engineering teams, Harris said not to write off the brand’s in-house R&D boffins, noting their hunger for competition in a very hot segment.
“I think most of the utes on the market are great products … I think that’s an exciting challenge because you’ve got a hyper competitive segment which is becoming even more competitive with really great products.
“I think that gives us some fuel in the fire — how do we push the envelope and how can we produce the best thing that we can so that we can compete,” said Harris.
Jetour F700 pick-up concept (image: Car News China)
But how will Chery’s new ute shape up? Chery doesn’t have any body-on-frame products in Australia currently, only monocoque vehicles.
At Auto Shanghai 2025 the brand did reveal a pair of utes, the near-production Himla and more out-there Jetour F700.
The former is targeted at China and Latin America and will be built only in left-hand drive. The latter, though, is more likely as a luxurious, life-style rival to the BYD Shark 6, but apparently there are many more pick-ups in the pipeline.
Chery Himla ute (image: Weibo)
“The pick-up that was announced at the Shanghai Motor Show, the Himla, we won’t get that in this market. That’s a left-hand drive only product,” explained Harris.
“The ute that we will get — we’ll get a few, there’s actually a few different ones, which is exciting — the main one which is going to be really important for us is the one-tonne payload ute,” he continued.
Describing the looks, Harris said Chery’s Ranger and Hilux rival will be “much better looking” than the Himla, with less conventional styling.
Chery ute render (image: Theottle)
That said, we’ve used the Himla as a base for our creation but with different proportions — a longer wheelbase and broader stance, for a start. It also sports a different, more aggressive front grille along with some up-spec, off-road focused details.
These include wide-offset wheels for increased track and fender flares to keep them legal. Also fitted are all-terrain tyres — we imagine this as a potential Toyota Hilux GR Sport and Ford Ranger Wildtrak X rival.
As for what’s driving the new Chery ute, that remains in the air, but there’s one option that stands out to the Aussie MD.
Chery ute render (image: Theottle)
“There’s a bit of talk around the powertrain at the moment, it’s not fully locked in. One of the options that has come up, which I think is personally really interesting, is a diesel plug-in hybrid.
“It’s such a unique proposition … I think it would be a great point of difference if we could do that, as an option,” said Harris.
Given the plug-in hybrid is still in development, there are no clear outputs or figures to work with. The two petrol-based PHEV utes on sale currently have combined NEDC driving ranges of 800km (Shark 6) and 880km (GWM Cannon Alpha).
BYD Shark 6 PHEV
With a diesel four-cylinder that’s more efficient when cruising at low RPMs on the motorway, Chery’s diesel plug-in dual-cab has the potential to offer closer to 1000km of driving range — impressive.
Outright power is likely to be lower than the other two’s stout 300kW-plus figures, but diesel-electric torque could make up for this in the towing stakes.
“I just think it would be an exciting point of difference to be able to bring that to the market,” says Harris, also hinting that a diesel PHEV wouldn’t be the only powertrain. A more conventional diesel engine, alone, could also be offered.
With Chery’s entry, the ute segment in Australia will grow again. It’s already been heavily shaken up by the BYD Shark 6 along with GWM’s Cannon and Cannon Alpha, and that will only continue with the Kia Tasman, new LDV and MG utes, and more.
