JETOUR arrives in Malaysia with the Dashing

JETOUR (‘jet’ and ‘tour’) may sound like a French brand but it’s actually a 7-year old company that is part of the Chery Holding Group from China. The company has been appearing in world markets since 2023 and today adds Malaysia to its list of 65 countries and regions.

Currently imported as a CBU model, the Dashing is offered in Comfort and Prime versions – priced at RM109,800 and RM116,800, respectively. The first 500 buyers get a RM2,000 rebate, while all owners have 5 free scheduled services, a 7-year/150,000-km vehicle warranty and 10-year/1 million km warranty on the engine.

The company plans to begin assembling the SUV at the Berjaya Assembly plant in Johor from the end of May 2025. The plant was formerly Oriental Assemblers and brands such as Honda, Peugeot, Jeep and Chery were assembled there. It assembles Foton, Golden Dragon and Westar vehicles today and the contract with JETOUR is significant as there are longer-term plans to use Malaysia as its base for making righthand drive variants.

As a start, JETOUR Automobile Malaysia is entering the market with the Dashing, a compact SUV model with a 1.5-litre turbocharged engine producing 156 ps/230 Nm and mated to a 6-speed dual-clutch transmission. Although the engine is a Chery Group powerplant, the platform and Kunlun architecture was developed by JETOUR itself.

The 5-seater Dashing has a 3D coupe fastback design and at 4590 mm in length and spacious 2720 mm wheelbase, it is among the larger SUVs in the C-segment. Though a SUV, the vehicle’s silhouette has elements of a sports saloon, suggesting a sporty character.

Distinctive elements include intelligent invisible sensing door handles that automatically extend when the owner with the smart key approaches, split matrix LED headlights, and daytime running lights with sharp ‘Mecha-Eyes’. The rear lights incorporate a checkered flag design language that also suggests a sporty character.

Inside, the Dashing is available with 2 interior colour combinations – off-white or black and. The minimalist cabin design has no centre rear seat hump, improving comfort. The boot, with a powered tailgate, has a generous 486-litre volume which can be expanded to 977 litres by folding down the rear backrests.

As with many modern cars (especially those from China), the instrument panel is merged with what is usually the centre infotainment display in a 10.25-inch LCD Smart Twin Screen. The speedometer and tachometer have graphic analogue displays as well as digital displays within each meter.

Between the seats, the centre console has a short shifter to select drive positions and a rotary controller to manage functions on the display panel. There is also intelligent voice command technology which controls the windows, air conditioning, navigation, and music with position-specific recognition.

Connectivity features include wireless device charging and seamless integration with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto (wired and wireless).

JETOUR doesn’t have any fancy name for its advanced driver assist systems (ADAS) but there are active systems present which use camera and radar sensors. However, we don’t see autonomous emergency braking although cruise control, blind spot detection and rear collision traffic alert are present.

As a new brand, it is important that buyers are assured of aftersales support and JETOUR Automobile Malaysia has made sure that spare parts are already stocked, with shipments regularly arriving at the warehouse.

There are already over 15 outlets across Malaysia ready to support the new owners of the Dashing. The network is expected to expand to more than 30 4S and 3S centres during 2025. These will be in most states, including Sabah and Sarawak.