A brief drive of Chery’s Grootman double-cab pickup took place in China ahead of the model’s planned South African debut in 2027. The vehicle is expected to arrive in that market in the first quarter of the year, and uses a plug-in hybrid system combining a 2.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder diesel with one electric motor.
Chery quotes 140 kW and 450 Nm for the diesel engine, while the electric motor’s individual output has not been disclosed. Combined system output is 350 kW, and total torque is 800 Nm—100 Nm more than the BYD Shark 6 Performance figure cited in the report. Power goes to all four wheels through a dedicated hybrid transmission. The pickup also has 4H and 4L settings, sand, mud and rock driving modes, crawl control, Turn Assist, and front, centre and rear differential locks.
A 34 kWh lithium-iron-phosphate battery provides a claimed WLTP electric-only range of 96 km. Chery’s stated combined fuel-consumption figure is 1.1 L/100 km; consumption with the battery depleted has not yet been announced. Built on the company’s Kaitan ladder-frame platform, the Grootman is 5,450 mm long, 2,010 mm wide and 1,890 mm tall, with a 3,250 mm wheelbase. Ground clearance is 247 mm, while approach and departure angles are 30 and 25 degrees.