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GIANT Chinese automotive conglomerate Geely Auto has turned its attention to marketing electric commercial vehicles in Australia after signing global distributor Abdul Latif Jameel as its Australian representative.

Sales of Geely’s commercial vehicles, under the Farizon name, will begin in Australia in the first half of this year with Jameel Motors poised to appoint east-coast automotive retailers for its first EV van and truck.

Geely last year reported sales of more than 3.3 million under its brand names that include Volvo, Lotus, Proton and Zeekr.

Farizon will compete with existing Chinese EV commercials including the JAC N55 and Foton T5 trucks and the Chinese-made LDV vans eDeliver 7 and eDeliver 9.   The brand will also compete against full-electric vans from Ford (E-Transit), Peugeot (e-Partner), Mercedes (eVito and eSprinter) and Renault (Kangoo e-Tech) and trucks from Fuso (eCanter), SEA Electric and Isuzu.

To set the stage, Jameel Motors, part of international conglomerate Abdul Latif Jameel, is also preparing to set up its corporate office in Collins St, Melbourne and begin expanding its administration and communications divisions.

The entry of Geely’s Farizon brand into the market is separate to the launch of the Geely passenger-car range and uses different distributors and dealers.

Jameel will first import an EV van, the Farizon SV Cargo Van, followed quickly by the all-electric H9E 4.5-tonne and 8-tonne GVM truck models.

Geely’s Farizon now becomes the latest manufacturer of EV commercial vehicles and one of the first to enter the Australian market.

The company’s country general manager of mobility, Charles Lin, told GoAutoNews Premium that Farizon manufactured a range of electric commercial vehicles which could be sold in Australia.

He said there was also a van-based passenger model that could suit the Australian market.

Mr Lin confirmed that the initial Australian line-up of Farizon products was the same as the range launched in the UK last month. The UK debuted the SV (for ‘supervan’) in three body lengths along with the H9E truck.

“At this stage, we will be bringing the 4.5-tonne and 8-tonne trucks as well as the cargo vans,” he said.

“There may be a passenger version of the van in the next 24 months or so, but that’s yet to be confirmed.”He said that the Farizon range would be sold through dealers under traditional franchise arrangement, with the first of its chosen east coast retailers expected to be announced over coming months with announcements of retailers for other states to follow.

Dealer network development is being organised by an external specialist company, although this task is likely to be soon undertaken by Jameel Motors itself.

Jameel Motors is a major distributor and provider of mobility solutions and partner to top automotive brands with international operations in Turkey, Morocco, Egypt, Algeria, Japan, China, Monaco.

As a distributor, it represents commercial and passenger vehicle brands including Toyota, Lexus, BYD, GAC Motor, MG Motor, Farizon and Hino. 

The Farizon New Energy Commercial Vehicle Group is the commercial vehicle sector of Geely Holding Group and, with Geely, operates China’s biggest new energy commercial vehicle research institute that is responsible for the R&D of a new generation of green and intelligent commercial vehicle products based on passenger vehicle technology. 

It has formed two core technology routes of using powerplants operating on methanol and hydrogen, and on electric. 

The company has doubled its Chinese market share for three consecutive years, with a product market share exceeding 20 per cent in the new energy commercial vehicle industry. 

In 2024, it was the first in its industry sector to surpass 300,000 unit sales.

Farizon’s SV is built on a bespoke electric modular platform which it said offers benefits in cargo space, range, handling and safety. 

It features cell-to-pack technology which claims to increase battery capacity by 10 per cent, reduce weight by 4 per cent and improve body rigidity by 20 per cent. The SV also introduces the first ever dual-redundancy drive-by-wire platform in the global van market, reducing stopping distance by 10 per cent, increasing range by 5 per cent and steering response by 300 per cent. 

Farizon said that “crucially, it also helps increase load capacity and results in an extra-low loading height.”

“In conjunction with the use of high-strength steel and hybrid aluminium-steel materials in the chassis and body, the innovative drive-by-wire platform also helps reduce weight by 8 per cent, which in turn provides gains in maximum payload, as well as in energy conservation, performance, and operational efficiency.”

The van comes in three vehicle lengths – 4.99m, 5.49m and 5.95m – and three heights, with cargo capacity from 6.9 cubic metres to 13 cubic metres. It was launched in the UK with two battery sizes, 67 kWh and 83 kWh with a 106-kWh battery option available in the near future. The same is expected to be offered to Australian buyers.

By Neil Dowling

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