JAC Motors Australia is considering introducing premium electric vehicles (EVs) to local showrooms.
These more luxurious vehicles could take on an increasing number of Chinese premium brands including Denza and Zeekr, plus MG’s IM Motors sub-brand and GWM’s upcoming Wey sub-brand.
Arriving in Australia in 2024, JAC has so far only offered dual-cab utes locally, with its diesel-powered T9 joined by the Hunter PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle), for which order books opened this week.
Yet its global product portfolio includes passenger cars, electric vehicles (EVs), SUVs, people movers and even heavy-duty trucks.
It has also entered the luxury car space with Maextro, an ultra-luxury marque JAC released in China in 2025 in partnership with tech giant Huawei.
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Its first model, the 5.48m-long S800 electric sedan, has been positioned as a rival to models from Rolls-Royce and Mercedes-Maybach.
However, speaking at the launch event for the Hunter PHEV, JAC Motors Australia managing director Ahmed Mahmoud told CarExpert it’s looking at another of JAC’s premium brands for Australia.
“JAC Define is amongst many vehicle line opportunities from JAC Motors that we would find interesting to explore for the local Australian market,” Mr Mahmoud said.
“As you can appreciate, there are many factors to be considered before opportunities of this nature are realised. The Define [S and X] concepts, for example, are Red Dot Design winners for 2025 … [so] why wouldn’t I be interested in exploring further?”
No further details on when or how the Define models could be introduced in Australia were shared, including whether they would require a separate dealer network.
While Define hasn’t yet been established as a standalone brand globally, it could potentially be used as a premium EV sub-brand or brand in Australia to rival the growing number of upscale Chinese marques here.
The sleek Define sedan concept was first revealed at the 2024 Beijing motor show in China.
It later evolved into the Define-S, which appeared alongside the more rugged-looking Define-X SUV concept at Auto Shanghai 2025.
Both concepts are underpinned by JAC’s new Define 1000-volt EV architecture, developed to support future electric vehicles across its various brands.
JAC says the Define-S is powered by a tri-motor electric drivetrain producing up to 590kW, with a claimed 0-100km/h sprint time of 2.3 seconds – quicker than a Tesla Model 3 Performance.
While JAC currently only offers diesel and plug-in hybrid dual-cab utes in Australia, its overseas EV lineup includes the E30X hatchback, an electric version of the T9 ute which could be introduced here, as well as electric vans and trucks.
The Maextro brand appears less likely for Australia in the near term given its ultra-luxury positioning, while Huawei’s involvement could also present additional complications.
While Huawei consumer products aren’t banned in Australia, the federal government blocked the company from supplying equipment for Australia’s 5G network rollout in 2018, citing national security concerns.
Chinese brands have been looking beyond the budget price points they’ve typically competed at.
Geely’s premium brand Zeekr was launched here late in 2024, MG launched the IM Motors brand as a sub-brand in Australia in 2025, and BYD launched its premium Denza brand later that year.
In 2026, GWM will introduce its Wey luxury brand locally. Its vehicles are set to be sold alongside other GWM vehicles in showrooms, much as IM vehicles are sold in MG showrooms – and in contrast to the separate retail networks for Zeekr and Denza.
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