Forthing Friday will initially launch with a range-extending electric powertrain in October, followed by a full EV in November.
Forthing Friday made its first public showing ahead of sales starting in October. Picture: Charl Bosch
Having disclosed specifications, but not pricing, last month, Dongfeng debuted the Forthing Friday at the Kyalami Festival of Motoring this past weekend ahead of its market arrival in October.
What is it?
Part of a four model range, the others being the Box, 06 and flagship 007, the Forthing Friday is expected to occupy the gap between the latter pair in Dongfeng’s product range, in addition to becoming the brand’s first range-extending electric product.
Sold as the Forthing T5 Evo in China since 2023, with Forthing being a sub-brand, the newcomer will be called Dongfeng Forthing Friday in South Africa, with an already confirmed line-up of two variants.
Dimensions
Heading for its 16 dealerships across the country, with plans to increase this to 46 by year-end, the Forthing Friday’s dimensions are as follows:
- Length: 4 600mm
- Wheelbase: 2 715mm
- Height; 1 680mm
- Width: 1 860mm
The claimed boot space is 480-litres, which expands to 1 480-litres with the rear seats folded flat.
Spec
As is already known, the two variants carry the Luxury and Exclusive nomenclatures, with standard features on both comprising:
- 19-inch alloy wheels;
- LED headlights;
- folding electric mirrors;
- keyless entry;
- imitation leather-wrapped steering wheel;
- six-speaker sound system;
- 8.8-inch instrument cluster;
- wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto;
- 14.6-inch infotainment display;
- wireless smartphone charger.
On the safety and driver assistance side, Dongfeng has equipped both with the following:
- tyre pressure monitor;
- rear parking sensors;
- traction control;
- Electronic Stability Programme;
- Hill Descent Control;
- Hill Hold Assist.
For the Exclusive only, a panoramic roof is standard, along with electric, heated, ventilated and front seats, an electric tailgate, panoramic roof, Auto High Beam Assist and front parking sensors.
In addition, the Exclusive has six airbags compared to the Luxury’s two and a 360-degree surround-view camera system in place of the latter’s normal reverse camera.
Not stopping there, the Exclusive swaps the Luxury’s cruise control for Adaptive Cruise Control, while also getting the following added safety and driver assistance systems:
- Forward Collision Warning;
- Automatic Emergency Braking;
- Lane Departure Warning;
- Traffic Sign Recognition;
- Lane Keep Assist.
Colours
Initially, only three colours are available:
- Liberty White;
- Jade Green;
- Moonlight Black Pearl
REEV first
Residing up front, the Forthing Friday is powered by a 31.9-kWh battery pack that drives a front-axle mounted electric motor producing 120kW/240Nm.
Backing this up is a normally aspirated 1.5-litre petrol engine, whose 75kW/130Nm is used purely as a generator and therefore not connected to the drive wheels.
While no combined power output is known, Dongfeng claims an electric-only range of 200km and a combined of 1 300km with the combustion engine included.
Sending the amount of twist to the front wheels falls to a Dedicated Hybrid Transmission (DHT).
Also at the event was the confirmation of the electric model for South Africa, but with sales only starting in November.
Reportedly, only the base EV powertrain was mentioned. This means outputs of 150kW/340Nm from the 57.8-kWh battery pack and a claimed range of around 400km.
Price?
Only going on sale in October, Dongfeng South Africa has so far only revealed indicative pricing of between R560 000 and R580 000 for the REEV, and between R580 000 and R620 000 for the EV.
As such, expect official stickers to only be revealed when sales of the former commence next month.
