JW Forland Launches 7-Seater Suzuki APV Competitor

Forland has launched a new MPV called Safari, featuring 7 seats, and a decently powerful engine alongside modern features and amenities. It competes directly with Suzuki’s famous APV, which is commonly used by large families and car rental services for trips to northern areas.

Let’s see what it brings to the table.

Exterior

The Safari looks quite muted in terms of overall design. The front of the MPV features large headlights with a small sloping hood, a spacious grille, and foglamps down below, located on the edges of the bumper. The dual-tone paint gives it some personality to make it stand out but the choice of paint seems quite dull, at least for this particular Safari.

Moving to the back there’s not much to say about the design, but the vertical headlights lining up with the horizontal reflectors on the rear hatch give it a unique look. This gives it a “not quite Toyota Hiace” appearance.

Interior

Inside, the cabin looks decent thanks to the wood and beige dual-tone look of the dashboard. Dual-tone colors seem to be a running theme here as the seats are also beige and dark grey, giving it a cohesive appearance. There’s also a 7-inch touchscreen infotainment system that supports Bluetooth connectivity, alongside a dual-zone climate control system.

Engine

Powering the Safari (Deluxe and Comfort variant) is a 1,500-CC 4-cylinder EFI engine, alongside a 5-speed gearbox. The engine produces 107 hp and 147Nm of torque, which is similar to Suzuki APV (104 hp and 128 Nm torque) but with slightly better torque. The Standard model comes with a 1,300 CC engine with the same 5-speed transmission. The MPV is only available with a manual transmission.

Forland claims that Safari manages a 13-14 km per liter fuel consumption for in-city driving.

Features and Safety Options

This is where the Safari MPV truly shines versus its competitors in the market. It features electronic power steering, a rearview camera, DRLs, central locking, power windows for the front seats, ABS brakes, tire pressure monitoring, door open warning, parking brake warning, and seat-belt warning for the driver.

All the seats feature seatbelts alongside an ISOFIX child seat anchor.

Price, Booking and Availability

Forland Safari is now officially available and can be booked from all authorized dealerships in Pakistan. It can be had in three different variants with the following prices:

• Rs. 37.99 Lac (Standard)
• Rs. 40.99 Lac (Comfort)
• Rs. 42.99 Lac (Deluxe)

The Comfort variant doesn’t include rear AC, dual-color paint, central locking, power windows for front seats, touchscreen display, fog lamps, reverse camera, ABS, and tire pressure monitoring. The Standard model cuts it down further to a 1,300 CC engine to lower the price.