Forthing Taikon 5: another Chinese carmaker takes on RAV4 and Tucson for Corolla Cross and Inster money

Declan Steele

New challenger brand hopes a well-established distributor, good aftersales support and some intriguing standard equipment will persuade Australians to take the plunge

Yet another Chinese brand is coming to Australia, with yet another electrified offering in the burgeoning medium SUV segment.

Dongfeng Liuzhou Motor Company has introduced its Forthing marque with the Taikon 5, in both a fully-electric form and as a plug-in hybrid.

The company has a more colourful backstory than most. Emerging as a manufacturer of water pumps amid the catastrophic Great Leap Forward in the late 1950s, it made some of China’s first indigenously-developed trucks a decade later.

The brand name Forthing, used since 2001, is an unusual transliteration of the Chinese name, which would normally come through in English as Fengxing.

As far as Chasing Cars is aware, it does not intentionally mean ‘for thing’, as much as Forthing’s Australian distributor – who’s chosen the slogan ‘For Things That Matter’ – would like it to.

Said distributor is the highly experienced Ateco, currently distributing LDV, Renault and Maserati in Australia, and overseeing not only the distribution of Ram but the vehicles’ conversion to right-hand drive as well.

Forthing emphasises that it’s “rooted in engineering”, though as a car company, one could say this is stating the obvious.

In its electric form, the Forthing Taikon 5, known as the T5 or the Friday in other markets, produces 150kW/340Nm from a single front-wheel-drive motor – “Instant, Quiet, Enough”, says the company’s Australian website.

A 64.4kWh lithium-iron-phosphate battery delivers a claimed 427km of range and up to 80kWh DC charging. The Taikon 5 is priced from $38,990 driveaway for the base ‘Luxury’ variant.

What’s noteworthy is standard vehicle-to-load charging, electrically adjustable front massage seats, a ventilated driver’s seat, “advanced driver awareness” and, as its international website puts it, “blue car external discharge function”, by which they appear to mean phone charging.

At 4600mm long, 1860mm wide and 1700mm tall, it dwarfs the similarly priced Hyundai Inster (currently $35,990 for a limited time), but not the BYD Sealion 5, which is bigger (4738mm long) and cheaper ($33,990 before on-roads) than both.

The hybrid Taikon 5 is described as a ‘Range Extender Hybrid’. Forthing’s intent is that it be used primarily as an EV, for which a 31.94kWh battery will take you 170km on the WLTP cycle. Surpass that and a 1.5L petrol engine steps in as a generator, to extend total range to a claimed 937km WLTP.

Forthing states the Taikon 5 Range Extender Hybrid is rear-wheel drive. This is either highly unusual or a mistake, as the fully electric Taikon 5 is front-wheel drive. It is possible Forthing means to say the hybrid is all-wheel-drive, which can be derived from FWD without extensive re-engineering.

The hybrid undercuts the EV, from $36,990 driveaway for the entry Luxury. The high-spec Exclusive is priced from $40,490 driveaway.

Forthing is offering impressive aftersales support – though a seven-year/200,000km warranty (extended to eight years for the battery) is nothing new, it’s applied from the day of delivery, not registration.

Forthing has 14 dealerships nationwide, and test drives can be booked now.