Jetour lands in Mzansi

MARQUEE: TAKES PLACE ALONGSIDE CHERY-OWNED STABLEMATES OMODA & JAECOO. Dashing and X70 Plus the first two SUVs Motoring on offer.

- Charl Bosch

Jetour has officially become the third local Chery-owned marquee alongside Omoda and Jaecoo.

Debuting an initial line-up of two SUVs, Jetour will operate separately from its parent similar to Omoda & Jaecoo by having its own dealership network, aftersales service and parts department.

Accordingly, Jetour's part inventory, housed in a 4 000 square metre facility in Kyalami, has been stocked with a reported 82 000 parts, while its dealer network currently comprises 40 showrooms of which 14 become operational in less than three months.

Dashing Set to be Jetour's volume seller, the coupe-styled Dashing incorporates styling from the Lamborghini Urus, Lexus NX and Lotus Eletre with dimensions of 4 590mm long in overall length, a width of 1 900mm, height of 1 685mm and wheelbase of 2 720mm.

Offering 160mm of ground clearance with a claimed boot capacity of 977 litres with the 60/40 split rear seat folded down, the five-seat Dashing will derive motivation from the same 1.5 T-GDI engine as in the Omoda C5. While outputting an identical 115kW/230Nm, a six-speed dual-clutch replaces the latter's CVT as the sole method of sending the amount of twist to the front axle.

For South Africa, the Dashing range comprises two trim levels; Momentum and Deluxe with both riding on 19-inch alloy wheels as standard.