Forthing Friday will initially launch with a range-extending electric powertrain in October, followed by a full EV in November.
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.
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.
The Forthing Friday will go on sale in October, initially, as a range-extending EV only. Picture: Charl Bosch
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.
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.
As is already known, the two variants carry the Luxury and Exclusive nomenclatures, with standard features on both comprising:
On the safety and driver assistance side, Dongfeng has equipped both with the following:
The REEV line-up will consist of two variants, both equipped with the depicted 14.6-inch infotainment display. Picture: Charl Bosch
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:
Initially, only three colours are available:
Residing up front, the Forthing Friday is powered by a 31.9kWh 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.
The fully electric Forthing Friday will go on sale in November. Picture: Charl Bosch
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 57.8kWh battery pack and a claimed range of around 400km.
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.
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