Forthing lands in Australia this month with a hybrid that does 1,050 km

There is another Chinese brand on the way and this one arrives in showrooms this month. Forthing, part of Dongfeng Motor Group, launches in Australia in June with the Taikon 5, a mid-size SUV pitched directly at the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid. Ateco, the local distributor that runs Ram and Renault, will handle sales and service. That last detail is the one that should make incumbents look up.

What it is

The Taikon 5 measures 4,600 mm long, 1,860 mm wide and 1,680 mm tall, on a 2,715 mm wheelbase. That is within a thumb's width of a RAV4 in every dimension. Two trims, Luxury and Exclusive, will be offered. Both can be ordered as a battery EV or as a range-extender.

The BEV runs a single 150 kW motor fed by a 64.4 kWh lithium iron phosphate pack, good for a claimed 400 km on the WLTP cycle. The range-extender, badged REEV, pairs a 1.5 litre petrol generator with the electric motor for 170 km of pure-electric driving and a combined claimed range of 1,050 km. It is the second number that does the marketing work.

Pricing and the Ateco question

Forthing has not announced pricing. The brief from the importer is "the lower end of the medium electric SUV segment", which puts the conversation somewhere in the high-thirties for the BEV and mid-forties for the REEV. That undercuts the RAV4 Hybrid and lines up directly with the GAC Aion V and the cheaper Leapmotor C10.

The Ateco angle is the bit nobody else is writing about. Ateco has a working national dealer network already, with parts inventory and a service backbone for two existing brands. A new Chinese badge launching with a fully staffed network and an importer that knows how to handle parts logistics in Australia is a very different proposition to a brand that arrives with twelve pop-up sites and a promise.

Cartell Assessment

Australia did not need another Chinese mid-size SUV. We have GAC, Leapmotor, Chery, GWM, MG, BYD, Geely and now Xpeng all competing in the same square of the showroom map. What Forthing has, that most of them do not, is an importer with a track record of keeping cars on the road. If Ateco prices the Taikon 5 sharply and the REEV claim holds within a sensible margin in the real world, this is the one to watch out of the June arrivals. If the price drifts into the mid-forties on the BEV, it disappears under the noise.

AU Outlook

Pricing, warranty, charging speeds, ANCAP rating and service network detail are all still pending. The first cars are expected in dealer hands by the end of June. We will be looking for two things: real-world range against the WLTP claim, and the warranty length, which is where most of these new entries either fight or fold.