Foton announces Australian relaunch plan

China’s Foton commercial vehicle brand will be relaunched in Australia later this year, this time under the stewardship of global vehicle distribution giant Inchcape – the local importer of Subaru, Peugeot and Citroen vehicles.

According to Inchcape, Foton will be reintroduced here in the fourth quarter of 2024 with a range of “new energy and internal combustion engine utes and vans, and internal combustion engine trucks”.

The utes and light trucks will be the first products to arrive, followed by the vans and electrified vehicles sometime next year.

The Foton Tunland G7 EV will likely be the highest-profile and biggest-selling model of the range, given the electric dual-cab will be one of the first battery-powered utes to arrive Down Under following the pioneering LDV eT60, and should compete with the Radar/Riddara RD6 and Tembo Tusker, and eventual EV versions of the Kia Tasman and BYD Shark.

Foton International vice-president Damon Xu said Australia, where the old Tunland ute hasn’t been sold for about five years, would be a core market for Foton globally.

“With a shared commitment to delivering value for our customers as we bring more high-quality products and services to Australian consumers, Foton’s partnership with Inchcape, a global leader in distribution, will strengthen our presence in the local market,” he said.

“As we partner with Inchcape to enhance the brand in Australia, a core market in Foton’s global strategy, we will continue to deliver on our expertise in quality-driven development and technological innovation, which has earned Foton a leadership position, particularly in trucks, across the Asia-Pacific and Latin American regions.”

Inchcape Australia director Colin Christie was equally excited to diversify the company’s distribution footprint, in which the only commercial vehicles are currently Peugeot delivery vans.

“The addition of the Foton distributorship enables Inchcape to diversify its local distribution portfolio by entering entirely new segments of the Australian market, including utes and light-duty trucks, and further strengthen our presence in the light commercial vehicle segment with Foton’s vans also forming part of the local product pipeline,” he said.

Foton has a turbulent history in Australia, where the Chinese auto brand has had three previous distributors during its first stint (2012-2019), including FAA Automotive Australia, Ateco Automotive and its own subsidiary, but it continued to offer heavier commercial vehicles following the departure of the Tunland ute due to emissions regulations.

Foton's initial passenger-focussed model line-up comprised the Tunland pick-up, the Sauvana SUV and the View people-mover.

Pricing and specification details of the new-generation Foton line-up will be announced in the coming months, however, we wouldn’t be surprised if the full-size Tunland V pick-up – an unashamed Chinese photocopy of the Ford F-150 – eventually arrives Down Under to ruffle the feathers of Ford, RAM and Chevrolet, and the GWM Cannon Alpha.

Despite measuring up to 5797mm long, the Tunland V is powered by a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel that outputs just 120kW/450Nm with the help of a 48-volt mild-hybrid system.

An eight-speed automatic transmission sends power to the rear wheels most of the time, but a selectable 4x4 system with low-range and multiple drive modes is on-hand for off-road work.

The Tunland V’s braked towing capacity is rated at 3500kg, reinforcing its identity as a Cannon Alpha rival as opposed to a direct rival for vehicles like the F-150.

Foton was recently launched in South Africa – another leading ute market – and is plotting a European assault with the HiLux-size Tunland G, which has now been granted EU WVTA certification.

Founded in 1996, Beiqi Foton Motor Co Ltd is based in Beijing, listed on the Shanghai stock exchange and has R&D centres in Beijing, Germany, Japan and Taiwan, plus joint-ventures with Cummins and Mercedes-Benz, and technical supply agreements with Getrag, ZF and Bosch (Germany), Borg Warner and Dana (USA) and Aisin (Japan).

It has traditionally focussed on light, medium and heavy-duty commercial vehicles ranging from two to 55 tonnes – including trucks, buses, vans, mining dump trucks and mobile cranes – but in recent years Foton has focused on developing more passenger-oriented vehicles like the Tunland G and V.

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