Another day, another Chinese vehicle heading to South Africa. This time, it’s Jetour’s new F700 — the company’s first-ever bakkie — that’ll grace our roads sometime in 2027. The Citizen got a good look at the double-cab plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) at the Beijing Auto Show in April, though only from the outside.
Jetour de force
Some of the more important details, like what it’ll cost locally, are still under wraps. Jetour confirmed it would have more details for Saffas over the coming year. In the meantime, we’ve got a rough idea of what to expect from the F700, like the fact that it won’t be quite as capable as its G700 sibling when crossing large bodies of water.
Despite that, it still shares a lot of DNA with the G700. For example, the same plug-in hybrid powertrain is expected to return, featuring a 2.0L turbo petrol engine, a 31.3kWh battery pack, and two electric motors. “This was all but confirmed by the small CDM-0 badge on the tailgate of the model on show in Beijing.”
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All in all, that’ll generate a total of 1,172kW of power, all directed at the vehicle’s four wheels via a two-speed Dedicated Hybrid Transmission (DHT). Assuming the F700 is a Ctrl + C job, Jetour claims the G700 has an all-electric range of 150km on China’s CLTC cycle. Pair it up with the regular petrol engine, and it’ll reach 1,400km.
Looks-wise, the F700 adopts a similar front-end styling to that of the G700, though The Citizen notes it incorporates more of an LDV Terron 9 look when viewed from the side. As one of SA’s larger bakkies at 5,500mm long, it should put any potential customers’ minds at ease if they were at all concerned about storage space.
