Forthing reveals points of difference

FORTHING’s Australian national manager Shaun Garrard says the new market entrant from China is relying on the history of its established parent company and local distributor, its affordable new energy vehicles, and standard luxury features as its key points of difference in Australia’s highly competitive new car market.

Speaking with Australian media at the local launch of the Forthing Electric and Range Extender Hybrid, Mr Garrad said that distributor Ateco – which also deals with Renault, Ram, LDV, and Maserati – believed the brand’s product portfolio aligned with the Australian market’s needs at the time of its decision to bring the Chinese marque Down Under.

“So when we began examining Forthing's product line-up, we were struck by the alignment between the future product portfolio and what the Australian market wants and needs at this point in time, so that is today long-range hybrid and pure electric vehicles at attainable price points, without any compromise on quality, fit and finish, without any compromise on things like usability, reliability after sales care,” he said.

Forthing is a subsidiary of Chinese state-owned manufacturer Dongfeng, the predecessor of which – known as the Second Automobile Manufacturing Plant – was established in 1969, and has since worked with the likes of Stellantis, Honda, and Nissan.

According to Mr Garrard, Dongfeng’s vehicle building experience is paying dividends for Forthing and resulting in high test drive to sales conversion rates.

“The overall quality of the vehicles built out of Dongfeng are very high, given their partnership and experience of building cars alongside Stellantis, alongside Honda. When we first drove the vehicles, we were thoroughly impressed with the drivability.”

“What we're seeing now is, as long as we get customers in for a test drive, the conversion rate to a sale is very high. So once people have been in the car and experienced it, they recognise that this is a well-built car and a very good car for the price point.”

Mr Garrard says Dongfeng’s history also instils confidence in prospective customers

“Obviously, as a new brand, people are curious. Dealers have fed back to us that a lot of customers are coming in to check it out and are actually surprised with what they see. A core differentiator is the fact that Forthing's backed by Dongfeng, and once they understand that Dongfeng is a major group that has joint venture partnerships with legacy auto brands and has been building cars for a long time that gives them more confidence to move with a brand that they’ve never heard of before.”

Forthing has launched its debut model with two different powertrains – a full EV model and a range-extender plug-in hybrid – and two trim levels: the entry-level Luxury and the range-topping Exclusive.

The entry-level REV is priced at $36,990 driveaway, while the entry-level BEV wears a $38,990 d/a price tag.

Both are equipped with features such as a 10-way power-adjustable, ventilated and massaging driver’s seat, a four-way power-adjustable passenger’s seat, and faux-leather upholstery as standard.

These features, coupled with the new energy powertrains (particularly the range-extender plug-in hybrid), and the pricing of Forthing’s debut model create a “unique value proposition” according to Mr Garrard.

“We think that we have a unique value proposition in the Forthing product for Australia,” he said while speaking with GoAuto. 

“...if you just look at the package that we have on offer, for example, for the range extender, $36,990 driveway for a genuine range extender vehicle with 170 kilometres of pure electric range, 937 kilometres combined range. It's a medium SUV with plenty of space in the interior.”

“It comes with comfort features as standard, including (a) full faux leather interior, ventilated and massage seats. It comes with roof rails (as) standard. (Luxury features) at an attainable price point. So we focus on value.”

Forthing’s partnership with Ateco also gives it an advantage over other new market entrants according to Mr Garrard.

“If you talk about Forthing collectively as a brand, Forthing have made the decision to partner with Australia's largest independently-owned automotive distributor with over 40 years of experience in the market.”

“We understand market requirements. We understand the Australian consumers. We understand what it takes to treat customers well in after-sales and to look after customers after the purchase. That is a core advantage for Forthing over other brands that may be entering the market and doing it themselves from the beginning.”

The rise of Chinese brands is one of the most significant trends seen within the Australian new car space within the last few years, with Forthing among the latest marques to jump on the market-flooding bandwagon.

However, relatively speaking at least, Forthing is somewhat late to the party…

BYD launched its first model in Australia in 2022 and has since become one of the largest volume players in the country. Chery returned to the Australian market the following year and has also risen as one of Australia’s biggest sellers. Meanwhile, GWM – which launched locally as Great Wall Motor – arrived all the way back in 2009.

While it might seem like Forthing has missed the boat, Mr Garrard still believes there’s space for the brand locally.

“What I would say is, any time that a new Chinese brand comes to market in recent history, there's always those that will say the market's full, there's not enough space, there's too many Chinese brands,” he said to media during the launch event.

“But time and time again, the Chinese brands that come into Australia prove them wrong. Time and time again, there are those brands that, even though people consider them late to market, still able to grow off the back of a good offer, good product, at a good price. So that's what we plan to be for Australia,” he said.

Be sure to read GoAuto again soon for the launch review of the Forthing Electric and Range Extender Hybrid.