How Chinese light-commercial maker LDV is chasing McLaren

Sunday, 19 March 2017

The fastest-growing automotive brand in New Zealand last year was supercar-maker McLaren. Registrations rose from nine cars in 2015 to 24, a near-270 per cent increase.

Next was light-commercial maker LDV, the brand formerly known as Leyland Daf Vans that went bust in Britain in 2009 and was shifted lock, stock and literally brick-by-brick to SAIC Motor in China.

Similar size to Ranger and Hilux: 5.4m in length. What's 'Maxus'? It's the brand-name for LDV in China.

LDV went from 475 Kiwi sales in 2015 to 1033 last year, a 117 per cent increase. Nowhere the percentage performance of arch-rival McLaren, but LDV has a few key cards still to play.

While it lacks a two-seater supercar, LDV aces McLaren with budget-priced vans and people-movers. There's an entry model called the G10, plus a larger van called the V80 that comes in three different sizes. Both have been improved for 2017.

Top Luxury T60 ute has pushbutton start, leather upholstery, power front seats and lane departure warning.

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*** Rich British history of the LDV G10

Entry-level G10 now has diesel engine option, with either manual or automatic transmission.

* Electric times ahead for Chinese van brand

* Utes are building on a record-setting 2016**

Big V80 van has gained Euro 5 diesel engine and an extra gear for the manual transmisison - now six-speed.

More importantly, McLaren has absolutely no plans to introduce a model into the crucial double-cab pickup truck segment, whereas LDV will launch one here in July.

The T60 is LDV's first-ever one-tonne ute. It's based on a new platform, says the company, with power from a 110kW/360Nm 2.8-litre turbo-diesel from Italian specialist VM Motori.

At $29,990 for the Comfort version and $36,990 for the Luxury, the T60 will be in the same pricing ballpark as other Chinese utes from Great Wall and Foton. But the people from local LDV importer Great Lakes Motor Distributors (GLMD) are very confident that T60 is a cut above those products. GLMD chairman Rick Cooper reckons it's more of a Mitsubishi Triton rival in terms of quality and ability.

Time will tell when we get to drive it. There's none of that yet: GLMD has a single T60 in the country at the moment, primarily to size the vehicle up for local production of all-important ute accessories such as tray liners and canopies.

The T60 is similar size to the Ford Ranger or Toyota Hilux: 5365mm long, with a 3155mm wheelbase. The engine is Euro 5 rated and comes with manual or automatic transmission (both six-speeders), but exclusively in 4WD at launch. The company will add 2WD models at the end of the year and different body configurations may follow for 2018.

Both T60 models will have parking radar, six airbags, LED headlights, cruise control, 10-inch touch screen and USB inputs. The top Luxury adds a differential lock, pushbutton start, lane-departure warning, 360-degree parking/off-road cameras, leather upholstery (real leather, promises GLMD), power adjustment for the driver's seat and side steps.

There will also be an SUV version of the T60, called the D90, launched in 2018. It'll be based on the ute platform but wears a radical-looking wagon body.

But that's all in the future. It's the vans that have been doing the heavy lifting for LDV to date. In vans (including cab/chassis versions) LDV was third behind Toyota and Hyundai last year, with a 15.5 per cent market share. It also does decent trade in the minibus market, third last year behind Toyota and Mercedes-Benz with an 11.7 per cent share.

Both the G10 and V80 have been upgraded for 2017. The G10 was formerly available only with petrol engines, but now it can be had with a 107kW/350Nm turbo diesel, with both manual and automatic transmissions.

The larger V80's VM Motori 2.5-litre diesel has shifted to Euro 5 compliance and now features a variable-geometry turbocharger, electronic throttle, new exhaust gas recirculation system and particulate filter.

Both G10 and V80 are entry-level vans for budget-conscious buyers: the G10 ranges from $29,888 (petrol van) to $39,675 (nine-seater people-mover), while the V80 starts at $37,019 (short-wheelbase van) and tops out at $61,985 (14-seat minibus).

Indeed, GLMD acknowledges that the biggest market potential for the vans lies with buyers of used Toyota Hiaces: for the price of a Hiace with substantial mileage you can have a new LDV with a fresh factory warranty.

A quick spin in the new G10 and V80 models did demonstrate that potential - and bodes well for the T60 ute. Cutting edge they are not, built to a price they are. But the LDV vans do get the fundamentals right, with decent powertrains (although the automated-manual in the V80 takes some getting used to) and solid on-road steering and handling.

The G10 is by far the more modern-feeling of the two. It was launched in China in 2014 and the design is as much focused on people-moving as cargo-carrying, hence the car-like interior architecture.

The V80 dates way to 2004, and was in fact developed by LDV in Britain with Daewoo, before the later collapsed in 2000. It was taken over by SAIC and relaunched in 2011.

However the V80 will be sprinting towards the future via all-electric versions being launched in NZ late this year. Details are still sketchy and GLMD has a wealth of different motor specifications to choose from, but it's favouring a version with a 56kWh battery that gives 192km range, working on the basis that 200km is the average daily mileage driven by couriers in NZ.

The EV80 can be replenished in two hours on a DC fast-charger.

Fun fact: that original V80 was known as the LDV Maxus. The Maxus model name was adopted by SAIC as its van-brand for China, although it has chosen to retain the LDV tag for export markets like NZ.