Its South African operations officially relaunched last week, Chinese commercial vehicle manufacturer, JMC, has laid-out its plans for the remainder of 2026 comprising an eventual roll-out of three more products in each of the remaining quarters.
Imported by Salvador Caetano Auto South Africa, who also handles the importation of distribution of GAC’s products, the brand’s initial roll-out after the Vigus Pro will, somewhat confusingly, be followed by the step-up “new” Vigus.
Known as the Boarding in China, which had been previously been sold in South Africa as a step-up from what is now known as the Vigus Pro, the all-new third generation Vigus will arrive in March having gone on-sale in China last year.
Shown in pre-production form at the launch of the Vigus Pro at the Lion & Safari Park on the outskirts of Johannesburg last year, the new Vigus incorporates styling from the Chevrolet Silverado and Ford Ranger, and is offered solely as a double cab.
According to official JMC online documents, the Vigus has a choice of two loadbox lengths, a claimed ground clearance of 225 mm and a choice of two engines; a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol pumping-out 160kW/350Nm and a 2.5-litre turbodiesel.
Transmissions consist of a six-speed manual or an eight-speed automatic, which in the case of the diesel, means varying torque outputs; 123kW/410Nm for the former and 123kW/430Nm for the latter.
As with the Vigus Pro, known as the Yuhu 9 in China, the Vigus comes standard with rear-wheel drive, or an optional BorgWarner-sourced four-wheel drive system with low range plus an Eaton made locking rear differential.
Despite no further details being released, notable specification items available in China includes a 12.8-inch infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, up to 17-inch alloy wheels, rain sense wipers, cruise control, four airbags, tyre pressure, a reverse camera, rear parking sensors and side-steps to name a but a few.
Arriving in the third quarter, the step-up Grand Avenue offers two derivatives, standard and Plus, with the latter most likely to be the variant sold locally.
On-sale in China since 2023, the Grand Avenue has dimensions of 5 435 mm in overall length, a wheelbase of 3 270 mm, height of 1 872 mm and width of 1 935 mm.
Marketed under the Dadao sub-brand, the Grand Avenue is said to have 235 mm of ground clearance, an approach angle of 30°, departure angle of 26° and wading depth of 800 mm.
Up front, and leveraging off of its partnership with Ford established back in 1997, the Grand Avenue offers two engine options; the 2.3-litre EcoBoost petrol producing 180kW/400Nm and a unique 2.3-litre version of the older Puma turbodiesel outputting 130kW/450Nm.
Connected to both is the ZF-sourced eight-speed automatic gearbox, with the part-time BorgWarner four-wheel drive system being standard across all derivatives.
Expect specification to consist of the following:
- Auto High Beam Assist LED headlights;
- 17 or 18-inch alloy wheels;
- folding electric mirrors;
- rain sense wipers;
- sunroof;
- 12-inch rotating infotainment system;
- dual-zone climate control;
- six-speaker sound system;
- 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster;
- electric, heated and ventilated front seats;
- leather upholstery;
- wireless smartphone charger
On the safety side, the Grand Avenue will, likely, have the following as standard:
- 540-degree camera system;
- front and rear parking sensors;
- tyre pressure monitor;
- Adaptive Cruise Control;
- Automatic Emergency Braking;
- Traffic Jam Assist;
- Lane Keep Assist;
- Forward Collision Warning;
- Lane Departure Warning;
- Hill Launch Assist;
- Blind Spot Monitoring;
- Lane Centring Assist;
- Hill Descent Control;
- Rollover Mitigation
Launching in the final quarter of the year, the Dadao name will, seemingly, become the denominator for what is otherwise known as the Grand Avenue Pro.
Essentially JMC’s take on the Ford Ranger Raptor, the Pro has been re-engineered with some of the same off-road attributes as the former.
This amounts to the upgraded front and rear suspension, a Watt’s rear linkage, adaptive nitrogen shock absorbers, a ground clearance increase hike to 255 mm and a coil spring rear suspension layout.
Elsewhere, the Pro/Dadao features a different grille with a block letter name script, a new front bumper with a steel under protection plate, 17-inch black alloy wheels wrapped in all-terrain tyres, wheel arch cladding, an optional winch, snorkel and side-steps.
Compared to the regular Grand Avenue, the Pro has a wading depth of 900 mm, Crawl function and a locking differential at the front to go with the already included locker at the rear.
As part added part of the four-wheel drive hardware, a Ford-style Trail Turn Assist system has been included, as has wading sensors, the 540-degree transparent camera system, an overhead auxiliary switch panel and what JMC calls an Intelligent All-Terrain Management system with seven modes; Eco, Normal, Sport, Snow, Sand, Mud and Rock.
Up front, the Pro/Dado retains the same engine and transmission combinations as the normal Grand Avenue, but with a power and torque increase for the EcoBoost only to 190kW/450Nm.
Specification is likely to be similar to the regular model.
As it stands, expect final details, and pricing, to be announced later in the year.
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