Importer and distributor Ateco Automotive has announced that its Foton Tunland ute range has expanded with the arrival of a single-cab/chassis variant, with 4x2 and 4x4 iterations to sit alongside the existing dual-cab Tunland pick-ups.
The single-cabs are powered by the same 2.8-litre Cummins common-rail four-cylinder turbo-diesel found in the dual-cabs, but in two differing outputs. The 4x2 single-cab produces a claimed 96kW and 280Nm, while the 4x4 single-cab produces the same 120kW/360Nm output as the dual-cabs.
Ateco claims combined fuel consumption figures of 8.0L/100km and 8.3L/100km respectively for the single-cab Tunlands, which also boast a one-tonne payload and a 2.5-tonne braked towing capacity.
In addition to its Cummins engine, the Tunland range features Dana differentials, Bosch anti-lock brakes and electronic brake-force distribution, a Getrag five-speed manual transmission, and – in the 4x4 – a Borg-Warner transfer case. Both single-cabs come with an aluminium tray.
Niceties include air conditioning, a four-speaker stereo with multi input and Bluetooth streaming, power windows, an engine immobiliser and a leather-trimmed steering wheel.
The Tunland 4x2 single-cab/chassis is priced at $21,990 drive away, while the 4x4 version is priced at $24,990 drive away. That's certainly competitive with equivalent competitors like the Tata Xenon ($22,990 drive away) and Mahindra Genio ($19,990 drive away), and Ateco's own Great Wall V200 ($23,990 drive away).
Pricing for the Tunland dual-cab models remains unchanged at $26,990 drive away for the 4x2 and $29,990 drive away for the 4x4.
The entire Foton Tunland range is backed by a three-year, 100,000km warranty with roadside assistance.
Owned by expat Kiwi entrepreneur Neville Crichton, Ateco Automotive only added the Foton Tunland range to its stable of marques early this year, slotting it in alongside the Foton light truck range it acquired in late 2012.
In recent months it has relaunched both ranges of commercial vehicles, establishing national dealer networks for each.
While relatively new here, Foton is in fact a Chinese automotive giant; the state-owned concern is said to have produced over five million vehicles since it was established in 1996.
According to Ateco Automotive PR Consultant for Asian Brands, Daniel Cotterill, the delay in bringing the single-cabs to market was all down to dollars.
"We weren't going to do it [bring in the single-cab] unless we got the right price," he says.
"With our dual-cabs, for example, they're now about $5000 cheaper than they were previously, and if we couldn't achieve a similar improvement on the price [for the single-cab] in our opinion it just wouldn't have worked.
"It took us a while to persuade the various other parties involved [at Foton in China] that that's how it needs to be. Ateco has been in the game long enough with all sorts of cars, be they European, Korean, Japanese or Chinese, and you've got to have a value-for-money package."
Cotterill says the single-cab models have completed the Foton Tunland range for the moment, but adds that there's plenty of scope within the wider Foton family for future growth. Foton also manufactures SUVs and passenger cars in addition to commercial vehicles.
"In the longer term Foton has a lot of breadth and depth to its product range, but at the moment – given that we need ADR-compliant, right-hand-drive vehicles – that's it for now," he says.
"But as we can bring other things to market, if it makes sense, we will."
There are around 30 dealers in the Foton Tunland network at present, with that figure to swell to around 40 by the end of this year.
According to Cotterill, at this early stage the Tunland's progression is tracking nicely.
"We're very conservative at Ateco," he says.
"We like to build sustainable businesses so we start off with incremental growth rather than trying to solve the problems of the world overnight, so to speak, but it [the Tunland ute] has been well received.
"The product was always good, it was just too expensive; now it's just a matter of steadily gaining [brand] awareness."