JAC has just rolled off its 300,000^th pickup truck from the production line. While it took 13 years to get to the 200,000^th truck it took less than two years for the next 100,000. Part of the driver for the rapid increase in sales is that JAC now exports pickup trucks to 132 countries.

Feng Liangsen, secretary of the board of directors of JAC and general manager of the pickup company, said in a ceremony marking the occasion, “These 300,000 units are not only the results of JAC’s independent operation, transformation and upgrading, and global development, but also the fruits of JAC’s hard work and joint efforts, and it is another milestone achievement in the globalization of China’s pickup trucks.”

Currently JAC sells three pickup models: the T6, T8 Pro and the T9. The 300,000^th truck was a T9, which is known in China as the Hunter (Hantu), and it rolled off the production line in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province on May 21. Hefei, Anhui Province, headquartered JAC is this year celebrating its 60^th anniversary having been founded as the Hefei Jianghuai Automobile Factory in 1964. Despite such a long heritage the company is probably best known as the company which used to manufacture Nio cars.

Last year JAC sold 55,000 pickup trucks of which around 42,000 were exported. Markets include Latin America, the Gulf states, Central Asia, Europe and Australia. JAC ranked first among Chinese pickup brands in Mexico, Peru, and Kazakhstan. International sales were up 9.9% year-on-year whereas domestic sales were up 16.3% leading to an overall increase of 11.3%. JAC claims that it ranks second in the domestic pickup truck industry. As of the end of April JAC pickup truck sales worldwide this year so far stood at 18,200.

At this year’s Beijing Auto Show JAC launched the EV version of the T9. Boasting a CLTC range of 500 km it has an 88.02 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery pack. Power comes from two electric motors with 70 and 160 kW maximum power respectively and delivering 176 and 342 Nm torque respectively.

Editor’s note:

JAC is one of a number of unsung export success stories from lesser known Chinese companies, just in the same way that Skyworth was supposedly the eighth best new energy vehicle brand in 2023 for exports.

I attended an overseas dealers event held by JAC last year and there was a lot of enthusiasm for the brand there, particularly from Latin America. Pickup trucks are a sensible product for JAC given that the company’s origins lie with commercial vehicles.

Sources: Autohome, IT Home, Commercial Vehicle Commune,