Geely’s local boss has confirmed a new dual-cab 4×4 ute is under development, and it may only be a year or two away from an Australian launch.
Speaking with Australian media in Hangzhou, China, Geely Australia managing director and Geely Auto vice president Alex Gu said the new pickup will be a better fit for ute-hungry Australians than the current Radar/Riddara RD6, seemingly ruling out the existing car-based electric and plug-in hybrid dual-cab for local release.
“For me, to be honest, the Riddara pickup is not the final solution for the Australian market,” said Mr Gu said, “[The RD6] might be popular in [the] Thailand market, [but] they are not [as tied to the] traditional ute as Australia – as I understand, normally traditional ute is HiLux, Ranger, those models.
“We must create [a Geely ute] like those models to get into this segment. So, Radar is not the final one.”
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When asked about what will power the Chinese automaker’s new ute – such as the 3.0-litre twin-turbo petrol V6 from the Horse Powertrain joint venture between Geely and Renault – Mr Gu was tight-lipped but said we should expect a ‘new energy’ powertrain, as the Geely brand in Australia has no plans to introduce purely internal combustion-engined (ICE) products.
“I will say for the Australian market, so far we don’t have a plan for ICE, because ‘new energy’ is already established [for Geely in Australia],” said Mr Gu, suggesting plug-in hybrid and/or full electric powertrains for the new 4×4 utility, potentially with said twin-turbo V6 power.
Geely Auto revealed a ‘New Energy Off-Road Vehicle Architecture” at this year’s Auto China show in Beijing, boasting a 745kW-plus tri-motor electric drive system, a rear differential lock and AI-based features like intelligent torque distribution, intelligent all-terrain drive modes, “one-touch intelligent vehicle recovery”, and “active body posture adjustment”.
This new platform is expected to debut under the production version of the Galaxy Cruiser 4WD, which was shown in prototype form at last year’s Shanghai motor show (Auto China 2025), and has been confirmed for Australian launch in the second half of 2027.
Mr Gu said he “fully agrees” with his predecessor Lei Li’s comments around the capability requirements of Geely’s next-generation ute if it is to be competitive in the market alongside the likes of the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux – with key priorities being payload, heavy towing, long driving range and proper off-road capability.
The Chinese brand’s local boss added that Geely’s research and development team at its global head office will soon commence early development work in Australia, likely flying in engineering prototypes for testing.
“I can also share one thing right now – besides the Geely International teams working in Australia, our R&D soon will bring their teams to stay in Australia. This is already under process,” Mr Gu said.
“[For] each model, we will have a certain [process], because for Geely in each market, not only Australia but all markets including China, Saudi Arabia or UAE, we have a very strict process, so we must comply with this one.”
As for timing, Geely’s local chief hinted the new dual-cab could be released within two years, as part of the brand’s plan to be the number one Chinese marque in Australia by the end of this decade.
“For the Middle Eastern market, I spent four years to bring Geely to be the top [Chinese brand]. So for me, I’m aiming to create a new record in Australia – I don’t want to spend four and a half or five years [to achieve this],” Mr Gu continued.
“We need to speed up our empty or available segment models… ute is unique, I will speed [it] up.”
Given the BYD Shark 6 attracted more than 18,000 Australian buyers in 2025, and a further 3500 have found local homes to the end of March this year, a dual-cab ute will be a key plank in Geely’s strategy to overtake current Chinese sales leaders GWM and BYD – which sold 52,800 and 52,400 vehicles here respectively last year.
Stay tuned to CarExpert for all the latest on Geely’s new ute, and tell us your thoughts in the comments!
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