Foton Tunland PHEV 2027: BYD Shark 6 and Ranger plug-in hybrid rival unveiled with 800Nm of torque, 3.5T towing

Declan Steele

Growing hybrid ute segment could be Foton’s ticket to becoming a household name in Australia

One of Australia’s slowest-selling utes, the Foton Tunland, might broaden its appeal, with a plug-in hybrid version debuting at the IAA Transportation Show in Hanover.

Currently sold only with a two-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel making 120kW and 450Nm, mated to an eight-speed auto, the plug-in hybrid powertrain Foton’s unveiled is quite unconventional.

Though complete details are pending, the hybrid powertrain features a two-litre turbocharged petrol engine, a 32.85kWh battery and dual electric motors. The engine will run through a four-speed transmission; what wheels the engine powers, and how this interacts with the electric motors, remains to be seen.

Foton claims combined outputs of 350kW and 800Nm, punchy numbers that narrowly beat the 350kW/700Nm of the BYD Shark 6 Performance and the 207kW/697Nm in the Ford Ranger PHEV.

100km of electric-only range is claimed under the WLTP cycle, beating the Shark 6 (80km WLTP) and the Ranger (just 49km WLTP).

Foton claims that, like the Ford, the Tunland PHEV has the industry-standard 3500kg braked towing capacity. The BYD achieves this only in top-spec Performance trim, with the Dynamic and Premium models only pulling 2500kg.

Rounding out the Foton’s impressive on-paper specs are a claimed 800mm wading depth (matching the Ford and beating the BYD by 100mm) and minimum ground clearance of 250mm (beating both; Ford 215mm, BYD 230mm).

It’s been reported the Tunland PHEV will mimic the diesel’s variants overseas, offering a commercially-focussed V7 and more richly equipped V9.

In the diesel at least, the changes between the two are unusually extensive. The V9 not only gains selectable four-wheel drive, a sunroof and electrically adjustable front seats, it junks the V7’s leaf spring rear suspension in favour of multi-link coil springs.

The diesel Tunland is priced between $39,990 and $49,990 before on-roads, undercutting the entire BYD Shark 6 line-up, as well as every Ford Ranger except cab-chassis base models. A sharp price for the Tunland PHEV could be a safe bet.

Approached for comment by Chasing Cars, Foton’s Australian distributor, Inchcape, had no updates to share at this stage.