Jetour bakkie sighted by newly launched Zongheng off-road brand

Its product line-up in South Africa set to expand over the next two years, Chery-owned Jetour has provided the first glimpse of its new bakkie underneath the newly launched Zongheng brand.

Unveiled with two new SUVs on the eve of Chinese New Year celebrations in Beijing on Wednesday evening (22 January), the F700 provides the first hint of what will be sold as the Jetour P5 in South Africa from 2027.

Shark hunting

Anticipated to debut in China next year aimed at the BYD Shark, the P5, and by likely extension the F700, will use a plug-in hybrid powertrain combining a pair of electric motors with the now familiar 2.0 T-GDI engine powering the Chery Tiggo 8 Pro Max and soon, the Jetour T2.

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Called CDM-O, the system is mated to a two-speed Dedicated Hybrid Transmission (DHT) and develops a combined 1 172 kW according to carnewschina.com. The claimed charging time is said to be between six and 10 minutes from 0-80% using a rapid DC charger.

Off-roading and floating

Shown alongside the F700, the pair of SUVs will bear the G700 and G900 monikers, the former expected to debut in the third quarter of the year as Zongheng’s interpretation of the Jetour T5 that bowed in near production form last October.

A product that will rival Great Wall Motor’s Tank division and BYD’s Fangcheng Bao, the blocky G700 will provide seating for six and have a ground clearance of as much as 350 mm thanks to the standard issue air suspension system.

As per the Zongheng brand being an off-road focused one, the reported ladder-frame chassis that will underpin all three products supports what Jetour calls “amphibious all-terrain conquering capability”, however, this feature will only to the G900.

Completely different in appearance from the Jetour T7 seen only in sketch form so far, the Zongheng G900 incorporates a crossover coupé-like rear facia design, a lowered roof and, according to carnewschina.com, a range-extending hybrid powerplant option consisting of four electric motors and the 2.0 T-GDI outputting a total of 1 200 kW.

As indicated with the T7, the G900’s amphibious capability allows it to float and move for 40 minutes at a speed of 8.5 km/h. This makes it both faster and longer floatable than its intended rival, the BYD YangWang U8.

Range growth

While more details are expected soon, the main focus, locally, remains on the core Jetour brand where it will launch Deluxe Pro versions of the Dashing and X70 Plus later this year, followed by the T2 and then in 2026, the T5 and smaller T1.

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