We mark 5 new Chinese brands in 5 days with a JAC test
We note with interest that five more new Chinese car brands have been announced for South Africa in as many days. All sound more like washing powder or toothpaste brands. Some need to, looking at their gnashing new grilles. Where is this going to end. And does that really matter? Anyway, let’s celebrate all that with by testing a bakkie from a subtly more established Chinese brand in South Africa. The JAC T9
Chinese brands are nothing new, by the way. We’ve been testing them since the first China bakkies started creeping in through backyard operators. Cheap knockoffs of mostly old Isuzus that cost little enough to actually be disposable. By 2010 there was already a Chinese bakkie market, GWM, JMC and others began establishing acceptable networks offering far more acceptable second generation bakkies as GWM, Foton, Chana became common on our roads
Not to be confused with SA pioneer JMC, this JAC brand arrived in our market a little later. Just before lockdown, to be precise. Not that it’s a new brand. The Jianghuai Automobile Company was established more than sixty years back in 1964, has enjoyed major collaborations with Volkswagen, Hyundai and Huawei. Today JAC sells north of five hundred thousand new cars and bakkies a year. Quite a bit more than the entire SA car market put together.
We greeted the JAC T9 with some trepidation
JAC has grown steady as a brand since its arrival in this market, its range expanding steadily to more recently be topped by this new T9. JAC’s most advanced bakkie yet, its built on the company’s third-generation international LCV platform. Launched at Shanghai in ‘23, it took some time for us to finally get our hands on the T9 double cab range topper, so it was greeted with some trepidation.
Some may call it ugly. JAC tells us its imposing. Different, T9 certainly is. An unconventional design, JAC’s Italian and Japanese design centres brewed it up in to deliver what they call a contemporary, muscular and imposing appeal. Its monster plastic crusted chrome grille, slanty LED DRL, Xenon Headlamps, and Fog Lamps most definitely sets it apart. Fat mudguard overriders, smart face polished black 18-inch alloys and chunky 265/60 R18 tyres help masks the rest of its rather dated bodywork.
That’s a very Chinese car thing. To pretend. Which is certainly what the T9 does inside. If I blindfolded you, sat you in there and removed the veil, you’d swear it’s a New Ford Ranger. The cabin’s clone. But it pulls it off very well. Ford should be proud. And worried all the same. The T9’s quality genuine leather clad cabin has its ‘upmarket’ 10.4-inch portrait infotainment touchscreen centre stage. With Bluetooth, CarPlay and Auto connectivity.
The whole, Ranger tootie inside T9
On fact it has the whole tootie in there from wireless charging to 220 and 12V Accessory sockets, and USB, and USB-C ports and a 360˚camera. These guys have been paying attention to what we want in cars. Well for the most part, anyway. It could do with a few more knobs and buttons, but for a Chinese system, it’s impressively ‘western’, for want of a better word. Its’ well sorted and does not dazzle you with poor mandarin translations and ridiculous logic.
Moving on. A zany 7-inch multi-information digital dash sits behind a leather dressed multifunction steering wheel. Theres cruise control, climate control aircon with rear vents under a power tilt and sliding sunroof. This top T9 also has heated power front seats, remote anti-clamp power windows, an auto-dim rearview, and power wing mirrors, rain-sensing wipers, an auto hold park brake, tyre pressure monitoring, privacy glass and roof rails.
It doesn’t skimp on safety with a Chinese acronym soup from TCS to VDC, ESC and HHC crammed into the high-strength steel shell. Add ABS, EBD, BOS, HBA, TPM and ISOFIX. Are there acronyms for Airbag or inertia reel seatbelts yet? its’ all there…
The JAC T9 impresses under the bonnet
Impressive under the bonnet too, JAC’s new 125 kW 410 Nm intercooled electrical variable geometry turbocharged direct-injected common-rail 2-litre four-cylinder diesel is bakkie state of the art. Coupled to a ZF eight-speed automatic it turns Borg Warner electronic part-time 4×4 with low range, a rear diff-lock and sport, normal, eco and snow modes. At 27 degrees approach and 23 degree departure angles and 210 mm ground clearance, there’s nothing at all wrong with its off-road cred either.
7.8 L/100 km combined cycle consumption and a 76-litre tank make for a plausible fuel range of beyond a thousand kilometres. Our road test data is not too shabby either. It drives well, handles good. And while its low speed soft logic can do with some attention, the gearbox is excellent where it counts most. T9 sits on a robust ladder frame with coil sprung double-wishbone independent front suspension. It has large double-skinned anti-scratch coated load box that carries a tonne. Braked towing is on the button, 3,500 kg.
JAC has quietly built up to more than 70 dealerships across Southern Africa since it arrived six years back. The T9 comes with a comprehensive 5-year/100,000 km manufacturer’s warranty, 5-year/100,000 km service at 10,000 km intervals. Now let’s pretend a little. Pretend we’re sitting in a real Ford Ranger. This bakkie’s equivalent full cream double cab Wildtrak 4×4. What does it cost? Allow me… Nine hundred and fifty-three grand.
Now here’s the trick…
Now here’s the trick. This here Chinese JAC T9 2.0CTI double cab 4WD Super Lux will set you back the princely sum of R659,900. To carry the same load and the same trailer, at the same pace using the same amount of fuel in equivalent luxury in a far less common bakkie. That three hundred grand difference quickly ramps up to half a bar with interest, extra insurance and the rest. That, my friend, is not pretending. How long will it be before you will stop pretending and buy a Chinese bakkie like this? – Michele Lupini
Images & Testing: Giordano Lupini
ROAD TESTED: JAC T9 2.0CTI DC 4WD Super Lux
Engine: 125 kW 410 Nm 2-litre turbodiesel I4
Drive: 8-speed Auto 4WD
Payload: 1000 kg
Braked Towing: 3500 kg
TESTED:
0-60 km/h: 3.90 sec
0-100 km/h: 9.69 sec
0-120 km/h: 13.88 sec
400m: 16.7 s @ 130 km/h
80-120 km/h: 7.46 sec
CLAIMED:
VMax: 150 km/h
Fuel: 7.8 l/100 km
CO2: 223 g/km
Range: 975 km
Warranty/Service: 5y 100K/5y 100K km
LIST PRICE: R659K
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