2025 Omoda C9 review: Quick drive
Chery, the massive Chinese automotive manufacturing conglomerate, has already made inroads into our market by launching a variety of vehicles under its own banner.
Now, it's rolling out its Omoda Jaecoo brand, which it's calling a step above its namesake brand. And while Omoda Jaecoo showrooms only have Jaecoo-badged SUVs for now, they'll be joined in August by the Omoda C9.
This plug-in hybrid (PHEV) large SUV aims to offer Volvo XC60– or BMW X3-like levels of luxury, interior space, equipment and performance, but at the sort of prices you might expect to pay for a mid-spec Volkswagen Tiguan.
We got our first taste of the car on the south coast of the UK (badged as simply the 'Omoda 9 SHS' for that market), to see how impressive – or otherwise – this incoming Omoda truly is.
We don't know yet, but there's every likelihood the Omoda C9 could start somewhere close to the ballpark of the top-spec Jaecoo J7 SHS, which is priced at $47,990 drive-away.
However, there are a few things to temper the hope that the C9 will land around $50,000: one, the C9 is a physically bigger and longer car than the J7; and two, the PHEV powertrain in the C9 is considerably more powerful and long-legged than the one in the J7.
So the C9 PHEV will cost more but, nevertheless, we'd be mighty surprised if the Omoda C9 SHS wasn't considerably cheaper than the $102,500 (plus on-road costs) you need to park your backside in a BMW X3 30e xDrive PHEV, for instance.
Therefore we'll reserve final judgement on the new Chinese SUV's value equation until we know for sure how much it's going to cost, and precisely what kit we'll get for our money.
There are two types of Chinese car interiors these days, starting with the ones built down to a cheaper price, which normally rely on some kind of gimmick – like a rotating centre screen, for example – to make them interesting.
The second type is a well-appointed, luxurious cabin that clearly takes inspiration from established and premium European marques. Happily, the C9's passenger compartment falls into this category.
You climb aboard to be greeted by a swish-looking, solidly put-together main fascia, complemented by some large, deep-bolstered chairs finished in what looks like leather (it's synthetic, rather than real hide, but it's convincing enough as these things go) and then topped off with fancy stitching patterns – echoed in the door cards – that are designed to bring an element of grandiosity to proceedings.
In the main, this works, especially when you finally sit behind the (properly) leather-trimmed steering wheel and start experiencing all of the main touchpoints and all of the surface finishes, none of which seem obviously subpar.
Technology is handled by a whopping great 24.6-inch curved display which features both the main touchscreen infotainment and the TFT driver's cluster, but Omoda Jaecoo is also proud to say there are no fewer than 53 physical buttons and controls in the C9's cabin – great news for anyone experiencing digital fatigue in modern-era car interiors.
There's also a potent 50-Watt, cooled wireless smartphone charging pad, which you're going to want to employ because you'll inevitably be using the wireless Android Auto or Apple CarPlay connectivity as the proprietary infotainment system is not great.
It's one of those typically confusing systems with too many menus, not enough logical order to where various settings and controls ought to be, and a fiddly, somewhat laggy response rate to prods of the screen.
Furthermore, there's a weird trip computer in the C9 which will only ever show you your last 50km of fuel and electricity consumption, and you can't reset it no matter what you do. Bizarre.
Generally, though, the cabin and the main displays are largely very good, even if the high central construct ramping down from beneath the central screen and running towards the back of the car feels somewhat constrictive to front-passenger space.
Practicality isn't an issue, though, as there is plenty of legroom and a completely flat floor in the rear of the passenger compartment, which means three adults might just be able to travel side-by-side in the second row if needs be.
However, headroom in the outer two seats can be limited if the occupants sit slightly outboard, because the roof curves in quite noticeably above the doors towards the panoramic roof up top.
At the back is a sizeable 660-litre boot, rising to 1783L with the 60:40 split-folding rear seats dropped down. The Chinese firm also offers three full ISOFIX child seat anchors on the back bench, recognising thatfamilies will be the end users of this vehicle.
But despite its sheer physical size – it's nearly 4.8 metres long – there isn't a seven-seat option for the C9.
Depending on the market, the Omoda C9 – also sold as the RX or Yaoguang by Chery's premium Exeed brand – is offered with turbocharged petrol power or a choice of two plug-in hybrid powertrains with two or three electric motors respectively.
Our UK-spec tester uses the familiar Chery-sourced turbocharged 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, alongside its unusual '3DHT' (dedicated hybrid transmission) three-speed automatic gearbox and dual electric motors.
The difference here is that this system is much more powerful than it is in the related Jaecoo J7, summoning up peak outputs of 300kW and 700Nm. That's enough for a claimed 0-100km/h time of 4.9 seconds, despite the bulky kerb weight of 2195kg.
There's also a bigger battery pack here, rated at 34.46kWh. This allows the Omoda to travel up to 150km on electric power alone, which is claimed to be among the longest EV ranges for any PHEV available globally right now, and when combined with the big 70L fuel tank the C9 should be capable of more than 1200km of total range with careful driving.
Due to the big battery pack and the oddities of WLTP testing, the official fuel consumption figure is somewhere south of a deeply impressive 2.0L/100km, but bear in mind Omoda Jaecoo would like you to work on the premise of 7.0L/100km, which is what the car will do when its battery is depleted as far as it will go.
On that basis, our recorded figure of 5.9L/100km across 80km of mixed-roads driving doesn't look too bad, although we obviously had lots of battery charge to play with from the off, while the traffic conditions on the test route were conducive to better fuel economy (ie: we weren't often going that quickly).
Recently sighted government approval documents in Australia show this market is set to get the even gruntier tri-motor PHEV powertrain, which offers total system outputs of 440kW and 915Nm.
Rather well, all told, and it's certainly one of the more assured, likeable efforts from China that we've tried so far. Of course, it's not perfect either, but it's a mainly positive dynamic report card.
First of all, there's no doubting those 300kW and 700Nm output claims, because the Omoda C9 SHS does feel suitably rapid.
The three-speed transmission deserves particular praise, as the company claims it is seamless in operation and, from our brief experience of this UK-spec dual-motor car, it certainly feels it. Thus, driving the Omoda is merely a case of clicking the column-mounted shifter into D and then deciding just how much forward momentum you want with presses of the accelerator pedal.
If you decide you want a lot of it, then the C9 can oblige, with excellent traction from the dual motors and a real feeling of power, particularly when it comes to roll-on acceleration.
There are supposed to be three different modes for the Continuous Damper Control (CDC) adaptive suspension, the steering, the accelerator response and the brakes, but trying to find them involves going through the complex infotainment system – it's not the work of a moment to pick and choose your settings.
We eventually found a system that allowed us to switch all of the above settings according to which drive mode we chose from the main central dial on the fascia, but there wasn't an awfully great degree of light and shade to any of the major inputs when going from Eco to Normal to Sport and then back again. We reckon most people will just leave the C9 in the middle of these, as it drives quite sweetly thus configured.
Certainly, the secondary ride and the impressive level of rolling refinement both serve to make this a comfortable car to travel long distances in.
It's supple and it's quiet, and there's not a great deal of movement in the shell of the SUV either, so you never feel like you're rolling around in an automotive waterbed. Granted, there are times the 20-inch wheels do thud through larger imperfections in the road, so the primary ride isn't quite as polished, yet the Omoda is perfectly fine for just ambling about the place at a leisurely speed.
The handling isn't quite so memorable, but it's not bad at all. The decent body control couples to lots of grip, ample traction and nicely weighted, reasonably accurate steering, so while you might not exactly enjoyhustling the C9 through the corners, it's more than capable of putting on a respectable show if you decide to get a move on.
Our complaints, then, basically amount to some idiosyncrasies of the Omoda, such as hesitance when you're moving off from a standstill. Or brakes which felt wooden underfoot and too aggressive in their initial bite at lower speeds. Or a driver's seat which is too high-mounted and not quite comfortable enough in the coccyx region to worry Volvo's engineers any time soon.
All things considered, the Omoda felt nicely composed for most of the time we were behind its wheel, and it's definitely in the same sort of dynamic range as something like a Volkswagen Tiguan – itself a fairly safe and uninspiring thing to drive most of the time, but perfectly comfortable and amenable.
We'd expect a lengthy standard kit list for the Omoda C9 when it lands here, as that's a typical trait of 'new' Chinese manufacturers trying to break into fresh markets. Going on the car we tested overseas, we'd be hoping for some of the highlights below to make it into the Australian cars as standard.
2025 Omoda C9 SHS equipment highlights:
With the car not tested by Euro NCAP or ANCAP and considering Omoda Jaecoo is not yet established as a manufacturer in its own right, we can't say exactly what safety spec the C9 will offer when it lands in this market.
That said, the company confidently cites the fact that 20 advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) are fitted as standard to the SUV, and that products under the Chery and Jaecoo banners have picked up good safety ratings – most pertinently the related J7 SHS, which has a five-star Euro NCAP rating.
Again, we don't have exact details on aftersales provisions as Omoda does not exist here yet, but going on what Jaecoo offers we'd be disappointed if the C9 didn't come with the eight-year, unlimited-distance warranty that covers the J7 SHS, along with other impressive levels of customer back-up.
It should obviously prove cheap to run compared to a straightforward petrol SUV, thanks to its PHEV drivetrain and big battery pack.
Speaking of which, Omoda offers DC fast-charging for its power packs at up to 70kW. This should see the battery go from 30-80 per cent of charge in as little as 25 minutes on the right connection.
And furthermore the clever hybrid system in the C9 ensures that the battery is never fully depleted – it always reserves some charge in the unit, and manages its self-charging functions carefully, so that the SUV can operate like a regular hybrid when the battery is low, rather than exhausting all of its useable capacity and then making its driver rely solely on the combustion engine for forward progress.
Despite being an unknown quantity – of sorts – here in Australia as a standalone auto brand, our first sample of the Omoda C9 SHS uses technology we're already familiar with from cars in the Chery and Jaecoo stables – even if we're likely to get an even more powerful tri-motor version.
As tested, the Omoda C9 SHS is a convincing luxury SUV that, if the pricing and specifications are right once they're confirmed for our market, ought to be worth serious consideration.
Sure, it could do with some added engineering polish in certain areas, most specifically the brakes, and the driving experience is okay without being exceptional.
But there's plenty to recommend and much to like here – so much so that we're eager to try the Omoda C9 on home roads to really get the lay of the land.
MORE: 2025 Omoda C9: Flagship PHEV mid-size SUV locked in for Australia
Content originally sourced from: CarExpert.com.au
Chery, the massive Chinese automotive manufacturing conglomerate, has already made inroads into our market by launching a variety of vehicles under its own banner.
Now, it's rolling out its Omoda Jaecoo brand, which it's calling a step above its namesake brand. And while Omoda Jaecoo showrooms only have Jaecoo-badged SUVs for now, they'll be joined in August by the Omoda C9.
This plug-in hybrid (PHEV) large SUV aims to offer Volvo XC60– or BMW X3-like levels of luxury, interior space, equipment and performance, but at the sort of prices you might expect to pay for a mid-spec Volkswagen Tiguan.
We got our first taste of the car on the south coast of the UK (badged as simply the 'Omoda 9 SHS' for that market), to see how impressive – or otherwise – this incoming Omoda truly is.
We don't know yet, but there's every likelihood the Omoda C9 could start somewhere close to the ballpark of the top-spec Jaecoo J7 SHS, which is priced at $47,990 drive-away.
However, there are a few things to temper the hope that the C9 will land around $50,000: one, the C9 is a physically bigger and longer car than the J7; and two, the PHEV powertrain in the C9 is considerably more powerful and long-legged than the one in the J7.
So the C9 PHEV will cost more but, nevertheless, we'd be mighty surprised if the Omoda C9 SHS wasn't considerably cheaper than the $102,500 (plus on-road costs) you need to park your backside in a BMW X3 30e xDrive PHEV, for instance.
Therefore we'll reserve final judgement on the new Chinese SUV's value equation until we know for sure how much it's going to cost, and precisely what kit we'll get for our money.
There are two types of Chinese car interiors these days, starting with the ones built down to a cheaper price, which normally rely on some kind of gimmick – like a rotating centre screen, for example – to make them interesting.
The second type is a well-appointed, luxurious cabin that clearly takes inspiration from established and premium European marques. Happily, the C9's passenger compartment falls into this category.
You climb aboard to be greeted by a swish-looking, solidly put-together main fascia, complemented by some large, deep-bolstered chairs finished in what looks like leather (it's synthetic, rather than real hide, but it's convincing enough as these things go) and then topped off with fancy stitching patterns – echoed in the door cards – that are designed to bring an element of grandiosity to proceedings.
In the main, this works, especially when you finally sit behind the (properly) leather-trimmed steering wheel and start experiencing all of the main touchpoints and all of the surface finishes, none of which seem obviously subpar.
Technology is handled by a whopping great 24.6-inch curved display which features both the main touchscreen infotainment and the TFT driver's cluster, but Omoda Jaecoo is also proud to say there are no fewer than 53 physical buttons and controls in the C9's cabin – great news for anyone experiencing digital fatigue in modern-era car interiors.
There's also a potent 50-Watt, cooled wireless smartphone charging pad, which you're going to want to employ because you'll inevitably be using the wireless Android Auto or Apple CarPlay connectivity as the proprietary infotainment system is not great.
It's one of those typically confusing systems with too many menus, not enough logical order to where various settings and controls ought to be, and a fiddly, somewhat laggy response rate to prods of the screen.
Furthermore, there's a weird trip computer in the C9 which will only ever show you your last 50km of fuel and electricity consumption, and you can't reset it no matter what you do. Bizarre.
Generally, though, the cabin and the main displays are largely very good, even if the high central construct ramping down from beneath the central screen and running towards the back of the car feels somewhat constrictive to front-passenger space.
Practicality isn't an issue, though, as there is plenty of legroom and a completely flat floor in the rear of the passenger compartment, which means three adults might just be able to travel side-by-side in the second row if needs be.
However, headroom in the outer two seats can be limited if the occupants sit slightly outboard, because the roof curves in quite noticeably above the doors towards the panoramic roof up top.
At the back is a sizeable 660-litre boot, rising to 1783L with the 60:40 split-folding rear seats dropped down. The Chinese firm also offers three full ISOFIX child seat anchors on the back bench, recognising thatfamilies will be the end users of this vehicle.
But despite its sheer physical size – it's nearly 4.8 metres long – there isn't a seven-seat option for the C9.
Depending on the market, the Omoda C9 – also sold as the RX or Yaoguang by Chery's premium Exeed brand – is offered with turbocharged petrol power or a choice of two plug-in hybrid powertrains with two or three electric motors respectively.
Our UK-spec tester uses the familiar Chery-sourced turbocharged 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, alongside its unusual '3DHT' (dedicated hybrid transmission) three-speed automatic gearbox and dual electric motors.
The difference here is that this system is much more powerful than it is in the related Jaecoo J7, summoning up peak outputs of 300kW and 700Nm. That's enough for a claimed 0-100km/h time of 4.9 seconds, despite the bulky kerb weight of 2195kg.
There's also a bigger battery pack here, rated at 34.46kWh. This allows the Omoda to travel up to 150km on electric power alone, which is claimed to be among the longest EV ranges for any PHEV available globally right now, and when combined with the big 70L fuel tank the C9 should be capable of more than 1200km of total range with careful driving.
Due to the big battery pack and the oddities of WLTP testing, the official fuel consumption figure is somewhere south of a deeply impressive 2.0L/100km, but bear in mind Omoda Jaecoo would like you to work on the premise of 7.0L/100km, which is what the car will do when its battery is depleted as far as it will go.
On that basis, our recorded figure of 5.9L/100km across 80km of mixed-roads driving doesn't look too bad, although we obviously had lots of battery charge to play with from the off, while the traffic conditions on the test route were conducive to better fuel economy (ie: we weren't often going that quickly).
Recently sighted government approval documents in Australia show this market is set to get the even gruntier tri-motor PHEV powertrain, which offers total system outputs of 440kW and 915Nm.
Rather well, all told, and it's certainly one of the more assured, likeable efforts from China that we've tried so far. Of course, it's not perfect either, but it's a mainly positive dynamic report card.
First of all, there's no doubting those 300kW and 700Nm output claims, because the Omoda C9 SHS does feel suitably rapid.
The three-speed transmission deserves particular praise, as the company claims it is seamless in operation and, from our brief experience of this UK-spec dual-motor car, it certainly feels it. Thus, driving the Omoda is merely a case of clicking the column-mounted shifter into D and then deciding just how much forward momentum you want with presses of the accelerator pedal.
If you decide you want a lot of it, then the C9 can oblige, with excellent traction from the dual motors and a real feeling of power, particularly when it comes to roll-on acceleration.
There are supposed to be three different modes for the Continuous Damper Control (CDC) adaptive suspension, the steering, the accelerator response and the brakes, but trying to find them involves going through the complex infotainment system – it's not the work of a moment to pick and choose your settings.
We eventually found a system that allowed us to switch all of the above settings according to which drive mode we chose from the main central dial on the fascia, but there wasn't an awfully great degree of light and shade to any of the major inputs when going from Eco to Normal to Sport and then back again. We reckon most people will just leave the C9 in the middle of these, as it drives quite sweetly thus configured.
Certainly, the secondary ride and the impressive level of rolling refinement both serve to make this a comfortable car to travel long distances in.
It's supple and it's quiet, and there's not a great deal of movement in the shell of the SUV either, so you never feel like you're rolling around in an automotive waterbed. Granted, there are times the 20-inch wheels do thud through larger imperfections in the road, so the primary ride isn't quite as polished, yet the Omoda is perfectly fine for just ambling about the place at a leisurely speed.
The handling isn't quite so memorable, but it's not bad at all. The decent body control couples to lots of grip, ample traction and nicely weighted, reasonably accurate steering, so while you might not exactly enjoyhustling the C9 through the corners, it's more than capable of putting on a respectable show if you decide to get a move on.
Our complaints, then, basically amount to some idiosyncrasies of the Omoda, such as hesitance when you're moving off from a standstill. Or brakes which felt wooden underfoot and too aggressive in their initial bite at lower speeds. Or a driver's seat which is too high-mounted and not quite comfortable enough in the coccyx region to worry Volvo's engineers any time soon.
All things considered, the Omoda felt nicely composed for most of the time we were behind its wheel, and it's definitely in the same sort of dynamic range as something like a Volkswagen Tiguan – itself a fairly safe and uninspiring thing to drive most of the time, but perfectly comfortable and amenable.
We'd expect a lengthy standard kit list for the Omoda C9 when it lands here, as that's a typical trait of 'new' Chinese manufacturers trying to break into fresh markets. Going on the car we tested overseas, we'd be hoping for some of the highlights below to make it into the Australian cars as standard.
2025 Omoda C9 SHS equipment highlights:
With the car not tested by Euro NCAP or ANCAP and considering Omoda Jaecoo is not yet established as a manufacturer in its own right, we can't say exactly what safety spec the C9 will offer when it lands in this market.
That said, the company confidently cites the fact that 20 advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) are fitted as standard to the SUV, and that products under the Chery and Jaecoo banners have picked up good safety ratings – most pertinently the related J7 SHS, which has a five-star Euro NCAP rating.
Again, we don't have exact details on aftersales provisions as Omoda does not exist here yet, but going on what Jaecoo offers we'd be disappointed if the C9 didn't come with the eight-year, unlimited-distance warranty that covers the J7 SHS, along with other impressive levels of customer back-up.
It should obviously prove cheap to run compared to a straightforward petrol SUV, thanks to its PHEV drivetrain and big battery pack.
Speaking of which, Omoda offers DC fast-charging for its power packs at up to 70kW. This should see the battery go from 30-80 per cent of charge in as little as 25 minutes on the right connection.
And furthermore the clever hybrid system in the C9 ensures that the battery is never fully depleted – it always reserves some charge in the unit, and manages its self-charging functions carefully, so that the SUV can operate like a regular hybrid when the battery is low, rather than exhausting all of its useable capacity and then making its driver rely solely on the combustion engine for forward progress.
Despite being an unknown quantity – of sorts – here in Australia as a standalone auto brand, our first sample of the Omoda C9 SHS uses technology we're already familiar with from cars in the Chery and Jaecoo stables – even if we're likely to get an even more powerful tri-motor version.
As tested, the Omoda C9 SHS is a convincing luxury SUV that, if the pricing and specifications are right once they're confirmed for our market, ought to be worth serious consideration.
Sure, it could do with some added engineering polish in certain areas, most specifically the brakes, and the driving experience is okay without being exceptional.
But there's plenty to recommend and much to like here – so much so that we're eager to try the Omoda C9 on home roads to really get the lay of the land.
MORE: 2025 Omoda C9: Flagship PHEV mid-size SUV locked in for Australia
Content originally sourced from: CarExpert.com.au
Chery, the massive Chinese automotive manufacturing conglomerate, has already made inroads into our market by launching a variety of vehicles under its own banner.
Now, it's rolling out its Omoda Jaecoo brand, which it's calling a step above its namesake brand. And while Omoda Jaecoo showrooms only have Jaecoo-badged SUVs for now, they'll be joined in August by the Omoda C9.
This plug-in hybrid (PHEV) large SUV aims to offer Volvo XC60– or BMW X3-like levels of luxury, interior space, equipment and performance, but at the sort of prices you might expect to pay for a mid-spec Volkswagen Tiguan.
We got our first taste of the car on the south coast of the UK (badged as simply the 'Omoda 9 SHS' for that market), to see how impressive – or otherwise – this incoming Omoda truly is.
We don't know yet, but there's every likelihood the Omoda C9 could start somewhere close to the ballpark of the top-spec Jaecoo J7 SHS, which is priced at $47,990 drive-away.
However, there are a few things to temper the hope that the C9 will land around $50,000: one, the C9 is a physically bigger and longer car than the J7; and two, the PHEV powertrain in the C9 is considerably more powerful and long-legged than the one in the J7.
So the C9 PHEV will cost more but, nevertheless, we'd be mighty surprised if the Omoda C9 SHS wasn't considerably cheaper than the $102,500 (plus on-road costs) you need to park your backside in a BMW X3 30e xDrive PHEV, for instance.
Therefore we'll reserve final judgement on the new Chinese SUV's value equation until we know for sure how much it's going to cost, and precisely what kit we'll get for our money.
There are two types of Chinese car interiors these days, starting with the ones built down to a cheaper price, which normally rely on some kind of gimmick – like a rotating centre screen, for example – to make them interesting.
The second type is a well-appointed, luxurious cabin that clearly takes inspiration from established and premium European marques. Happily, the C9's passenger compartment falls into this category.
You climb aboard to be greeted by a swish-looking, solidly put-together main fascia, complemented by some large, deep-bolstered chairs finished in what looks like leather (it's synthetic, rather than real hide, but it's convincing enough as these things go) and then topped off with fancy stitching patterns – echoed in the door cards – that are designed to bring an element of grandiosity to proceedings.
In the main, this works, especially when you finally sit behind the (properly) leather-trimmed steering wheel and start experiencing all of the main touchpoints and all of the surface finishes, none of which seem obviously subpar.
Technology is handled by a whopping great 24.6-inch curved display which features both the main touchscreen infotainment and the TFT driver's cluster, but Omoda Jaecoo is also proud to say there are no fewer than 53 physical buttons and controls in the C9's cabin – great news for anyone experiencing digital fatigue in modern-era car interiors.
There's also a potent 50-Watt, cooled wireless smartphone charging pad, which you're going to want to employ because you'll inevitably be using the wireless Android Auto or Apple CarPlay connectivity as the proprietary infotainment system is not great.
It's one of those typically confusing systems with too many menus, not enough logical order to where various settings and controls ought to be, and a fiddly, somewhat laggy response rate to prods of the screen.
Furthermore, there's a weird trip computer in the C9 which will only ever show you your last 50km of fuel and electricity consumption, and you can't reset it no matter what you do. Bizarre.
Generally, though, the cabin and the main displays are largely very good, even if the high central construct ramping down from beneath the central screen and running towards the back of the car feels somewhat constrictive to front-passenger space.
Practicality isn't an issue, though, as there is plenty of legroom and a completely flat floor in the rear of the passenger compartment, which means three adults might just be able to travel side-by-side in the second row if needs be.
However, headroom in the outer two seats can be limited if the occupants sit slightly outboard, because the roof curves in quite noticeably above the doors towards the panoramic roof up top.
At the back is a sizeable 660-litre boot, rising to 1783L with the 60:40 split-folding rear seats dropped down. The Chinese firm also offers three full ISOFIX child seat anchors on the back bench, recognising thatfamilies will be the end users of this vehicle.
But despite its sheer physical size – it's nearly 4.8 metres long – there isn't a seven-seat option for the C9.
Depending on the market, the Omoda C9 – also sold as the RX or Yaoguang by Chery's premium Exeed brand – is offered with turbocharged petrol power or a choice of two plug-in hybrid powertrains with two or three electric motors respectively.
Our UK-spec tester uses the familiar Chery-sourced turbocharged 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, alongside its unusual '3DHT' (dedicated hybrid transmission) three-speed automatic gearbox and dual electric motors.
The difference here is that this system is much more powerful than it is in the related Jaecoo J7, summoning up peak outputs of 300kW and 700Nm. That's enough for a claimed 0-100km/h time of 4.9 seconds, despite the bulky kerb weight of 2195kg.
There's also a bigger battery pack here, rated at 34.46kWh. This allows the Omoda to travel up to 150km on electric power alone, which is claimed to be among the longest EV ranges for any PHEV available globally right now, and when combined with the big 70L fuel tank the C9 should be capable of more than 1200km of total range with careful driving.
Due to the big battery pack and the oddities of WLTP testing, the official fuel consumption figure is somewhere south of a deeply impressive 2.0L/100km, but bear in mind Omoda Jaecoo would like you to work on the premise of 7.0L/100km, which is what the car will do when its battery is depleted as far as it will go.
On that basis, our recorded figure of 5.9L/100km across 80km of mixed-roads driving doesn't look too bad, although we obviously had lots of battery charge to play with from the off, while the traffic conditions on the test route were conducive to better fuel economy (ie: we weren't often going that quickly).
Recently sighted government approval documents in Australia show this market is set to get the even gruntier tri-motor PHEV powertrain, which offers total system outputs of 440kW and 915Nm.
Rather well, all told, and it's certainly one of the more assured, likeable efforts from China that we've tried so far. Of course, it's not perfect either, but it's a mainly positive dynamic report card.
First of all, there's no doubting those 300kW and 700Nm output claims, because the Omoda C9 SHS does feel suitably rapid.
The three-speed transmission deserves particular praise, as the company claims it is seamless in operation and, from our brief experience of this UK-spec dual-motor car, it certainly feels it. Thus, driving the Omoda is merely a case of clicking the column-mounted shifter into D and then deciding just how much forward momentum you want with presses of the accelerator pedal.
If you decide you want a lot of it, then the C9 can oblige, with excellent traction from the dual motors and a real feeling of power, particularly when it comes to roll-on acceleration.
There are supposed to be three different modes for the Continuous Damper Control (CDC) adaptive suspension, the steering, the accelerator response and the brakes, but trying to find them involves going through the complex infotainment system – it's not the work of a moment to pick and choose your settings.
We eventually found a system that allowed us to switch all of the above settings according to which drive mode we chose from the main central dial on the fascia, but there wasn't an awfully great degree of light and shade to any of the major inputs when going from Eco to Normal to Sport and then back again. We reckon most people will just leave the C9 in the middle of these, as it drives quite sweetly thus configured.
Certainly, the secondary ride and the impressive level of rolling refinement both serve to make this a comfortable car to travel long distances in.
It's supple and it's quiet, and there's not a great deal of movement in the shell of the SUV either, so you never feel like you're rolling around in an automotive waterbed. Granted, there are times the 20-inch wheels do thud through larger imperfections in the road, so the primary ride isn't quite as polished, yet the Omoda is perfectly fine for just ambling about the place at a leisurely speed.
The handling isn't quite so memorable, but it's not bad at all. The decent body control couples to lots of grip, ample traction and nicely weighted, reasonably accurate steering, so while you might not exactly enjoyhustling the C9 through the corners, it's more than capable of putting on a respectable show if you decide to get a move on.
Our complaints, then, basically amount to some idiosyncrasies of the Omoda, such as hesitance when you're moving off from a standstill. Or brakes which felt wooden underfoot and too aggressive in their initial bite at lower speeds. Or a driver's seat which is too high-mounted and not quite comfortable enough in the coccyx region to worry Volvo's engineers any time soon.
All things considered, the Omoda felt nicely composed for most of the time we were behind its wheel, and it's definitely in the same sort of dynamic range as something like a Volkswagen Tiguan – itself a fairly safe and uninspiring thing to drive most of the time, but perfectly comfortable and amenable.
We'd expect a lengthy standard kit list for the Omoda C9 when it lands here, as that's a typical trait of 'new' Chinese manufacturers trying to break into fresh markets. Going on the car we tested overseas, we'd be hoping for some of the highlights below to make it into the Australian cars as standard.
2025 Omoda C9 SHS equipment highlights:
With the car not tested by Euro NCAP or ANCAP and considering Omoda Jaecoo is not yet established as a manufacturer in its own right, we can't say exactly what safety spec the C9 will offer when it lands in this market.
That said, the company confidently cites the fact that 20 advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) are fitted as standard to the SUV, and that products under the Chery and Jaecoo banners have picked up good safety ratings – most pertinently the related J7 SHS, which has a five-star Euro NCAP rating.
Again, we don't have exact details on aftersales provisions as Omoda does not exist here yet, but going on what Jaecoo offers we'd be disappointed if the C9 didn't come with the eight-year, unlimited-distance warranty that covers the J7 SHS, along with other impressive levels of customer back-up.
It should obviously prove cheap to run compared to a straightforward petrol SUV, thanks to its PHEV drivetrain and big battery pack.
Speaking of which, Omoda offers DC fast-charging for its power packs at up to 70kW. This should see the battery go from 30-80 per cent of charge in as little as 25 minutes on the right connection.
And furthermore the clever hybrid system in the C9 ensures that the battery is never fully depleted – it always reserves some charge in the unit, and manages its self-charging functions carefully, so that the SUV can operate like a regular hybrid when the battery is low, rather than exhausting all of its useable capacity and then making its driver rely solely on the combustion engine for forward progress.
Despite being an unknown quantity – of sorts – here in Australia as a standalone auto brand, our first sample of the Omoda C9 SHS uses technology we're already familiar with from cars in the Chery and Jaecoo stables – even if we're likely to get an even more powerful tri-motor version.
As tested, the Omoda C9 SHS is a convincing luxury SUV that, if the pricing and specifications are right once they're confirmed for our market, ought to be worth serious consideration.
Sure, it could do with some added engineering polish in certain areas, most specifically the brakes, and the driving experience is okay without being exceptional.
But there's plenty to recommend and much to like here – so much so that we're eager to try the Omoda C9 on home roads to really get the lay of the land.
MORE: 2025 Omoda C9: Flagship PHEV mid-size SUV locked in for Australia
Content originally sourced from: CarExpert.com.au
Chery, the massive Chinese automotive manufacturing conglomerate, has already made inroads into our market by launching a variety of vehicles under its own banner.
Now, it's rolling out its Omoda Jaecoo brand, which it's calling a step above its namesake brand. And while Omoda Jaecoo showrooms only have Jaecoo-badged SUVs for now, they'll be joined in August by the Omoda C9.
This plug-in hybrid (PHEV) large SUV aims to offer Volvo XC60– or BMW X3-like levels of luxury, interior space, equipment and performance, but at the sort of prices you might expect to pay for a mid-spec Volkswagen Tiguan.
We got our first taste of the car on the south coast of the UK (badged as simply the 'Omoda 9 SHS' for that market), to see how impressive – or otherwise – this incoming Omoda truly is.
We don't know yet, but there's every likelihood the Omoda C9 could start somewhere close to the ballpark of the top-spec Jaecoo J7 SHS, which is priced at $47,990 drive-away.
However, there are a few things to temper the hope that the C9 will land around $50,000: one, the C9 is a physically bigger and longer car than the J7; and two, the PHEV powertrain in the C9 is considerably more powerful and long-legged than the one in the J7.
So the C9 PHEV will cost more but, nevertheless, we'd be mighty surprised if the Omoda C9 SHS wasn't considerably cheaper than the $102,500 (plus on-road costs) you need to park your backside in a BMW X3 30e xDrive PHEV, for instance.
Therefore we'll reserve final judgement on the new Chinese SUV's value equation until we know for sure how much it's going to cost, and precisely what kit we'll get for our money.
There are two types of Chinese car interiors these days, starting with the ones built down to a cheaper price, which normally rely on some kind of gimmick – like a rotating centre screen, for example – to make them interesting.
The second type is a well-appointed, luxurious cabin that clearly takes inspiration from established and premium European marques. Happily, the C9's passenger compartment falls into this category.
You climb aboard to be greeted by a swish-looking, solidly put-together main fascia, complemented by some large, deep-bolstered chairs finished in what looks like leather (it's synthetic, rather than real hide, but it's convincing enough as these things go) and then topped off with fancy stitching patterns – echoed in the door cards – that are designed to bring an element of grandiosity to proceedings.
In the main, this works, especially when you finally sit behind the (properly) leather-trimmed steering wheel and start experiencing all of the main touchpoints and all of the surface finishes, none of which seem obviously subpar.
Technology is handled by a whopping great 24.6-inch curved display which features both the main touchscreen infotainment and the TFT driver's cluster, but Omoda Jaecoo is also proud to say there are no fewer than 53 physical buttons and controls in the C9's cabin – great news for anyone experiencing digital fatigue in modern-era car interiors.
There's also a potent 50-Watt, cooled wireless smartphone charging pad, which you're going to want to employ because you'll inevitably be using the wireless Android Auto or Apple CarPlay connectivity as the proprietary infotainment system is not great.
It's one of those typically confusing systems with too many menus, not enough logical order to where various settings and controls ought to be, and a fiddly, somewhat laggy response rate to prods of the screen.
Furthermore, there's a weird trip computer in the C9 which will only ever show you your last 50km of fuel and electricity consumption, and you can't reset it no matter what you do. Bizarre.
Generally, though, the cabin and the main displays are largely very good, even if the high central construct ramping down from beneath the central screen and running towards the back of the car feels somewhat constrictive to front-passenger space.
Practicality isn't an issue, though, as there is plenty of legroom and a completely flat floor in the rear of the passenger compartment, which means three adults might just be able to travel side-by-side in the second row if needs be.
However, headroom in the outer two seats can be limited if the occupants sit slightly outboard, because the roof curves in quite noticeably above the doors towards the panoramic roof up top.
At the back is a sizeable 660-litre boot, rising to 1783L with the 60:40 split-folding rear seats dropped down. The Chinese firm also offers three full ISOFIX child seat anchors on the back bench, recognising thatfamilies will be the end users of this vehicle.
But despite its sheer physical size – it's nearly 4.8 metres long – there isn't a seven-seat option for the C9.
Depending on the market, the Omoda C9 – also sold as the RX or Yaoguang by Chery's premium Exeed brand – is offered with turbocharged petrol power or a choice of two plug-in hybrid powertrains with two or three electric motors respectively.
Our UK-spec tester uses the familiar Chery-sourced turbocharged 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, alongside its unusual '3DHT' (dedicated hybrid transmission) three-speed automatic gearbox and dual electric motors.
The difference here is that this system is much more powerful than it is in the related Jaecoo J7, summoning up peak outputs of 300kW and 700Nm. That's enough for a claimed 0-100km/h time of 4.9 seconds, despite the bulky kerb weight of 2195kg.
There's also a bigger battery pack here, rated at 34.46kWh. This allows the Omoda to travel up to 150km on electric power alone, which is claimed to be among the longest EV ranges for any PHEV available globally right now, and when combined with the big 70L fuel tank the C9 should be capable of more than 1200km of total range with careful driving.
Due to the big battery pack and the oddities of WLTP testing, the official fuel consumption figure is somewhere south of a deeply impressive 2.0L/100km, but bear in mind Omoda Jaecoo would like you to work on the premise of 7.0L/100km, which is what the car will do when its battery is depleted as far as it will go.
On that basis, our recorded figure of 5.9L/100km across 80km of mixed-roads driving doesn't look too bad, although we obviously had lots of battery charge to play with from the off, while the traffic conditions on the test route were conducive to better fuel economy (ie: we weren't often going that quickly).
Recently sighted government approval documents in Australia show this market is set to get the even gruntier tri-motor PHEV powertrain, which offers total system outputs of 440kW and 915Nm.
Rather well, all told, and it's certainly one of the more assured, likeable efforts from China that we've tried so far. Of course, it's not perfect either, but it's a mainly positive dynamic report card.
First of all, there's no doubting those 300kW and 700Nm output claims, because the Omoda C9 SHS does feel suitably rapid.
The three-speed transmission deserves particular praise, as the company claims it is seamless in operation and, from our brief experience of this UK-spec dual-motor car, it certainly feels it. Thus, driving the Omoda is merely a case of clicking the column-mounted shifter into D and then deciding just how much forward momentum you want with presses of the accelerator pedal.
If you decide you want a lot of it, then the C9 can oblige, with excellent traction from the dual motors and a real feeling of power, particularly when it comes to roll-on acceleration.
There are supposed to be three different modes for the Continuous Damper Control (CDC) adaptive suspension, the steering, the accelerator response and the brakes, but trying to find them involves going through the complex infotainment system – it's not the work of a moment to pick and choose your settings.
We eventually found a system that allowed us to switch all of the above settings according to which drive mode we chose from the main central dial on the fascia, but there wasn't an awfully great degree of light and shade to any of the major inputs when going from Eco to Normal to Sport and then back again. We reckon most people will just leave the C9 in the middle of these, as it drives quite sweetly thus configured.
Certainly, the secondary ride and the impressive level of rolling refinement both serve to make this a comfortable car to travel long distances in.
It's supple and it's quiet, and there's not a great deal of movement in the shell of the SUV either, so you never feel like you're rolling around in an automotive waterbed. Granted, there are times the 20-inch wheels do thud through larger imperfections in the road, so the primary ride isn't quite as polished, yet the Omoda is perfectly fine for just ambling about the place at a leisurely speed.
The handling isn't quite so memorable, but it's not bad at all. The decent body control couples to lots of grip, ample traction and nicely weighted, reasonably accurate steering, so while you might not exactly enjoyhustling the C9 through the corners, it's more than capable of putting on a respectable show if you decide to get a move on.
Our complaints, then, basically amount to some idiosyncrasies of the Omoda, such as hesitance when you're moving off from a standstill. Or brakes which felt wooden underfoot and too aggressive in their initial bite at lower speeds. Or a driver's seat which is too high-mounted and not quite comfortable enough in the coccyx region to worry Volvo's engineers any time soon.
All things considered, the Omoda felt nicely composed for most of the time we were behind its wheel, and it's definitely in the same sort of dynamic range as something like a Volkswagen Tiguan – itself a fairly safe and uninspiring thing to drive most of the time, but perfectly comfortable and amenable.
We'd expect a lengthy standard kit list for the Omoda C9 when it lands here, as that's a typical trait of 'new' Chinese manufacturers trying to break into fresh markets. Going on the car we tested overseas, we'd be hoping for some of the highlights below to make it into the Australian cars as standard.
2025 Omoda C9 SHS equipment highlights:
With the car not tested by Euro NCAP or ANCAP and considering Omoda Jaecoo is not yet established as a manufacturer in its own right, we can't say exactly what safety spec the C9 will offer when it lands in this market.
That said, the company confidently cites the fact that 20 advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) are fitted as standard to the SUV, and that products under the Chery and Jaecoo banners have picked up good safety ratings – most pertinently the related J7 SHS, which has a five-star Euro NCAP rating.
Again, we don't have exact details on aftersales provisions as Omoda does not exist here yet, but going on what Jaecoo offers we'd be disappointed if the C9 didn't come with the eight-year, unlimited-distance warranty that covers the J7 SHS, along with other impressive levels of customer back-up.
It should obviously prove cheap to run compared to a straightforward petrol SUV, thanks to its PHEV drivetrain and big battery pack.
Speaking of which, Omoda offers DC fast-charging for its power packs at up to 70kW. This should see the battery go from 30-80 per cent of charge in as little as 25 minutes on the right connection.
And furthermore the clever hybrid system in the C9 ensures that the battery is never fully depleted – it always reserves some charge in the unit, and manages its self-charging functions carefully, so that the SUV can operate like a regular hybrid when the battery is low, rather than exhausting all of its useable capacity and then making its driver rely solely on the combustion engine for forward progress.
Despite being an unknown quantity – of sorts – here in Australia as a standalone auto brand, our first sample of the Omoda C9 SHS uses technology we're already familiar with from cars in the Chery and Jaecoo stables – even if we're likely to get an even more powerful tri-motor version.
As tested, the Omoda C9 SHS is a convincing luxury SUV that, if the pricing and specifications are right once they're confirmed for our market, ought to be worth serious consideration.
Sure, it could do with some added engineering polish in certain areas, most specifically the brakes, and the driving experience is okay without being exceptional.
But there's plenty to recommend and much to like here – so much so that we're eager to try the Omoda C9 on home roads to really get the lay of the land.
MORE: 2025 Omoda C9: Flagship PHEV mid-size SUV locked in for Australia
Content originally sourced from: CarExpert.com.au
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The Age
14 hours ago
- The Age
Dark clouds gather over Australia's red earth riches
Spearing out of the deep-red Hammersley Range in Western Australia's Pilbara region is an 18-kilometre conveyer belt. It rumbles day and night on rollers transporting a steady flow of iron ore from a monster four-storey crusher at the area's newest open-cut mine. Rio Tinto's $2.4 billion Western Range iron ore mine – officially opened this month – is the latest in a long line of mega-projects that have carved up the desert here for the past 60 years, sending mountains of crushed rock to the port and onto huge bulk carriers bound for steel mills in Asia. China's voracious appetite for iron ore, the reddish dirt that's turned into steel inside giant blast furnaces, has kept the Australian economy prosperous for decades, bringing in hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue and creating the world's two most valuable miners, BHP and Rio Tinto, along the way. Loading To this day, the commodity still ranks as Australia's single biggest export earner, fetching $138 billion in the past financial year alone, accounting for up to 5 per cent of the country's gross domestic product. But demand in China is starting to cool, which is a cause of considerable concern because Chinese steelmakers are the biggest buyers of our iron ore by far. Deteriorating conditions in the Chinese property sector, which accounts for 30 per cent of its steel demand, is crunching building activity, just as US President Donald Trump's tariffs loom as another economic threat that could hinder the effectiveness of Beijing's stimulus measures. At the same time, a wave of additional iron ore from the next generation of mines in Africa and Australia is raising the risk of an oversupply, while the declining quality of Australia's iron ore output means it will be unsuitable for less-polluting steel-making practices becoming more popular in the push to avert catastrophic global warming. All of these headwinds are leading to one important question: could Australia's iron ore earnings powerhouse be finally facing the beginning of long and gradual structural decline? The risk, analysts warn, is real. The fundamentals are certainly 'less constructive' than they have been in the past, says Lachlan Shaw, a mining analyst at UBS. 'The downside case for iron ore rests on a combination of supply growth from new projects including Simandou in Guinea, Onslow and Iron Bridge in WA and recovering production in Brazil,' he says. 'This, coupled with expectations for China's steel production to ease lower over coming years, results in an outlook that would, if it comes to pass, put downward pressure on iron ore prices.' However, it's also worth remembering that the iron ore price has long defied repeated predictions it is overdue for a fall, he adds. China's steel output has probably peaked, but this is unlikely to spell disaster. Production in China is likely to plateau at 'relatively high levels' for some time, UBS says, and demand growth in the emerging steel sectors of South-East Asia, India and the Middle East could help offset weakening conditions in China. The development of projects to unleash new iron ore supplies may also come under pressure from higher costs and more costly and complicated approvals and heritage management processes. 'The collective market has a long history of over-confidence in forecasting iron ore's demise,' Shaw says. 'There are important offsets that may see iron ore trade stronger than the more bearish forecasts on the street.' The slowdown in China presents the most immediate threat to demand. But a debate has also begun intensifying among the Pilbara iron ore giants about a longer-term question: could the shift to less-polluting steel-making methods which require higher grades of iron ore than Australian mines are producing hasten their demise? 'We're going to be in the Pilbara for decades. It has got a strong future if we do the work.' Rio's head of iron ore, Simon Trott Chinese steel mills' shift from traditional blast furnaces to cleaner processes, which use electricity instead of coal and require iron ore with fewer impurities, could turn the Pilbara into a wasteland, Andrew Forrest, the billionaire chairman of Western Australia's third-largest iron ore shipper, Fortescue Metals Group, said recently. 'They are going to shut down the old-fashioned, two-century-old technology of burning sticks and logs, putting in coal, putting in iron ore, burning it all and sending up masses of pollution into the atmosphere and producing steel,' Forrest told a mining summit in Perth. 'They're looking straight into a future that may or may not include WA.' Analysts agree that the momentum in the industry towards cleaner steel-making processes makes the outlook for lower grade iron ore 'more challenged' relative to higher-grade products. To maintain demand for the Pilbara's mid- to low-grade iron ore, technical innovation would be required to secure their use as feedstocks for lower-carbon steel-making processes, they say. BHP and Rio Tinto have partnered with BlueScope Steel to build an electric iron-making furnace as part of a demonstration project at Kwinana near Perth. Forrest's Fortescue is investing heavily in a push to diversify into green hydrogen as a substitute for coal in the steel-making process, and has plans to build a commercial-scale green iron plant in the Pilbara. 'Australian industry is starting to do the work here,' says Shaw. The opportunity for Australia to shift to a green iron producer and away from an iron ore miner and shipper is 'real', he adds, but will face technical and economic challenges. 'Innovation, commitment and supportive policy settings will likely be needed in combination to realise such an enormous transition,' he says. 'They are going to shut down the old-fashioned, two-century-old technology of burning sticks and logs, putting in coal, putting in iron ore, burning it all and sending up masses of pollution into the atmosphere and producing steel.' Fortescue's Andrew Forrest While the industry is responding to growing efforts to decarbonise the steel sector, which accounts for at least 8 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, Forrest's suggestion that the Pilbara is at risk of becoming a wasteland is one that Rio Tinto's head of iron ore, Simon Trott, rejects. 'We're going to be in the Pilbara for decades,' he says. 'It has got a strong future if we do the work.' Asked to explain the progressive decline in ore quality coming out of the region, Trott says: 'You tend to start with the best bits first. That's what happened when the Pilbara got developed through the '60s, and since then, as a whole, the Pilbara has gradually declined.' Rio Tinto says its new mines, such as Western Range, will shore up growth. The Anglo-Australian mining giant also believes it has an ace up its sleeve at its Rhodes Ridge development, which is expected to be ready by the end of this decade and contains more than 6 billion tonnes of higher grade ore. 'The good news for us is that it's in front of us rather than behind us,' says Trott. Loading Rod Sims, the long-serving former chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, paints a more optimistic picture of the Pilbara's future. Where the industry sees a threat, he sees lucrative potential to create a green iron manufacturing hub for which, he says, Australia is 'superbly well positioned'. Now chair of the Superpower Institute, a think tank he co-founded with energy expert and economist Ross Garnaut, Sims says Australia's abundant iron ore, when coupled with world-class wind and solar resources, could power a green steel export industry potentially worth $386 billion a year by 2060. 'Green iron is the next great chapter in Australia's export story,' he says. 'As the world decarbonises, our fossil fuel exports will inevitably decline – but by using our unparalleled renewable energy resources to make green iron, we can replace those exports with high value, zero carbon products that the world will need.' One way to fulfil that vision is to use green hydrogen to replace coal in the steelmaking process, creating an emission-free product, a technology Forrest is placing big bets on. The hydrogen is sourced by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using electrolysis powered by fields of solar panels or wind turbines. However, the technology remains far more expensive than basic furnaces, and is not widely used yet. Loading With big challenges ahead, how Australia's mining giants position themselves for the next decade will be critical. BHP and Rio Tinto are searching for new leadership talent to steer them through. Both companies are heading into capital-intensive, construction-heavy periods with a focus on projects aimed at boosting their supplies of commodities that stand to benefit from growing global efforts to tackle global warming, such as electric battery raw material lithium, and copper, a key ingredient in electric wiring. BHP is focusing on several new and expanded copper mines, while Rio Tinto is concentrating on copper and lithium. 'Both businesses will need to pivot to a more technical, execution-driven capability within senior leadership ranks,' says Shaw. 'It will come down to the right balance of senior leaders being able to surround themselves with the technical skills and talent they need and can trust, versus potential new leadership with stronger technical experience.' Rio Tinto chair Dominic Barton surprised investors with his disclosure three weeks ago that chief executive Jakob Stausholm will leave later this year. The miner didn't name a successor, prompting speculation the transition was hasty and a result of friction between Stausholm and Barton. Stausholm has rejected talk of a rift. There is 'no disalignment', he told reporters at Western Range last week. 'We have completely agreed between ourselves that it is the right time to look for succession, and I will be stepping down. I am very happy and proud about my what will be five years as CEO of this company,' he said. Any incoming boss at Rio Tinto will need to 'double down to deliver greater operational performance', Barton said, intimating the company is focusing on candidates for the top job with deep mining experience. Change at the top of resource giant BHP has been smoother. Former National Australia Bank chief executive Ross McEwan seamlessly took over as company chair from eight-year veteran Ken MacKenzie in March, although there are now suggestions the Big Australian is looking to replace CEO Mike Henry but no official acknowledgement. For Shanghai-based Baowu, Rio Tinto's partner in Western Range, there is no equivocation on the Pilbara's future. The world's largest steel producer, wholly owned by the Chinese government, is firmly rooted in the region's red earth, owning 46 per cent of the joint venture since 2002. Its chairman, Hu Wangming, describes it almost poetically as a place 'where partnership and friendship flourish, like the ore veins of the Western Range: strong, deep and everlasting'.
Sydney Morning Herald
14 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Dark clouds gather over Australia's red earth riches
Spearing out of the deep-red Hammersley Range in Western Australia's Pilbara region is an 18-kilometre conveyer belt. It rumbles day and night on rollers transporting a steady flow of iron ore from a monster four-storey crusher at the area's newest open-cut mine. Rio Tinto's $2.4 billion Western Range iron ore mine – officially opened this month – is the latest in a long line of mega-projects that have carved up the desert here for the past 60 years, sending mountains of crushed rock to the port and onto huge bulk carriers bound for steel mills in Asia. China's voracious appetite for iron ore, the reddish dirt that's turned into steel inside giant blast furnaces, has kept the Australian economy prosperous for decades, bringing in hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue and creating the world's two most valuable miners, BHP and Rio Tinto, along the way. Loading To this day, the commodity still ranks as Australia's single biggest export earner, fetching $138 billion in the past financial year alone, accounting for up to 5 per cent of the country's gross domestic product. But demand in China is starting to cool, which is a cause of considerable concern because Chinese steelmakers are the biggest buyers of our iron ore by far. Deteriorating conditions in the Chinese property sector, which accounts for 30 per cent of its steel demand, is crunching building activity, just as US President Donald Trump's tariffs loom as another economic threat that could hinder the effectiveness of Beijing's stimulus measures. At the same time, a wave of additional iron ore from the next generation of mines in Africa and Australia is raising the risk of an oversupply, while the declining quality of Australia's iron ore output means it will be unsuitable for less-polluting steel-making practices becoming more popular in the push to avert catastrophic global warming. All of these headwinds are leading to one important question: could Australia's iron ore earnings powerhouse be finally facing the beginning of long and gradual structural decline? The risk, analysts warn, is real. The fundamentals are certainly 'less constructive' than they have been in the past, says Lachlan Shaw, a mining analyst at UBS. 'The downside case for iron ore rests on a combination of supply growth from new projects including Simandou in Guinea, Onslow and Iron Bridge in WA and recovering production in Brazil,' he says. 'This, coupled with expectations for China's steel production to ease lower over coming years, results in an outlook that would, if it comes to pass, put downward pressure on iron ore prices.' However, it's also worth remembering that the iron ore price has long defied repeated predictions it is overdue for a fall, he adds. China's steel output has probably peaked, but this is unlikely to spell disaster. Production in China is likely to plateau at 'relatively high levels' for some time, UBS says, and demand growth in the emerging steel sectors of South-East Asia, India and the Middle East could help offset weakening conditions in China. The development of projects to unleash new iron ore supplies may also come under pressure from higher costs and more costly and complicated approvals and heritage management processes. 'The collective market has a long history of over-confidence in forecasting iron ore's demise,' Shaw says. 'There are important offsets that may see iron ore trade stronger than the more bearish forecasts on the street.' The slowdown in China presents the most immediate threat to demand. But a debate has also begun intensifying among the Pilbara iron ore giants about a longer-term question: could the shift to less-polluting steel-making methods which require higher grades of iron ore than Australian mines are producing hasten their demise? 'We're going to be in the Pilbara for decades. It has got a strong future if we do the work.' Rio's head of iron ore, Simon Trott Chinese steel mills' shift from traditional blast furnaces to cleaner processes, which use electricity instead of coal and require iron ore with fewer impurities, could turn the Pilbara into a wasteland, Andrew Forrest, the billionaire chairman of Western Australia's third-largest iron ore shipper, Fortescue Metals Group, said recently. 'They are going to shut down the old-fashioned, two-century-old technology of burning sticks and logs, putting in coal, putting in iron ore, burning it all and sending up masses of pollution into the atmosphere and producing steel,' Forrest told a mining summit in Perth. 'They're looking straight into a future that may or may not include WA.' Analysts agree that the momentum in the industry towards cleaner steel-making processes makes the outlook for lower grade iron ore 'more challenged' relative to higher-grade products. To maintain demand for the Pilbara's mid- to low-grade iron ore, technical innovation would be required to secure their use as feedstocks for lower-carbon steel-making processes, they say. BHP and Rio Tinto have partnered with BlueScope Steel to build an electric iron-making furnace as part of a demonstration project at Kwinana near Perth. Forrest's Fortescue is investing heavily in a push to diversify into green hydrogen as a substitute for coal in the steel-making process, and has plans to build a commercial-scale green iron plant in the Pilbara. 'Australian industry is starting to do the work here,' says Shaw. The opportunity for Australia to shift to a green iron producer and away from an iron ore miner and shipper is 'real', he adds, but will face technical and economic challenges. 'Innovation, commitment and supportive policy settings will likely be needed in combination to realise such an enormous transition,' he says. 'They are going to shut down the old-fashioned, two-century-old technology of burning sticks and logs, putting in coal, putting in iron ore, burning it all and sending up masses of pollution into the atmosphere and producing steel.' Fortescue's Andrew Forrest While the industry is responding to growing efforts to decarbonise the steel sector, which accounts for at least 8 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, Forrest's suggestion that the Pilbara is at risk of becoming a wasteland is one that Rio Tinto's head of iron ore, Simon Trott, rejects. 'We're going to be in the Pilbara for decades,' he says. 'It has got a strong future if we do the work.' Asked to explain the progressive decline in ore quality coming out of the region, Trott says: 'You tend to start with the best bits first. That's what happened when the Pilbara got developed through the '60s, and since then, as a whole, the Pilbara has gradually declined.' Rio Tinto says its new mines, such as Western Range, will shore up growth. The Anglo-Australian mining giant also believes it has an ace up its sleeve at its Rhodes Ridge development, which is expected to be ready by the end of this decade and contains more than 6 billion tonnes of higher grade ore. 'The good news for us is that it's in front of us rather than behind us,' says Trott. Loading Rod Sims, the long-serving former chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, paints a more optimistic picture of the Pilbara's future. Where the industry sees a threat, he sees lucrative potential to create a green iron manufacturing hub for which, he says, Australia is 'superbly well positioned'. Now chair of the Superpower Institute, a think tank he co-founded with energy expert and economist Ross Garnaut, Sims says Australia's abundant iron ore, when coupled with world-class wind and solar resources, could power a green steel export industry potentially worth $386 billion a year by 2060. 'Green iron is the next great chapter in Australia's export story,' he says. 'As the world decarbonises, our fossil fuel exports will inevitably decline – but by using our unparalleled renewable energy resources to make green iron, we can replace those exports with high value, zero carbon products that the world will need.' One way to fulfil that vision is to use green hydrogen to replace coal in the steelmaking process, creating an emission-free product, a technology Forrest is placing big bets on. The hydrogen is sourced by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen using electrolysis powered by fields of solar panels or wind turbines. However, the technology remains far more expensive than basic furnaces, and is not widely used yet. Loading With big challenges ahead, how Australia's mining giants position themselves for the next decade will be critical. BHP and Rio Tinto are searching for new leadership talent to steer them through. Both companies are heading into capital-intensive, construction-heavy periods with a focus on projects aimed at boosting their supplies of commodities that stand to benefit from growing global efforts to tackle global warming, such as electric battery raw material lithium, and copper, a key ingredient in electric wiring. BHP is focusing on several new and expanded copper mines, while Rio Tinto is concentrating on copper and lithium. 'Both businesses will need to pivot to a more technical, execution-driven capability within senior leadership ranks,' says Shaw. 'It will come down to the right balance of senior leaders being able to surround themselves with the technical skills and talent they need and can trust, versus potential new leadership with stronger technical experience.' Rio Tinto chair Dominic Barton surprised investors with his disclosure three weeks ago that chief executive Jakob Stausholm will leave later this year. The miner didn't name a successor, prompting speculation the transition was hasty and a result of friction between Stausholm and Barton. Stausholm has rejected talk of a rift. There is 'no disalignment', he told reporters at Western Range last week. 'We have completely agreed between ourselves that it is the right time to look for succession, and I will be stepping down. I am very happy and proud about my what will be five years as CEO of this company,' he said. Any incoming boss at Rio Tinto will need to 'double down to deliver greater operational performance', Barton said, intimating the company is focusing on candidates for the top job with deep mining experience. Change at the top of resource giant BHP has been smoother. Former National Australia Bank chief executive Ross McEwan seamlessly took over as company chair from eight-year veteran Ken MacKenzie in March, although there are now suggestions the Big Australian is looking to replace CEO Mike Henry but no official acknowledgement. For Shanghai-based Baowu, Rio Tinto's partner in Western Range, there is no equivocation on the Pilbara's future. The world's largest steel producer, wholly owned by the Chinese government, is firmly rooted in the region's red earth, owning 46 per cent of the joint venture since 2002. Its chairman, Hu Wangming, describes it almost poetically as a place 'where partnership and friendship flourish, like the ore veins of the Western Range: strong, deep and everlasting'.
The Advertiser
a day ago
- The Advertiser
NZ's Luxon praises Xi after rare Beijing bilateral
China President Xi Jinping has acknowledged at-times strained ties with New Zealand during a bilateral meeting with Chris Luxon in Beijing. Mr Luxon secured the meeting with the long-serving leader as part of what he hoped would be a trade-focused trip to China this week. Instead, tensions between his country and the Cook Islands has cast a geopolitical cloud over his meeting with Mr Xi. New Zealand has cut aid to Cook Islands after accusing it of breaching trust for inking secretly negotiated agreements with China that run contrary to a treaty that it must consult with Wellington over defence and security pacts. It's not clear if that was what was Mr Xi was referring to in his welcoming remarks - the only part of their bilateral meeting which was open to media - to Mr Luxon at the Great Hall of the People on Friday. "(In the) 50 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, the China-New Zealand relationship has experienced many ups and downs," Mr Xi said, according to reports. "But we have always respected each other." On Thursday, China Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun suggested displeasure at New Zealand's response to growing Cook Islands-China ties. "China's co-operation with the Cook Islands does not target any third party, and should not be disrupted or restrained by any third party," he said. New Zealand, which has a formal alliance with Australia and strong defence links with the west, prides itself on maintaining a strong ties with China. Chinese leaders, including Mr Xi, have referred to a "relationship of firsts" with New Zealand. New Zealand was the first western nation to support it joining the WTO in 1997, to designate it a market economy in 2004, to secure a free-trade deal in 2008, and signing on to its Belt and Road infrastructure network in 2017. The bilateral meeting comes amid a furious debate on the direction of foreign policy in New Zealand. Previous leaders, including Helen Clark, argue Mr Luxon's government risks New Zealand's prosperity by aligning too close to the west and over-militarising the Pacific. Mr Luxon leaves such debate for his foreign minister, Winston Peters, who says Ms Clark suffers from "relevance deprivation syndrome" and should stay quiet. Mr Xi met Mr Luxon for the first time last year on the sidelines of the APEC summit, and on Friday, he offered praise for the Kiwi leader. "I remember that you said that you wish to further advance bilateral relations on the basis of our past partnership and friendship," he said. "I appreciate your positive attitude and I'm ready to work together with you for new progress." Mr Luxon also personally praised Mr Xi, president since 2013, for strengthening bilateral ties between the two countries. "The relationship has flourished under your leadership," Mr Luxon said, keeping his eyes on trade. "We have big ambitions to grow the New Zealand economy, and building trade between New Zealand and China is a really important contribution to that." Before his political engagements in Beijing, Mr Luxon spent three days in Shanghai hawking New Zealand's produce and services. His conservative government, which took office in late 2023, has a cornerstone ambition of doubling Kiwi exports within a decade, and China - as the destination for more than 20 per cent of exported Kiwi goods and services - will be essential to reaching that. China President Xi Jinping has acknowledged at-times strained ties with New Zealand during a bilateral meeting with Chris Luxon in Beijing. Mr Luxon secured the meeting with the long-serving leader as part of what he hoped would be a trade-focused trip to China this week. Instead, tensions between his country and the Cook Islands has cast a geopolitical cloud over his meeting with Mr Xi. New Zealand has cut aid to Cook Islands after accusing it of breaching trust for inking secretly negotiated agreements with China that run contrary to a treaty that it must consult with Wellington over defence and security pacts. It's not clear if that was what was Mr Xi was referring to in his welcoming remarks - the only part of their bilateral meeting which was open to media - to Mr Luxon at the Great Hall of the People on Friday. "(In the) 50 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, the China-New Zealand relationship has experienced many ups and downs," Mr Xi said, according to reports. "But we have always respected each other." On Thursday, China Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun suggested displeasure at New Zealand's response to growing Cook Islands-China ties. "China's co-operation with the Cook Islands does not target any third party, and should not be disrupted or restrained by any third party," he said. New Zealand, which has a formal alliance with Australia and strong defence links with the west, prides itself on maintaining a strong ties with China. Chinese leaders, including Mr Xi, have referred to a "relationship of firsts" with New Zealand. New Zealand was the first western nation to support it joining the WTO in 1997, to designate it a market economy in 2004, to secure a free-trade deal in 2008, and signing on to its Belt and Road infrastructure network in 2017. The bilateral meeting comes amid a furious debate on the direction of foreign policy in New Zealand. Previous leaders, including Helen Clark, argue Mr Luxon's government risks New Zealand's prosperity by aligning too close to the west and over-militarising the Pacific. Mr Luxon leaves such debate for his foreign minister, Winston Peters, who says Ms Clark suffers from "relevance deprivation syndrome" and should stay quiet. Mr Xi met Mr Luxon for the first time last year on the sidelines of the APEC summit, and on Friday, he offered praise for the Kiwi leader. "I remember that you said that you wish to further advance bilateral relations on the basis of our past partnership and friendship," he said. "I appreciate your positive attitude and I'm ready to work together with you for new progress." Mr Luxon also personally praised Mr Xi, president since 2013, for strengthening bilateral ties between the two countries. "The relationship has flourished under your leadership," Mr Luxon said, keeping his eyes on trade. "We have big ambitions to grow the New Zealand economy, and building trade between New Zealand and China is a really important contribution to that." Before his political engagements in Beijing, Mr Luxon spent three days in Shanghai hawking New Zealand's produce and services. His conservative government, which took office in late 2023, has a cornerstone ambition of doubling Kiwi exports within a decade, and China - as the destination for more than 20 per cent of exported Kiwi goods and services - will be essential to reaching that. China President Xi Jinping has acknowledged at-times strained ties with New Zealand during a bilateral meeting with Chris Luxon in Beijing. Mr Luxon secured the meeting with the long-serving leader as part of what he hoped would be a trade-focused trip to China this week. Instead, tensions between his country and the Cook Islands has cast a geopolitical cloud over his meeting with Mr Xi. New Zealand has cut aid to Cook Islands after accusing it of breaching trust for inking secretly negotiated agreements with China that run contrary to a treaty that it must consult with Wellington over defence and security pacts. It's not clear if that was what was Mr Xi was referring to in his welcoming remarks - the only part of their bilateral meeting which was open to media - to Mr Luxon at the Great Hall of the People on Friday. "(In the) 50 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, the China-New Zealand relationship has experienced many ups and downs," Mr Xi said, according to reports. "But we have always respected each other." On Thursday, China Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun suggested displeasure at New Zealand's response to growing Cook Islands-China ties. "China's co-operation with the Cook Islands does not target any third party, and should not be disrupted or restrained by any third party," he said. New Zealand, which has a formal alliance with Australia and strong defence links with the west, prides itself on maintaining a strong ties with China. Chinese leaders, including Mr Xi, have referred to a "relationship of firsts" with New Zealand. New Zealand was the first western nation to support it joining the WTO in 1997, to designate it a market economy in 2004, to secure a free-trade deal in 2008, and signing on to its Belt and Road infrastructure network in 2017. The bilateral meeting comes amid a furious debate on the direction of foreign policy in New Zealand. Previous leaders, including Helen Clark, argue Mr Luxon's government risks New Zealand's prosperity by aligning too close to the west and over-militarising the Pacific. Mr Luxon leaves such debate for his foreign minister, Winston Peters, who says Ms Clark suffers from "relevance deprivation syndrome" and should stay quiet. Mr Xi met Mr Luxon for the first time last year on the sidelines of the APEC summit, and on Friday, he offered praise for the Kiwi leader. "I remember that you said that you wish to further advance bilateral relations on the basis of our past partnership and friendship," he said. "I appreciate your positive attitude and I'm ready to work together with you for new progress." Mr Luxon also personally praised Mr Xi, president since 2013, for strengthening bilateral ties between the two countries. "The relationship has flourished under your leadership," Mr Luxon said, keeping his eyes on trade. "We have big ambitions to grow the New Zealand economy, and building trade between New Zealand and China is a really important contribution to that." Before his political engagements in Beijing, Mr Luxon spent three days in Shanghai hawking New Zealand's produce and services. His conservative government, which took office in late 2023, has a cornerstone ambition of doubling Kiwi exports within a decade, and China - as the destination for more than 20 per cent of exported Kiwi goods and services - will be essential to reaching that. China President Xi Jinping has acknowledged at-times strained ties with New Zealand during a bilateral meeting with Chris Luxon in Beijing. Mr Luxon secured the meeting with the long-serving leader as part of what he hoped would be a trade-focused trip to China this week. Instead, tensions between his country and the Cook Islands has cast a geopolitical cloud over his meeting with Mr Xi. New Zealand has cut aid to Cook Islands after accusing it of breaching trust for inking secretly negotiated agreements with China that run contrary to a treaty that it must consult with Wellington over defence and security pacts. It's not clear if that was what was Mr Xi was referring to in his welcoming remarks - the only part of their bilateral meeting which was open to media - to Mr Luxon at the Great Hall of the People on Friday. "(In the) 50 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, the China-New Zealand relationship has experienced many ups and downs," Mr Xi said, according to reports. "But we have always respected each other." On Thursday, China Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun suggested displeasure at New Zealand's response to growing Cook Islands-China ties. "China's co-operation with the Cook Islands does not target any third party, and should not be disrupted or restrained by any third party," he said. New Zealand, which has a formal alliance with Australia and strong defence links with the west, prides itself on maintaining a strong ties with China. Chinese leaders, including Mr Xi, have referred to a "relationship of firsts" with New Zealand. New Zealand was the first western nation to support it joining the WTO in 1997, to designate it a market economy in 2004, to secure a free-trade deal in 2008, and signing on to its Belt and Road infrastructure network in 2017. The bilateral meeting comes amid a furious debate on the direction of foreign policy in New Zealand. Previous leaders, including Helen Clark, argue Mr Luxon's government risks New Zealand's prosperity by aligning too close to the west and over-militarising the Pacific. Mr Luxon leaves such debate for his foreign minister, Winston Peters, who says Ms Clark suffers from "relevance deprivation syndrome" and should stay quiet. Mr Xi met Mr Luxon for the first time last year on the sidelines of the APEC summit, and on Friday, he offered praise for the Kiwi leader. "I remember that you said that you wish to further advance bilateral relations on the basis of our past partnership and friendship," he said. "I appreciate your positive attitude and I'm ready to work together with you for new progress." Mr Luxon also personally praised Mr Xi, president since 2013, for strengthening bilateral ties between the two countries. "The relationship has flourished under your leadership," Mr Luxon said, keeping his eyes on trade. "We have big ambitions to grow the New Zealand economy, and building trade between New Zealand and China is a really important contribution to that." Before his political engagements in Beijing, Mr Luxon spent three days in Shanghai hawking New Zealand's produce and services. His conservative government, which took office in late 2023, has a cornerstone ambition of doubling Kiwi exports within a decade, and China - as the destination for more than 20 per cent of exported Kiwi goods and services - will be essential to reaching that.
