Guangzhou show: LDV premieres T60 pick-up

UPDATED: 25/11/2016LDV has revealed its new T60 pick-up at the Guangzhou motor show, with the Chinese one-tonner to be offered in a number of different specifications when it arrives in Australia in the second half of 2017.

Looking to get a slice of the lucrative Australian-ute sales pie, LDV will offer the T60 with a combination of single cab, double cab and extended double cab body styles in two- and four-wheel-drive with two suspension heights, petrol or diesel engines, and manual and automatic transmissions with a low-range gearbox for 4x4 variants.

Built on an all-new platform, it will also be offered with three different drive modes – eco, normal and power.

Full specifications will be announced closer to its release date, and at launch there will be two diesel and one petrol variant, however it is not yet known what engines will be used.

LDV’s G10 van was recently updated to include a diesel variant – a 1.9-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder ute that produces 107kW of power at 4000rpm and 350Nm of torque from 1800-2600rpm.

The press photos from Guangzhou also show the engine bay of the double-cab variant, which has what looks to be a 2.8-litre petrol ‘VGT’ engine, which will be coming to Australia.

The G10 also has two petrol variants – a 2.4-litre naturally-aspirated four cylinder sourced from Mitsubishi that makes 104kW/200Nm that could serve as a powerplant for an entry-level single-cab ute, while the higher-spec variant has a turbocharged 2.0-litre engine with a beefier 165kW/330Nm.

At launch, the diesel will come with a six-speed manual or automatic transmission, while the petrol will be offered with either a five- or six-speed auto.

LDV hopes that when it arrives, the T60 will achieve a five-star ANCAP safety rating, due to the inclusion of particular safety technology such as six airbags, double pretensioning seatbelts, parking sensors, rear-view camera, 360-degree surround view cameras, a fatigue driving alarm and other chassis electronic safety systems.

To attract potential customers, the T60 will also come with a ten-year rust warranty due to galvanisation, advanced wax injection and new paint processes of the chassis and bodywork.

While most Chinese utes on sale in Australia are marketed as bargain offerings, photos from Guangzhou suggest the T60 could be a step up from budget rivals such as the Foton Tunland and Great Wall V240.

The example on show comes with alloy wheels, side steps, roof rails, sports bars, skid plate, tow hooks and LED running lights, while the interior shows leather seats with red stitching and a sizeable infotainment screen inlaid into the centre console.

If the T60 is priced as a premium ute it will have to contend with sales giants like the Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger, as well as other contenders such as the Nissan Navara, Mazda BT-50, Holden Colorado, Mitsubishi Triton, Volkswagen Amarok and Isuzu D-Max.

However Ateco Automotive media and public relations consultant Edward Rowe said that, like other LDV offerings, price would be on of the main selling points.

“It will, as with the existing LDV range, be a real value-for-money proposition with features, equipment and performance meeting its rivals,” he said.

LDV owners Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) have high hopes for the T60, which they anticipate will help lift sales of the brand from 1600 this year to more than 5000 once the full range is available.

One issue LDV will have to work out is how to supply the new T60 to the rural market, which is expected to make up a reasonable proportion of sales to be used as farm vehicles and workhorses.

Currently, LDV only has dealer networks in urban areas, but Mr Rowe said the dealer network would expand over the next 12 months to help facilitate sales of the T60.

“At the moment the LDV dealer group is biased towards urban Australia because that is where the majority of van sales occur,” he said.

“During the next 12 months there will be growth in the LDV dealer group, driven initially by the increasing van sales driven by the arrival of the diesel versions of the LDV G10 and then by the arrival of the T60.

“So it will be an increase in both the spread of the dealers and their number.”

A large SUV is also expected to be built on the same all-new platform as the T60, probably arriving in Australia by 2018 and based on the D90 concept shown earlier this year.