LDV reveals T60 ute - carsales.com.au
Here is the one-tonne ute which may become the latest threat to the Toyota HiLux's dominance of Australian ute market by the end of next year.
Revealed at the Guangzhou International Motor Show late last week, the LDV T60 pick-up has been confirmed for local release in the second half of 2017.
It will join a host of other Chinese-made utes on sale here, including the Great Wall Steed, Foton Tunland and JMC Vigus – as well as bargain-basement Indian-built tray-backs like the Tata Xenon and Mahindra Pik-Up and Genio.
Together with the usual array of Thai-built one-tonners led by the Ford Ranger, Toyota's dominance of Australia's booming ute market – the world's fourth largest with 150,000 sold so far this year – faces its most serious challenge ever.
Revealed here as a Maxus, a domestic brand created by Chinese conglomerate SAIC when it purchased LDV in 2009, the T60 is said to be based on an all-new ladder platform.
The T60 emerges in 4x4 dual-cab form and its maker says it will deliver full one-tonne payload and a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating when it arrives next year.
Eventually a full range of single-cab, extended-cab and double-cab models will be offered with two tray lengths, two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive, the choice of three gearboxes including both manual and automatic transmissions with low- and high-range ratios, plus petrol and diesel engines and two suspension heights.
LDV says the drivetrains will also offer three different performance modes -- normal, eco and power -- enabling the driver to select the vehicle response most effective for the job in hand.
The T60 goes on sale in Australia following the launch of the V80 van range which was complemented by the arrival of the G10 van and people-mover.
This month the G10, an all-electric version of which was shown in China last week, extended its coverage of the Australian one-tonne van market with the arrival of turbo-diesel variants with both manual and automatic transmissions.
LDV says the T60's high-tensile steel chassis is protected by galvanisation, advanced wax injection and new paint processes to minimise stone chip damage, enabling it to come with a 10-year through-rusting warranty.
Also helping it achieve a maximum safety rating will be six airbags, double pretensioning seatbelts, a full range of chassis electronic safety systems as well as parking sensors, reversing and 360-degree cameras and a fatigue driving alarm.
SAIC sold more than 5.9 million vehicles in 2015 and was the first company to enter joint-ventures with non-Chinese car-makers, including Volkswagen, IVECO and General Motors.
The e-G10, meantime, is an all-electric version budget-priced seven-seat LDV G10 people-mover already on sale in Australia.
Its electric motor produces 75kW/380Nm and up to 150kW/800Nm under acceleration, prociding the e-G10 with a top speed of 150km/h and 0-100km/h acceleration in less than 14 seconds. LDV says charging the e-G10 can take as little as 1.5 hours with a high-capacity charging facility and the van has a typical range of 200km between charges.
The production model is the latest result of a $3 billion investment by LDV’s parent company SAIC in electric vehicles, including electric versions of LDV’s V80 vans which are on sale in China and Europe.
LDV’s expanding EV family is supported by 50,000 charging points across China and part of SAIC’s plan to sell 600,000 cars and commercial vehicles annually by 2020.