This Chinese Pickup Truck is a Dead Ringer for a Ford Raptor
Built by Foton Motors and named The Big General, it’s easy to say where the inspiration of this truck’s design came from.
If you've ever ordered something off Wish.com, then you know it's often a case of getting what you pay for. From a luxury wristwatch that looks very nice but feels lighter than helium, or clothing that makes you realize you are actually an XXXL, Chinese-made knock-offs can be a gamble, but you can't beat a good deal. The same is true in China's growing auto industry—it gets more and more impressive each year, but many companies are still borrowing heavily from Western counterparts, to put it politely.
Sometimes Chinese automakers try to hide the "inspiration" of their latest model. Then there are cases like the Foton Motors Da Jiang Jun, which is a few rewritten sentences shy of a complete copy and paste job.
Beiqi Foton Motor Company has been manufacturing commercial light and heavy-duty trucks, buses, and passenger vans since 1996. Known as Foton, it is a subsidiary of the BAIC Group (Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Company). And according to Ford Authority, the Foton Da Jiang Jun pickup truck, known as "The Big General", is set to debut at the Beijing Auto Show that opened today.
(Yes, China's big auto show is still happening during the pandemic. I don't think it's a great idea, either.)
Going by Foton's press photos of the truck, it is hard to ignore the big oval in the room. The truck looks like a Ford F-150 Raptor wearing a different front grille. The fact that the name displayed on the grille also starts with the letter F doesn't help.
From what we know, the Foton Big General is not a twin-turbo 450 horsepower, 120 mph over all-terrain, muscle truck like the Ford Raptor. Ford Authority stated it's a mid-size truck offering a 2.0-liter single- turbocharged four-cylinder engine producing 238 HP.
There is a 2.5-liter diesel option, but details have not been released at the time of this publication. This Ford doppelgänger will have people doing double-takes as more comes out about it. Will it offer four-wheel drive, strictly rear-wheel drive, or possibly front-wheel drive? How does it compare in size to a 2021 Ford F-150?
One noticeable detail we found interesting is the Foton Big General can be had with a ZF eight-speed manual transmission. That's one thing we can't get on trucks in the West. Not without voiding a warranty.
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