Just last week we announced the expected arrival of the Chinese Jaco and Omuda brands to Israel, and today we can already announce another new-old brand in Israel that has begun to be sold here. It is about Forthing, another sub-brand of Dongfeng, the car manufacturer owned by the Chinese government. This is actually the "export name" of the company that was originally called Fengxing when it was introduced in 2001.
The model that will be marketed here by UMI, an importer of Chevrolet and Cadillac, called Friday, was introduced in 2020 with a gasoline engine originally, and the version converted to electric drive is coming to us. In fact, this car is also not really new in Israel and has been waiting for more than six months for the official start of marketing, which is now coming in a quiet, under-the-radar launch.
In terms of dimensions, with 4.6 meters from end to end it is located halfway between the BYD Atto 3, Geely Geometric C and between the MG Marvel R and Skywell ET5. But when it comes to the wheelbase from which the interior space is derived, it is closer to the smallest in the group with 272 cm. The trunk is 480 liters. Another figure that caught the eye is the self-weight of the vehicle, which is about 2 tons.
Another look at the technical specifications probably explained where this figure comes from, the Friday is equipped with an unusually large battery - 85.9 kWh (53 kWh in the Geely and 70 in the Marvel R for comparison). It is also responsible for an impressive claimed range of 510 km.
The battery drives a single electric motor, front-wheel drive, with a power of 200 hp, 31.6 kg. The performance is 8 seconds to 100 km/h, there is no maximum speed figure and with fast DC charging it will receive electricity at a rate of 80 kilowatts.
The model comes in one trim level, which includes, among other things, a smart key, LED lighting, electric tailgate, leather-like upholstery on electric seats, the driver's seat includes massage and ventilation, a panoramic roof, Android and Apple compatibility, a dashboard and a 10.25-inch touch screen. The safety systems include blind spot warning and rear cross traffic warning. For braking, without lane deviation correction and certainly not in the current "standard", especially when the vast majority of Chinese manufacturers offer it and some of them also include a 5-star crash score in the European crash test.
The marketing of the model in Israel will be done under the "small series" regulation and is limited to 400 units in the absence of European regulation. In the future, so the importer says, it will arrive with full safety specifications, how full and when in the future? There is no clear answer.
As with its external dimensions, at least at the stated price, it is positioned between the compact Chinese crossovers and their bigger brothers - NIS 175,557 compared to NIS 168,000 for the equivalent version in the Geely range and the entry-level version of the BYD Auto 3.