Chery Ute Naming Shortlist Revealed Not Be Truckie McTruckface

Chery ute naming competition has moved from pub argument to national vote, and Chery Australia has now cut more than 20,000 public suggestions down to nine possible badges for its coming world-first plug-in hybrid diesel ute. Truckie McTruckface was not among them sparking disappointment in the GayCarBoys email chain.

The shortlist is a less imaginative: Outrider, Orca, Ironbark, Bushwalker, STOCKMAN, Longreach, Ridgeback, Terra and Mate. Voting opens on 5 May and closes on 19 May, so there are two weeks for voters to decide whether the future of low-speed boat ramp diplomacy should be called something noble, something woody, something Latin, or rather unimaginatively, Mate.

The prize is not a cap, a voucher, or a photo with a man in chinos pointing at a clay model. The person who submitted the winning name gets the first Chery ute when it arrives in Australia later in 2026. That is proper competition click-bait. It also means the winning entrant may spend the next decade explaining why their driveway contains a ute named after a Tugboat, Ice-Cream, or a rock in the outback.

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Chery says the entries were chosen because they fit the personality Australians expect from a ute, which is a dangerously broad brief. Utes have to work, tow, camp, commute, carry dogs, survive hardware store car parks, and sit beside giant caravans without looking embarrassed. Add a diesel plug-in hybrid powertrain and the name also has to carry a small electrical substation worth of ambition.

Some finalists feel immediately plausible. Ironbark has the right knock-on-it-and-hurt-your-knuckles energy, but Longreach sounds like an outdated QANTAS museum exhibit. Ridgeback has a good ute growl, although there is a real chance someone at the dog park will answer before the tailgate does.

STOCKMAN, written in all caps, has already put on boots and started yelling across a paddock. It is robust, proudly rural, and possibly carrying a roll of fencing wire in the tray. Outrider is suitably adventurous, though it does sound like a limited-edition fragrance for men who own too many canvas hats. It sounds too close to Kia’s Tasman for my liking.

Then we have Orca, which is clever, powerful and adaptive, but also a killer whale. There is something magnificently unhinged about naming a ute after a marine apex predator, especially one likely to be parked at Bunnings between a HiLux and a Triton. Terra is smart and globally tidy, although a little close to a boutique tile showroom if said too softly. Bushwalker has wholesome yet ballsy outdoors energy, but it might also ask whether everyone has packed enough water.

Mate is the dangerous one. It could be genius, because Australians can put mate at the end of almost any sentence and make it sound legally binding. It could also become a conversational trap. “I bought a Mate, mate” is either marketing gold or the start of a country pub punch-up.

Chery also confirmed some almost-famous entries that did not make the vote, including Dropbear and B-ute. Dropbear would have been chaos, in the best possible way. B-ute deserves a tiny award for pun endurance, although perhaps not a badge on the back of a seriously butch diesel hybrid ute.

The voting window now gives the public the last say before Chery locks in the badge. More than 20,000 people had a whack, which says plenty about Australians and utes, but also about the strange civic joy of naming a vehicle. For Chery, the contest is a neat way to make a new entrant feel a little less imported and a little more local before the ute itself reaches showrooms. Also, it is a tax write-off.

Whatever wins, Chery will get a name with a public origin story, and the winner will get the first vehicle. If it is Mate, the order books may need a warning label. If it is Orca, it could doubmle as part of BYD’s Ocean series, which would go over like a lead ballon.

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