The pickup segment is easily one of the most competitive automotive markets in the country. With long-time players like Toyota, Isuzu, Mitsubishi, and Nissan, as well as strong new comers like Ford, many often don’t bother to look beyond these initial five brands. However, this hasn’t stopped Foton Philippines from continuing to pursue the segment.
In fact, today Foton now offers four different pickup models, each with their own distinctive character and use case. These four were just a few of the many vehicles available in the recent United Asia Automotive Group, Inc. (UAAGI) drive that featured all the vehicles of all their four brands.
As luck would have it, our selection of assigned vehicles were all Foton trucks, giving us a unique opportunity to try the trucks one by one.
UAAGI’s first brand
For those unfamiliar, the UAAGI group first started as UA or United Auctioneers. This company auctioned trucks and heavy equipment in Subic.
Foton was the group’s first automotive brand and where they truly earned their stripes as a distributor to reckon with. Some may remember their initial lineup composed mostly of commercial vehicles named after natural weather phenomena like Blizzard, Thunder, Tornado, and whatnot. Rather than focus sales on major cities, Foton focused on emerging provinces, providing affordable, reliable vehicles to help boost businesses. It was a brilliant strategy, allowing it to go from an outlier among truck brands to one of the Top 10 automotive brands in the country in just a few years.
Today, Foton has an enviable lineup of trucks and commercial vehicles of various sizes for various needs. Many of their trucks can even be customized with various options like cranes, dropside beds, to even wing vans or cement mixers.
Foton Thunder EV
For decades, Foton’s light commercial vehicle line has been headlined by the Thunder pickup truck. It has gone from various iterations to its current form, now just as masculine, intimidating, and capable as its contemporaries.
No doubt many are already familiar with the Thunder, but what they might not be aware of is its EV version. Yes, the Thunder also has a fully-electric version that runs on batteries.
The Thunder EV does away with its Aucan turbo-diesel engine and replaces it with an electric motor and 88.55-kWh battery pack. With a full charge, it can cover up to 536-km. Thanks to clever mounting of the batteries, its retains its very spacious bed as well as a load capacity of 915 kg. The vehicle supports fast DC charging and is rated to be fully charged in as little as 1.5 hours.
Thanks to the large batteries, it’s naturally a bit heavier than the standard Foton Thunder. Nonetheless, this is the only aspect drivers of the vehicle must keep in mind. Otherwise it drives like any normal pickup.
The changes made to the instrument cluster are minimal but well appreciated. The tachometer is now a power meter and can even dip below ‘0’ when it is using regenerative braking to recapture some energy. The fuel gauge is replaced with a battery gauge, while its range in kilometers is constantly displayed to ease any anxiety. It’s certainly a welcome option, particularly for companies looking to de-carbonize their logistics operations.
Tunland V7 and V9
Besides the Thunder, Foton also offers two new pickups called Tunland in V7 and V9 trim. The Tunland trucks aspire to offer buyers the same dimension as a full-size American truck like an F-150, Silverado, or Ram but at the same price points as standard pickups. In fact, their styling somewhat reflects that philosophy too.
These two are powered by a 2.0L turbo-diesel mild hybrid engines, the same transmissions, and in 4x4 or 4x2. The mild hybrid system allows the built-in electric motor to assist the diesel engine to provide more power. It also draws power from the engine at certain points to charge the battery and save it for when it is needed.
Inside, these trucks offer highly sophisticated interiors, wrapped in leather and capable of going toe-to-toe with the best the Japanese brands have to offer.
Besides styling the real difference distinction between the V7 and V9 is their suspension and ride quality. The V9 has coil spring suspension in the rear for better comfort. The V7 still uses conventional leaf springs in the back.
Foton factory
Easily another key advantage of Foton is its local assembly plant. Situated in Clark, the plant assembles various models from the small Harabas cab-over light duty LCV to large trucks and buses, as well as modern PUVs. This plant provides jobs to 700 individuals and is capable of producing 12,000 vehicles annually.
Quite appropriately, we toured the plant onboard three Foton F29 Modern Jeepney units that were air conditioned, quiet, spacious, and honestly very comfortable.
"Foton has the distinction of being the first and so far only global automotive brand to set up operations inside Clark. The assembly plant sits on an 11-hectare area and is capable of producing 12,000 vehicles annually. FMPI employs a workforce of 700 employees and has been ISO-certified since 2019," said Foton Motor Philippines Inc. (FMPI) General Manager Levy Santos.
The trip certainly proved to be an eye-opener for the Foton brand. Many Filipinos may dismiss UAAGI as just another distributor of a Chinese brand, however, Foton has made leaps and bounds to truly inject Filipino taste and sensibilities into their vehicles. Based on the price points, options, and positioning, it doesn’t take a genius to see just how Foton vehicles truly are perfectly suited to the Filipino entrepreneur, and best of all, built by the Filipino too.