Scoop! Foton Thunder / Forland Pick Up Truck Spotted


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FOTON THUNDER/FORLAND L PICK UP TRUCK SPOTTED TESTING

Team ICB’s roving eye in the sky, EarthFusion, has snagged spyshots of what promises to be the first full sized Chinese pick up truck to be launched in the Indian car market, the Foton Thunder, a.k.a. Forland L. The Thunder pick up truck, which looks a little similar to the Tata Xenon/207, will be manufactured in Pune, where Foton is setting shop. The Foton Thunder sold in India is expected to be powered by a 2.8 liter turbo diesel engine sourced from diesel engine giant Cummins. The diesel motor pumps out 128 Bhp of peak power and 280 Nm of peak torque. Select markets abroad get a 2.4 liter petrol engine as well.

A 5 speed manual transmission is standard. Internationally, the Foton Thunder pick up truck is available in both 4X2 and 4X4 options. The pick up truck features independent suspension up front with leaf spring handling suspension duties at the rear. The Foton Thunder is available in a range of body styles targeted at both commercial vehicles as well as personal car users. Single Cab, Single Cab with Long Loading Bay and Double Cab are the three body styles that the pick up truck is available with. At one end of the spectrum, Foton sells the Thunder in stripped out guise aimed at commercial vehicle operators and small businesses while the other end has the Thunder fully loaded with a range of features and creature comforts in order to appeal to SUV and luxury pick up truck buyers.

In a nutshell, the Foton Thunder can take on a wide range of cars, right from the humble Tata 207s and the Mahindra Maxx pick up trucks to the likes of the Tata Xenon 4X4s and the Mahindra Scorpio Getaways. The top end variants of the Thunder are kitted out with ABS, EBD, Airbags, Alloy Wheels, Tyre Pressure Monitoring, Parking Sensors, Steering Mounted Audio Controls, Automatic Climate Control, DVD Player, Electric Wing Mirrors and Parking Sensors, to name the prominent features of this pick up truck.

Coming to the company Foton, the automaker is a part of the Beijing Automotive Industry Company(BAIC). Foton primarily builds utility and commercial vehicles, and pick up trucks. In the past year or so, Foton has been hiring heavily in India considering the fact that the automaker is setting shop at Pune. In fact, our sources tell us that a chunk of former Tata Technologies employees have been hired by Foton at senior positions to run the Chinese UV majors’ India ops. Foton is also setting up a Research and Development facility at Pune. The Thunder Pick Up Truck will be the first product to roll out of Foton’s Pune factory. The Foton Thunder will be launched in India during 2014. We’ll bring you more details about the exact variants and positioning of the Thunder pick up truck Foton has planned to launch in India. For now, click here to download the PDF brochure of the Foton Forland L/Thunder pick up truck.

ICB Scoop: Foton Thunder/Forland L Pick Up Truck spotted testing in Pune; We detail Foton's India plans - Indian Cars Bikes
 

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Re: Scoop!foton thunder/forland l pick up truck

Nice find Virsan [clap]

Sometimes I wonder is there a growing pickup market in India. Not sure about sub-urban or rural market but hardly seen a few in big metros.

By the way is the above inspired by Toyota Hilux ?

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Cheers,
Anshuman
 

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This truck's called the Tunland. Going by its name, it will be a hit in Punjab:p!
 
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Will be interesting to see how would the Indian customers react to a Chinese brand who is entering our market with a super niche product.
 
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Most probably a halo product, just for brand building exercise, but I think what might be the products they want to bring in? What makes them think that a lifestyle truck(this range infact doesn't exist in India) can be a Halo product?
 
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