Foton Tunland: not perfect, but offers bang for your buck

Unlike many other Chinese bakkies making their way to South Africa for the first time, the Foton Tunland is a more familiar face. The Citizen's Charl Bosch put two of the returning manufacturer's bakkies to the test.

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Foton’s return to South Africa in 2024 has been a gradual re-acceptance of what was arguably the first ‘upscale’ Chinese bakkie sold locally. Originally introduced in 2012, the Tunland differed significantly from its Chinese rivals by being more luxury-focused; out to challenge established bakkie brands like Toyota, Ford and Isuzu.

A cut above not only its countrymen, but also the Mahindra Pik Up, the Tunland offered more equipment than its legacy brand opposition, with the ultimate trump card of a 2,8l turbo-diesel engine.

But an affordable price tag didn’t attract the kind of attention Foton had envisioned, as sales were quietly withdrawn.

The playing field in the local bakkie game looks a lot different upon Foton’s return. Apart from the heritage brands, there has been a major uptake in Chinese products from JAC, GWM, LDV and BYD, with bakkies from Riddara, Maxus, Changhan, Deepal, and Chery in the pipeline.

The Tunland G7 is the first of three models rolled out as part of Tunland’s three-pronged approach, which will also feature the Ford F-150 lookalike, the V7, and Ram 1500-impersonating V9.

While the V7 and V9 are set to arrive by mid-year, the G7 for now is Foton’s sole offering, with a choice of six models priced from R329 900 for the workhorse single cab Hi-Rider.

We recently got to sample the entry-level double cab TL 4x2 manual, and the double cab TLX.

TL PUT TO THE TEST

Priced at R399 900, the TL feels anything but spartan for what is also one of the cheapest double cabs in South Africa, an accolade it shares with the Lux spec version of the JAC T8.

Outwardly, there is little to disguise the fact, unlike its GWM, JAC and LDV rivals, that the Tunland hasn't let go of the ‘copy-and-paste’ design method of early Chinese products.