Sources have confirmed that the Gateway Group and AutoSpeedyGo are joining forces to bring in the Chinese car brand, Jetour Auto. The official brand launch is slated for the Manila International Auto Show (MIAS) in April.

The partnership will be led by Yves Jovincci Licup as President and Michael Goho as Vice-President. Serving as Jetour’s Managing Director is industry veteran, Miguelito Jose.

The brand is said to be eyeing several locations for its showroom network including Manila, Alabang, Quezon City, and San Juan in the National Capital Region; Cebu in the Visayas region; and Davao for the Mindanao region.

The Gateway Group and AutoSpeedyGo are both multi-brand dealership groups that count the likes of Nissan, Geely, MG, Chery, Foton, Chevrolet, and more under their care. Though fierce rivals, both saw a collaborative opportunity to bring this new Chinese brand into the Philippines.

Jetour is a brand within the Chery Holdings Group. A combination of the words, “Jet” and “Tour,” its Chinese name translates to “convenient travel.”

The brand itself is young, established just in 2018. However, it is founded on the accumulated knowledge of Chery’s over 20 years of experience in vehicle manufacturing. Jetour is positioned as a specialist in the SUV/MPV/New Energy or Electrified space with products that are design-forward, intelligent, and multi-functional.

Sources say that Jetour Philippines will launch with a three-vehicle line-up: the X70 and X70 Plus—both 7-seater SUVs, and the Dashing 5-seater SUV.

No final specs were revealed yet, but all three SUVs will likely stick to the same formula of other Chinese offerings here, mainly using a turbocharged 1.5-liter (156 horsepower, 230 Nm) mated to either a 6-speed DCT (Dashing), 7-speed DCT (X70 Plus), or 8-speed automatic (X70).

As the oldest in the current Jetour line-up, the X70 will likely serve as the brand’s entry-level model, while the Dashing will be their flagship being the “Vanguard of SUV Technology.”

Jetour in the Philippines will be run independently of Chery, which will be retained by current distributor United Asia Automotive Group or UAAGI, while Omoda will enter through another distributor.