Foton vans arrive

Foton is the latest vehicle-maker to launch a direct rival for Toyota's dominant HiAce in Australia, in the form of a new K1 cargo and passenger van range.

Details won't be announced until the vans go on sale in January, but pricing and specifications are expected to be competitive with the HiAce , Hyundai iLoad and the Chinese-made LDV V80, undercutting large one-box commercials like the Ford Transit, Renault Trafic, Volkswagen Transporter and Mercedes-Benz Vito.

The K1 will be imported by Southport, Queensland-based VSA Distributors, a joint-venture with Foton Motor Co, one of China's largest commercial vehicle manufacturers.

Foton is already established in Australia with both its Tunland pick-up and light-duty Foton trucks, which are distributed here by Ateco Automotive, which also imports LDV, Great Wall and Chery vehicles from China.

VSA, which also imports Australian-designed Brahman AWD buses from Dongfeng Motors in China, plans to introduce up to four other new models over the next few years including an SUV and a replacement for the K1.

"Foton is one of the leaders in commercial vehicle production not only in terms of Chinese manufacturers but on a global basis," said VSA CEO Jason Pecotic.

"The initial offering will be the K1 van but other models are under consideration and Foton is looking at a number of options for 2015 and beyond," he added.

Expected on sale by mid-January, the K1 is powered by a Mitsubishi-sourced 100kW/200Nm 2.4-litre petrol engine or the same 120kW/360Nm Cummins ISF 2.8-litre turbo-diesel as the Tunland, and will be sold through a network of up to 10 commercial vehicle dealers currently being recruited across the country.
    
The K1 range should comprise a long-wheelbase van in cargo and 13-seat passenger forms measuring 5380mm long and riding on a 3100mm wheelbase, with both four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines matched to a five-speed manual transmission.

A new Foton-developed 2.0-litre turbo-diesel and a short-wheelbase van measuring 4840mm long and riding on a 2570mm wheelbase are expected to follow in 2015.

VSA has relatively low sales expectations for the K1, which was modified to meet Australian Design Rules and local customer expectations, but has higher hopes for its V1 successor, which was designed to achieve a five-star Euro NCAP safety rating and will replace it in about two years.

Established by the state-owned Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation (BAIC) in 1996, Foton sells more than 620,000 vehicles annually, employs more than 40,000 staff worldwide and has R&D facilities in China, Japan and Germany.

Foton's K1 van line-up will be the latest range of new Chinese models to arrive here, where Great Wall's Haval brand will launch the first of three new luxury SUVs this month and one of Ford's Chinese partners, Jiangling Motors Corporation (JMC), will launch its new Vigus ute followed by SUVs and trucks.

They will follow a procession of Chinese brands launched in Australia since 2009, led by Great Wall, Chery, Geely, MG, Foton ute/truck, ZX Auto, Higer and LDV, which is a subsidiary of China's other giant government-owned automotive conglomerate, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC).

Despite the proliferation of Chinese brands, local sales of Chinese-built vehicles have plummeted dramatically over the past two years, following high-profile crash test rating and safety recall disasters that saw Great Wall sales fall from a high of more than 11,000 in 2012 to just 6100 last year.

Great Wall sales have slumped a further 58 per cent so far this year to just 2400, and just 3780 of the million-plus new vehicles sold in Australia to November this year were made in China – down 44 per cent on the same period in 2013.