Published on January 29th, 2024 | by Sounder Rajen

Chery Working On A Pickup Truck For Australia, Coming To Malaysia Next?

This Chery pickup truck has its sights set on the Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux

As part of the Chery’s expansion into global markets, it is preparing to challenge the mid-size pickup market. The brand will introduce an unnamed (for now), body-on-frame pickup in Australia and the ‘Karry’ sub-brand in other regions. Surprisingly, it won’t be sold in the U.S.A.

While Chery did experiment a little in the 2010s with the less-than-impressive, reverse-engineered and Isuzu-inspired Karry Higgo, this time they’re taking it more seriously. This begs the question, will this time be any different in terms of sales and customer satisfaction?

Moreover, this double cab Chery pickup truck sports an interesting look. It features a front end with a diamond-patterned grille constellation that seamlessly merges into individual LED headlamp clusters, similar to the Hyundai Santa Cruz and in line with the brand’s design language.

At the rear, the Chery pickup truck features a short bed, angular LED tail lamps with the ‘Chery’ logo on the tailgate as well as a unique lower cladding that gives it a hint of an ‘SUV’ look, although it’s likely to come with a more utilitarian steel bumper for commercial-use buyers.

The interior is standard Chery all around with a driver-oriented 10.25-inch digital driver’s display and a 10.25-inch infotainment system. Many of the switchgear elements from the Omoda 5 are also present and the technological features are likely to follow suit too.

On top of that, this Chery pickup truck will likely sport several potential powertrains, including an electric vehicle (EV) variant, a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and a pure internal combustion engine (ICE variant), with the EV version rumoured to feature an 800-volt architecture.

Meanwhile, the PHEV option, will likely sport a 1.5-litre turbocharged engine paired with an electric motor, while the an ICE version will probably feature a 2.0-litre turbocharged engine. These will likely be more popular than the fully electric variant which will most likely be ditched if the pickup comes to Malaysia too.

Competing in the hotly contested and populated mid-sized pickup segment, the Chery Pickup truck faces off against the likes of the Toyota Hilux, Ford Ranger, Mazda BT-50, Isuzu D-Max, GMW Cannon, Geely Radar RD6, and more. How will it stack up against these much more established foes?

Do expect a reveal regarding the engine specs, pricing and official launch date in the coming months, with the pickup truck likely going on sale in early 2025. Would you ever consider this Chery pickup truck if it came to Malaysia?