The official local launch of the Jetour Dashing is currently set to take place on April 9, 2025.
Yet another day, yet another Chinese automaker is set to make landfall in Malaysia. And this time, the latest to do so is Jetour, with it having teased that the first batch of its Dashing SUV has arrived here in Port Klang ahead of its official local launch that is set to take place next week on April 9.
Deliveries of these fully-imported Dashings are currently set to take place immediately after the official launch event, to customers who have already placed their pre-orders for one. Local assembly of this SUV is meanwhile scheduled to begin in late May this year, though there is no official word thus far on who their Malaysian CKD partner is.
Regardless, in preparation for its local presence, Jetour has confidently announced that over 20 service centres have been established nationwide. The automaker has also teased future further expansion plans by adding more than 10 new 4S and 3S centres within the year, ensuring strong after-sales support for Malaysian customers.
Now for those unfamiliar with the Dashing, it is essentially Jetour’s answer to the Proton X70 and Toyota Corolla Cross. This five-seat SUV measures in at 4,590 mm long, 1,900 mm wide, 1,685 mm tall with a wheelbase of 2,720 mm.
The Dashing has been teased earlier to arrive in two variants: Prime and Signature. There is thus far no official word on the exact prices yet, but it has been previously speculated that it might land locally in the region of RM 110,000.
Both variants are set to share the same powertrain combination, consisting of a 1.5-litre turbocharged four-pot rated at 156 PS and 230 Nm of torque (shared with the Chery Omoda 5), which sends drive to the front wheels through a six-speed dual-clutch transmission.
Standard kit starting with the Prime has been indicated to include full suite of LED lights all round, a 6-way powered driver’s seat, leather upholstery, a 10.25-inch digital driver’s display, a 10.25-inch infotainment touchscreen with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay integration, a 50 W wireless charging pad, a four-speaker sound system and automatic air-conditioning with rear vents.
Stepping up to the Signature variant in turn adds a panoramic sunroof, a four-way powered front passenger seat, ambient lighting, and an expanded safety suite. This includes lane change assist, blind spot monitoring, lane change warning, rear cross-traffic alert, and a 360-degree around-view monitor on top of the Prime’s passive cruise control, reverse camera and 6 airbag offering.
As for those unfamiliar with the Jetour brand itself on the other hand — which is incidentally pronounced ‘Jietu’ by the way — this latest automaker to land locally is actually yet another subsidiary of Chery. Though unlike Jaecoo in Malaysia, Jetour is set to be more removed from the mothership, with a distinct team set to oversee operations locally.
The aforementioned Dashing and X70 Plus 7-seat SUV were showcased during the brand’s local debut at the Malaysia Autoshow 2024, with the latter likely the next in line for launch over here. This will then apparently be followed by Defender-esque T2 and T1 off-roaders, offered in various flavours of electrification.
