Chery Stockman platform built for a three-row SUV, and an EV is possible

Main image: our AI-generated Musterer concept, showing how a Stockman-based three-row SUV could look. It is not a Chery design.

Chery designed the platform under its Stockman ute to also carry a three-row SUV, and the ute’s chief engineer says an electric version is technically possible, though neither has been confirmed.

Australian and New Zealand media in Wuhu, China, asked whether the platform could be adapted for a three-row SUV. Stockman chief engineer Mark Qi pointed to the ute and SUV pairings already familiar to buyers here.

“The platform has the capability to also be used for an SUV, just like the Hilux and the Fortuner, and the Ranger and the Everest. When we designed the platform, we already considered an SUV,” Qi says.

He stopped short of saying one is in development. “It’s not clear now. We know this platform has the capability to develop an SUV, but there are so many things to decide, like what the brand would be, the price and other things.”

Chery hasn’t shown an SUV based on the Stockman. The SUV images in this story are our own AI-generated concepts of how one could look, and we’ve even named it (see below).

An electric version is technically possible as well, Qi says, but it isn’t the priority. “We have the capability to do a BEV, but it’s not sure. For now the focus is on the diesel PHEV.”

Qi also wouldn’t say whether an SUV would use the Stockman’s diesel plug-in hybrid system. He says that depends on the brand and the markets it is aimed at, and the platform is designed to take several powertrains.

“It’s not sure now, because it depends on the brand and what area the SUV is for. This platform is okay for a petrol PHEV, a diesel PHEV, even a conventional diesel. For the pick-up in Mexico, for example, some people like petrol, so this platform is okay for them too,” he says.

The same flexibility applies to the ute. Chery has said a diesel-only Stockman is under consideration, and Qi says that decision will wait on how the plug-in hybrid is received.

“For Australia, do we need to choose a diesel ICE or not? It’s not sure now. We need feedback on the Stockman diesel PHEV when it launches,” he says.

Qi adds that Chery is still working with its Australian team to lift the plug-in’s payload towards the one-tonne figure it originally targeted.

The Stockman pairs a 2.5-litre turbo-diesel with a plug-in hybrid system for 350kW and 800Nm combined. It is due in New Zealand in the first quarter of 2027, with pricing still to be confirmed. Qi walked us around the ute in Wuhu, and you can watch the full walkaround below or read our story on it.

Why we’re calling it the Musterer

Chery hasn’t named an SUV, so we did. Australia already has the Stockman, so a Kiwi version needed a Kiwi name, and ideally one about moving a bigger mob, given the extra row of seats.

That left three names from the high country, and two were quickly eliminated. Drover was out, because Holden already used it on a rebadged Suzuki Sierra it sold from 1985 to 1987. Shepherd was out too. It’s already the name of an armoured military vehicle built by US company The Armored Group, and most New Zealanders will picture Detective Mike Shepherd in his 1971 Holden Kingswood in The Brokenwood Mysteries anyway.

That left the Musterer, a name that, as far as we can find, has never been used on a production car. Chery, you’re welcome.