
JAC. Isn’t that a commercial vehicle maker? Well, yes. JAC Group, or Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Corp. Ltd, is a Chinese vehicle maker based in Hefei, Anhui Province, China.

JAC has origins that go back to the 1960s, so they’re much older than you may expect. In Sri Lanka, the brand is represented by Euro Motors. In September 2024, Euro Motors showed off the JAC T9 at a local motor show. Here was something quite different from a brand that’s more associated with tough, workmanlike vehicles. The T9 was introduced to the world in 2020 and underwent a facelift in 2023. It is also known as the T9 Ute in Australia, and the Hunter in China and Brazil.
Naturally, we were keen to test the T9. So, one day, Editor Nimal and I dropped by Euro Motors showroom on a courtesy call. We didn’t intend to test-drive the vehicle, but the Euro Motors team was friendly and super-efficient. They quickly organized their T9 test vehicle, and less than an hour later, I was in its driving seat.

So, how does the T9 fare? After all, it’s locally assembled and features some localization as per the current regulations for vehicle assembly in the country. Well, we’ve given it the full Motor test drive treatment and shown it no mercy. Here’s our verdict.

Exterior
Right
off the bat, this is surely a distinctive looking double cab. Wearing a dark
grey suit, the T9’s imposing front grille, DRLs, headlamps and foglamps all make
for one large introduction. The JAC logo sits proud at the centre, and I’d like
to give the brand some kudos for their boldness. They aren’t trying to hide
behind some anonymous looking hieroglyphic but are simply stating who they are.

The side profile is classic double cab – well, what can you really do with a double cab in terms of design? So, JAC have given the T9 a set of black and silver 18-inch alloy wheels, shod with 265/60 tires. The rear sees an interesting lighting pattern within the fairly conventional-shaped tail-lamp clusters. Honestly, you can’t really go bonkers with the rear design of a pickup truck without affecting its tailgate aperture, so I’m glad that JAC has left that as-is. The tailgate is a traditional flip-down affair.

The cargo box is around 5 feet long and has an impressive payload capacity of 945 kilograms. Of course, it’s open to the elements and opportunistic thieves, as with any pickup truck’s cargo bed. However, Baskaran from Euro Motors informs me that they are working with some local manufacturers on creating a weatherproof and lockable canopy or tonneau cover for the T9.
Mech & Tech
The
T9 sold in Sri Lanka is a similar spec to the ones that Aussies get in the Land
Down Under. So, it’s got a 2.0-liter turbocharged common-rail diesel engine
under the hood. The engine is rated for 168hp and 410Nm. It’s a Euro V
compliant unit as per the brochure. Now for a nice surprise – the engine is
paired with an 8-speed automatic gearbox. As you shall subsequently read, this
combo results in some sprightly performance. Drive goes to the rear wheels, but
can be sent to all four wheels, in high or low ranges.
Elsewhere, it’s pretty conventional pickup truck stuff. The front suspension is double wishbone, while the rear employs a leaf spring and rigid axle set-up. We’ve got disc brakes all round, with ABS and EBD, as well as traction and stability control systems.

Driving Impressions
On
entering the T9, I note the electrically adjustable driver seat – a pleasant
touch. Then, I see the chunky steering wheel with multifunction controls. The
only thing missing is paddle shifters, but once I get going, I realize that I
don’t really need them. You can shift gears manually via the shift lever
anyways. Fire up the engine and, hang on, is it running? Well I’ll be damned –
this engine is so quiet. Give it a little rev and we hear a distant but
well-damped roar that just about gives away the fact that this engine sips the
heavier oily stuff. All-righty then, select D, release the electric parking
brake, and away we go.
Right off, I note that the T9 has got plenty of urge, despite the engine never revving beyond around 3,800rpm even if I manually hold gears. That’s because the 8-speed automatic gearbox shift gears smoothly and quietly, and you ride a wave of torque. I try a 0-100 run on a clear road with not even a cat in sight and note that the T9 runs well into the meat of fifth gear before I see the magic figure appear on the digital gauge cluster. The seat of my pants tell me that this feels like a sub-10 second run. Nipping through gaps in traffic is a cinch - the T9 surging forward in response to my right foot.

There is a Sport mode that holds onto gears longer and offers a bit more urge as a result. Then, you’ll be really grateful for the strong brakes that haul you up with conviction, as you can get caught out by the T9’s acceleration if you stab the throttle without thinking much.
What about the ride? Well, it’s on the firm side, but quite communicative as a result. You feel very much in control and have a good idea of what’s going on under you. The rear can be a tad bouncy if you’ve got no passengers and the truck bed is empty. This is well par for the course with pickup trucks. What isn’t par for the course is how quiet the cabin is. At times during our test drive I revved the engine up to its soft limiter just to see if it would get loud inside the cabin – and it never did. In fact, when I took to the passenger seat and Nimal climbed behind the wheel, I didn’t audibly notice when he was pushing it – only the sensation of G-forces in myriad directions and a glance at the meter cluster reminded me why he is easily the most experienced automotive tester in Sri Lanka.
Another noteworthy point is that the steering firms up as you exceed 60km/h. This is a fantastic safety feature, as it makes the vehicle easier to control at higher speeds, such as when driving on the highway. After all, you don’t’ want super-light steering at 100km/h, where a sudden sneeze on your part means that you could be smooching with the little Kei car in the next lane.
Enough about high speed, what about the rough stuff? Well, we took the vehicle to Port City and played around in some deep sand, plus a few water puddles. Selecting four-wheel drive and high range was good enough, although I was cautious – I didn’t want to embarrass myself by getting stuck thanks to my rather limited knowledge of off-roading, given that this was a test vehicle. For the same reason, I didn’t turn off the traction control to engage in some tail-out shenanigans, but it sure was tempting to try…

Living With The T9
The
phrase Fully Loaded is loosely thrown around on Facebook marketplace in
relation to vehicles, but in the case of the JAC T9, I feel that it is worthy
of the Fully Loaded tag. That’s because this pickup truck comes with power… driver
and passenger seats, automatic climate control with rear passenger air vents,
front and rear USB charging ports, a wireless phone charger, a cooled centre
console box, a sunroof, a 7-inch digital gauge cluster, a 10.4-inch portrait-oriented
infotainment touchscreen, colour-selectable interior ambient lighting, six
speakers, Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Now isn’t that quite a
mouthful?
Then, the seats are upholstered in supple leather, there’s some silver trim accents on the dashboard and door cards, and the dashboard features leather in some places too. Even the speaker grilles have a 3D-effect pattern that actually looks quite cool in person. Another thing that I like is that despite the massive touchscreen, the climate controls are physical buttons. This makes them really easy to adjust by feel, without taking your eyes off the road. I personally hate climate control systems that force you to use a touchscreen to interact with them. It’s an utterly stupid idea in my opinion. It’s also why Honda returned to physical climate controls for the 11th generation Civic (which we didn’t get in Sri Lanka thanks to the import ban).
What about the rear seat? Well, I did sit there for photos, and I have to report that it’s quite good. You can sit properly, without feeling like your knees are around your ears. You can slide your feet under the front seat, although there’s enough leg and knee room for average-size people to not need to do this. You’ve also got air vents, charging ports, a flip-down arm rest, and cup holders. I would have liked to see a grab handle mounted on the B pillar to aid entry, but you can still grab onto the overhead grab handle for assistance.
How’s the fit and finish? Well, I did poke and prod at things. I searched for uneven gaps and poor finishes. I found none. I tapped on surfaces, tried to pry at panels with my (admittedly short) fingernails, and once again, I came away empty handed. Hey, I said I wasn’t giving any mercy, and I didn’t. But the T9 wasn’t giving anything up, either.
Safety
The
JAC T9 comes with seven airbags, including curtain airbags that stretch across
the cabin, I’m told. It’s also got a 360-degree camera system, child safety
locks, ISOFIX mountings for child seats, and automatic door locking. The last
feature is something we seldom see nowadays, but a necessity, given that there
are opportunistic thieves waiting to open your car door at a stoplight and grab
whatever lies on the seat.
Fuel Economy
Well,
it’s got a downsized turbodiesel engine that isn’t in a particularly high state
of tune so fuel economy should be pretty decent, especially as there are eight
ratios to play around with. We didn’t have a chance to do an economy test
during our drive, since we didn’t want to hold up the test car for longer than
a couple of hours, given how it was provided on such short notice. Euro Motors
tells us that the T9 should do around 10km/l in urban driving, with highway
runs netting in excess of 13km/l. The latter figure is one that they have
achieved under their own testing on the Southern Expressway.
Warranty and Price
The
JAC T9 retails for just under 17 million at the time of testing. This is quite
a relative bargain for what you get, considering that even a 6 or 7-year-old
used Japanese pickup truck will cost the same, or a bit more in our Alice In
Wonderland car market. The warranty for the T9 is five years or 100,000km for
the engine, and 2 years or 50,000km for the gearbox and differential.
Final Words
As
per my knowledge, the JAC T9 is the only brand-new pickup truck you can buy
right now, with this feature set. And I’ve got to say I’m quite impressed with
it – as is Editor Nimal. That’s because the T9 doesn’t just throw a kitchen
sink’s worth of gadgets and call it a day. It’s been engineered to offer a good
level of performance and refinement too. And those are what really caught me
off-guard on this test drive. So, if you need a new vehicle and can get past
your badge snobbery preconceptions, it’s worth going to Euro Motors and taking
their T9 tester for a spin. You’ll be quite surprised.