JAC Hunter PHEV at $49,988: what it means for the LandCruiser 70

JAC Motors Australia has confirmed pricing for the Hunter PHEV ahead of a planned August 2026 showroom arrival. Two variants are on offer: the Hunter Pro at $49,988 plus on-road costs, and the better-equipped Hunter X at $54,844 plus on-road costs. Those figures put the Hunter in direct conversation with the LandCruiser 70 Series range, where the dual-cab GXL wagon and the WorkMate troopy both sit in territory that buyers will absolutely cross-shop on a spreadsheet. The question worth asking, and the argument worth having, is whether a combined 360kW and 1010Nm of PHEV torque is actually a threat to a platform that has been the benchmark for Australian working four-wheel drives for more than four decades.

JAC says the Hunter has completed over 100,000km of local testing, covering towing, payload, hot-weather durability, and both sealed and unsealed road work. The local development program was overseen by Australian vehicle dynamics engineer Michael Barber, and JAC's managing director Ahmed Mahmoud has been direct in framing the Hunter not as a budget alternative but as a deliberate market disruptor. That is the kind of language that is easy to dismiss, but the numbers underneath it are worth taking seriously rather than waving away.

What the Hunter actually brings to the argument

Be honest about it: 1010Nm of combined system torque is an extraordinary figure for a ute at this price. The LandCruiser 70's 2.8-litre four-cylinder produces 500Nm, and the outgoing 4.5-litre V8 topped out at 650Nm. On paper, the Hunter's headline torque number doubles what most 70 Series owners are working with. For job-site use, short-haul towing, and urban commuting between country runs, a vehicle that can run silently on electricity for up to 100km, then switch to a hybrid drivetrain for the longer highway haul, has a genuine and honest appeal. Running costs on the EV side of the ledger are real savings. The 1.6L/100km consumption figure is an NEDC combined rating rather than a real-world figure, but even with sensible discounting for actual driving conditions, a topped-up battery doing daily work will cost considerably less per kilometre than either the 2.8 diesel or the old V8.

A 3500kg braked towing rating and a 915kg payload are usable, practical numbers. They are not dramatically different from what a 70 Series workhorse delivers. The Hunter X variant adds front and rear differential locks as standard, with a diff lock package available on the Pro for an additional $1888. A 360-degree camera system, heated front seats, and a rear 220V accessory socket on the Hunter X round out a feature set that a similarly priced 70 Series does not come close to matching on comfort and technology.

Where the 70 Series conversation gets more complicated for the Hunter

Here is where the platform argument comes in, and this is the part that spreadsheets do not capture well. The 70 Series has been in continuous production since 1984. The aftermarket around it, in Australia specifically, is not just large, it is deep in a way that took thirty years to build. A 70 Series owner can fit a four-inch lift on 35-inch tyres with a GVM upgrade that keeps the vehicle ADR-compliant and road-legal. They can swap in a long-range sub-tank from a half-dozen local manufacturers, fit a custom tray or alloy canopy, run a snorkel and a full dual-battery system, wire up a fridge, an inverter, and a winch on a rated steel bull bar, and find replacement parts for all of it at a Repco or a specialist in virtually every regional town in the country.

That aftermarket depth is not a guarantee the Hunter cannot be modified at all. It is a statement of where things stand right now, in August 2026, when the first Hunter Pro rolls off a transporter. The plug-in hybrid drivetrain, with its high-voltage battery architecture and tightly integrated power management systems, presents genuine complexity for anyone looking to fit a 50mm lift or a GVM upgrade through an approved engineer. The PHEV battery's physical footprint in the chassis also raises real questions about where long-range fuel tanks and secondary battery systems go. None of that is insurmountable over time, but the aftermarket ecosystem for a brand-new Chinese PHEV ute does not yet exist in the way it exists for a 70 Series.

For the buyer who spends most of their time on sealed roads, does occasional graded dirt work, and wants a ute that costs almost nothing to run on a daily commute between proper off-road runs, the Hunter is a genuinely compelling offer. It is not a stitch-up to say so. For the buyer who is planning a Cape York traverse on 35s with a custom canopy, 130 litres of sub-tank fuel capacity, and the expectation that if something fails at Laura they can get a part within 48 hours, the 70 Series' answer is harder to argue against right now.

The V8's absence makes this more interesting, not less

The timing matters. Toyota's 4.5-litre V8 has finished its production run, and the 70 Series is now a 2.8-litre diesel platform across the board, with AdBlue. Some long-time 70 Series owners are still processing that change. Into that gap, a PHEV ute offering more combined torque than either engine for under $50,000 drives-away is not a nothing. It is a serious offer, and the LandCruiser community is right to look at it carefully rather than dismiss it on brand grounds alone.

JAC will need to build a service and parts network that earns rural trust, and it will need the Hunter to demonstrate durability across Australian conditions over multiple years, not just 100,000km of pre-launch testing. The 70 Series earned its reputation across decades and hundreds of thousands of working vehicles. The Hunter is starting from zero on that account. Whether that gap closes quickly is the real argument, and it is one that will play out in the paddocks and on the tracks rather than in the specifications sheet.

Reservations for the Hunter are open now with a fully refundable $1000 deposit. The first thousand buyers to take delivery can choose between a home EV charger or a $500 accessories voucher. Vehicles are due in Australian dealerships from August 2026.