JMC confirmed for Australia

China's Jiangling Motors Corporation (JMC) will become Australia's 68th automotive brand in November, when it launches its new Vigus ute range, which will be followed in 2016 by an SUV based on the same platform and a light truck by 2017.

The Vigus, as it's known in export markets, will initially be available here in dual-cab form with 4x2 and 4x4 drivetrains, two equipment grades and four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines, both matched exclusively with a five-speed manual transmission.

A single-cab body, automatic transmission and electronic stability control will join the range in 2016 – the same year the mechanically similar Yusheng S350 seven-seat SUV arrives, powered by 2.0-litre turbo-petrol and 2.4-litre turbo-diesel engines with manual and six-speed automatic transmissions.

JMC will open its first Australian showroom on Parramatta Road in Sydney by late November and hopes to have up to 10 NSW dealers operational by the end of this year, with others to follow across the country next year.

Pricing for the Vigus ute, which was released in China in 2012 and is also now on sale in South Africa, is not confirmed but is expected to commence at around $25,000.

That will make it around $2000 more expensive than its most direct rival in the Great Wall V-Series ute -- Australia's cheapest ute, priced from $17,990 drive-away (4x2 single-cab petrol), rising to $22,990 drive-away for the dual-cab and $24,990 drive-away for the 4x2 dual-cab diesel, plus $3000 for 4x4.

"In China, the quality and price of JMC is much higher than Great Wall," said Simon Wu, a spokesman for JMC distributor Jiangxi Jiangling Motors Import & Export Co.

From launch, the twin-cab Vigus range will be powered by 100kW/201Nm petrol and 90kW/290Nm turbo-diesel engines – both 2.4-litre four-cylinders. The petrol engine is a Mitsubishi design, while the 'Topanther TDCi' diesel delivers peak torque over 1500-2600rpm.

Fuel consumption is listed at 8.0L/100km for the 4x2 petrol, (4x4: 8.2) and 10.2L/100km for the 4x2 diesel (4x4: 10.7).

The five-seat dual-cab rides on a 3085mm wheelbase and measures 5325mm long. While the 4x2 is 1828mm wide and 1710mm high, the 4x4 is 1905mm wide and 1835mm high. Its integrated rear tub measures 1475mm in length and width, and 500mm deep.

Kerb/GVM weights are 1660/2580kg (4x2 petrol), 1765/2580kg (4x2 diesel), 1880/2770kg (4x4 petrol) and 1955/2770kg (4x4 diesel).

Payload is 815kg for all models except the 4x2 petrol (850kg), but towing capacities are not yet available.

Ground clearance is 205mm (4x2) and 224mm (4x4), while turning circle is a wide 13.4 metres (4x2) and 14.2 metres (4x4).

All models will come with twin front airbags, anti-lock brakes (ABS), electronic brake-force distribution, seatbelt pretensioners and reversing sensors, but no ESC or three-point centre rear seatbelt. Braking is via discs up front and drums at the rear.

Motoring.com.au understands JMC is aiming for a three-star ANCAP safety rating, which would better the two-star results of Great Wall's V-Series and the Indian-sourced Tata Xenon ute, and match the Chinese-built Foton Tunland and Indian-made Mahindra Pik-Up. But it would fall well short of the five-star ratings achieved by most of the volume-selling utes from Thailand.

Standard across the range is air-conditioning, automatic central locking, AM/FM/MP3 audio, power windows/mirrors, fog lights, power steering, a tub liner and possibly even side steps and a sports bar.

And while the entry-level LX rolls on 15x6.5-inch alloy wheels with 215/70 R15 Maxxis tyres, the higher-spec SLX adds 16x8.0-inch alloys with 265/65 R16s.

The range-topping Vigus also comes with leather trim, a DVD player, GPS navigation and an auto-dimming interior mirror, while 4x4 models feature an electronically selectable Borg-Warner system.

Meantime, the Yusheng S350 SUV that will follow (likely with a different nameplate for Australia), rides on a shorter 2750mm wheelbase and scores all-coil double-wishbone front and five-arm rear suspension.

It measures 4775mm long, 1895mm wide and 1862mm high, and weighs between 1830 and 2005kg.

In China, 4x2 and 4x4 versions are available, along with 92kW/310Nm and 103kW/375Nm turbo-diesel engines – the latter with variable-geometry turbo tech – plus 130kW/250Nm 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engines.

At present, only the high-output diesel comes with a six-speed auto, the other engines restricted to a five-speed manual. Fuel consumption ranges between 8.0 and 9.2L/100km.

Also unlike the N350 Vigus, the S350 Yusheng features ESC, four-wheel disc brakes, 17-inch alloys, climate-control and even LED headlights.

A smaller five-seat N330 SUV is also in JMC's future product pipeline.

JMC was founded in 1947 and is China's sixth largest commercial vehicle maker, with a near-10 per cent share of the world's most populous nation's LCV market. Based at Xiaolan in the southern province of Guangdong, it employs almost 26,000 people and has the annual capacity to produce more than 850,000 vehicles at six production sites.

Last year JMC exported more than 100,000 vehicles to 110 countries in a variety of regions including South and Southeast Asia, South and Central America, Africa, Middle East and Russia, leaving Australia, North America and Europe as its untapped markets.

In 1995, it formed a joint-venture with Ford, which owns 30 per cent of JMC, to build JMC- and Ford-branded commercials, and also produces the Landwind range of passenger cars in a joint-venture with Changan. Landwind was the first Chinese vehicle brand launched in Europe in 2005, and the Yusheng SUV became the first JMC-badged passenger vehicle in 2010.

JMC is the just the latest Chinese brand to enter Australia's booming light commercial vehicle sector, which is the world's fourth largest and last year accounted for more than 200,000 sales, but is down more than five per cent to July this year and has never been more competitive.

Despite undercutting their mainstream rivals (including Toyota's dominant HiLux, the Mitsubishi Triton, Ford Ranger, Holden Colorado, Nissan Navara, Isuzu D-MAX, Mazda BT-50, Toyota LandCruiser and Volkswagen Amarok -- not to mention the Holden Ute and Ford Falcon Ute), sales of the Great Wall V-Series fell short of all of them last year, and have tumbled from a height of more than 5500 in 2011 to just 1400 so far this year, when Foton sold only around 150 Tunlands.

New-generation Navara and Triton models will be released around year's end, while a new HiLux and facelifted Ranger and BT-50 are due next year.