adminChinese brand available in three-tonne, four-tonne, six-tonne, (Aumark with a Perkins and Cummins engine) will soon control a big chunk of that market.
This past week, Hemal Bhana at Imperial Motors convinced me to take a drive in one of their trucks. At first I was thinking well, it must be one of those fancy 4×2 and 4×4 bakkies.
But boy did I almost faint when on the day of the test drive, there was this monster of a truck parked, fuelled up and ready for me to take it for a spin.
It was a five-tonne dropside body truck all suited in a Cummins engine. I must say that I shocked myself because this was my first experience behind the wheel of this kind of vehicle.
Obviously, since it’s not a luxury vehicle, there are other things that don’t apply like that comfort, but when it comes to the job, it’s been designed to do, it does it very well.
It handled the curves quite impressively when I drove it all the way to Crowhill. As I meandered up and down and sideways on the hilly plain, I wasn’t even worried about having to stiffen my arms to keep it on the road.
Personally, I loved the fact that the Chinese are so innovative when it comes to packaging.
With such a powerful engine under the hood, you will be tempted to buy into this brand.
From way back when I started in the auto business, I have always known of the Cummins and Perkins engines be for vehicles or heavy equipment like large output generators for instance.
So when you buy this truck in any tonnage that it is available in, you are assured of great after-sales service because what makes a vehicle is the engine and in this case, this particular engine is as good as Coke, we all know it.
With a new found partnership with Daimler AG formed in July 2010, to build trucks in China, it can only get better for the Foton.
Foton has built an assembly plant in Colombia, in order to participate in the growing Latin American market for light commercial vehicles. The company also plans to build a plant in Western Maharastra, India.
I’m sure in the next few years with the growing demand in Africa, they will also identify a nation where they will set up shop.
The one I drove was the Aumark series which has in its stable introduced a range of medium duty vehicles with powerful environmentally friendly engines, superior body design and customised driving configuration, including the new Super Cabin which provide customers with efficient logistics solutions.
It is like having a mobile bedroom in the back because an adult can sleep and rest in between trips. Perkins engines as well as the newly developed four-cylinder Cummins 2,8 and 3,8 diesel engines power these vehicles.
The Aumark model derivatives comprise of the BJ1049 (3,5-tonne payload) , BJ1051 (4-tonne payload) and the BJ1089 (5-tonne payload).
In the future, Foton Trucks intends to extend the Aumark range by introducing a 1,5 tonne payload model (BJ1039) powered by the all new Cummins 2,8 diesel engine.
Importantly, all future models selected will be in line with existing competitors and market requirements. With maximum Power of – kW @ r/min 81/2600 and maximum Torque – Nm @ r/min 360/1400-1600 you can cruise with a peace of mind because you will be in good hands.
Aumark power – equipped with the world famous Cummins engines: adopt the most advanced Cummins engines in the word.
Turbocharged inter-cooling, Bosch HPCR system and Cummins control software are also provided.
The design of four-valve and the rear-arranged gearbox ensure low fuel consumption and minimum noise.
An 8PK-belt transmission gear train guarantees a reasonable and compact structure.
EU-IV system adopts the most advanced SCR system in the world to meet the requirements of EU-IV that potentially shows the features of EU-V.
It has excellent power performance with higher speed: Exhaust bypass valve makes the low-speed torque get greater, high torque reserve and large power improves the climbing performance greatly, and has good adaptability for bad conditions.
Because it’s a commercial vehicle, you do not need to spend so much on fuel, it’s good with fuel economy.
It has a built-in integrated speed and load advancers can optimise the condition of all the injection to be timing, and can use less fuel than common engines by 20-30 percent.
It also comes with lower operating costs, fewer parts and failures and low maintenance costs. The simplified design cuts down the maintenance time by 50 percent comparing with the peer engine models.
High efficient and precise fuel injecting always remains at the optimal condition.
High-precision electronic control system and fuel pump control unit can precisely control fuel spraying and spray time, and be adjusted in accordance with the working conditions of the engine to
always have the engine power, fuel consumption and emissions reach the optimal output state.
It has sufficient fuel combustion because of the double-stage inlet filtration system.
It improves intake air quality, air-cooling turbocharged, inter-cooling lowers the temperature of the intake air and increases the intake air volume, double-stage pressure fuel injector has made the pre-jet and main jet come true which realises the sufficient fuel combustion and reduces fuel consumption.
With perfectly matching parts: Imported oil pump, grease nipple, and other key parts all imported from European suppliers (German Bosch) to ensure that the engine’s high performance and high reliability.
The design of the complete automobile and drive system are optimised to ensure that each horsepower output by the engine can be transformed into driving force.
So for that transport business you are running, this could be a good addition to your fleet starting from an affordable price of US$27 000 at Imperial Motors right opposite Farm & City along the Railway
Station. Service and support are available locally so your vehicle will be well serviced.
Hemal and his team will be glad to assist.
Till next week, read on and stay blessed.
- Fact D. Jeke is a motoring enthusiast who has attended auto shows, rallies and has written for various publications in the region for the last decade. She can be contacted via email on [email protected]
Online Reporter