JAC is steadily growing its footprint in South Africa and plans to expand its portfolio with two new models over the next year.
By the end of 2024, the Chinese automaker will expand its entry-level T6 family with new single-cab (SC) derivatives, which will be the first SC in the T-Series range for the entire world comprising both left and right-hand-drive countries, the company said.
Before this time next year, it will follow this up by introducing new automatic models to the T8 line-up, which currently only comes in manual.
While JAC hasn’t disclosed the pricing of these vehicles yet, it is safe to assume they will be on the more affordable end of the spectrum.
The T6 is currently one of the most attainable double cabs in the country at a starting price of R379,900, with the SC silhouette likely to bring down the barrier-to-entry even further.
JAC T6 Double Cab
Meanwhile, the T8 manual currently goes for between R399,900 and R514,900, depending on the trim.
Given that the more premium T9 which is only sold in automatic guise starts at R549,900, it’s likely that the automatic T8 variants will sit somewhere within the R450,000-to-R550,000 price bracket.
JAC previously confirmed that it also has electric and plug-in hybrid versions of the T9 in the pipeline for South Africa.
Back in 2022, the manufacturer said these models would arrive by the end of 2024 but it has made no further statements on the bakkies since then, so we don’t expect to see them on our roads this year.
Electric JAC T9
Gaining momentum
Founded as the Hefei Jianghuai Automobile Factory in China circa 1964, JAC Motors today exports bakkies, passenger cars, and trucks to over 132 countries.
The manufacturer this month celebrated its 60th anniversary, which coincided with the major milestone of the 300,000th T-Series Double Cab rolling off the production line.
JAC celebrating the 300,000th T-Series bakkie produced in Jiangsu Province, China
“While it took 13 years to produce 200,000 T-Series bakkies, the next 100,000 took less than two years,” said the company.
“This rapid growth is due to JAC Motors’ expanding international footprint and increasing sales in represented countries.”
JAC Motors now ranks second in the Chinese domestic pick-up industry. Last year, it sold 55,000 units of which 42,000 were exported, and international sales were up 9.9% year-on-year.
Today, the company’s major export markets include Africa, Australia, Central Asia, Europe, the Gulf states, and Latin America.
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