X240

GREAT Wall Motors’ first passenger vehicle arrived here in the form of the small X240 off-roader.

Priced from a bargain-basement $23,990 driveaway, the first local crossover wagon from Great Wall set a new price benchmark in Australia’s compact SUV segment.

The X240 came standard with a host of standard features including leather trim, a powered driver’s seat, air-conditioning and an eight-speaker CD/MP3 sound system.

Available in just one specification with only one option (a sunroof for $1000), the X240 also offered a relatively comprehensive list of standard safety features, including twin front airbags, an ABS brakes, electronic brake force distribution, four-wheel disc brakes and rear parking sensors.

Power steering, power windows, central locking and 17-inch alloy wheels with 235/65-section tyres were also standard on the X240, available in white, black, silver and red exterior paint colours.

The full-chassis X240 was based on Toyota 4Runner chassis and was one of the few compact SUVs to offer a dual-range four-wheel drive system, which could be switched from the dashboard between high and low range on the fly.

the Chinese brand’s three-year/100,000 new-vehicle warranty and 24-hour/seven-day roadside assistance program.

The X240 was powered by a fuel-injected 2.4-litre four-cylinder petrol engine that produced 100kW and 200Nm, available exclusively with a five-speed manual transmission.

Combined fuel consumption was 10.4L/100km and the X240 offered a 160km/h top speed and claimed 0-100km/h acceleration in “less than 20 seconds”.

April 2011 saw a facelift transform the X240's nose into something resembling from the Mazda line-up while adding a reversing camera, DVD player, Bluetooth connectivity and steering wheel audio controls to the standard equipment list.

In November 2011 the Chinese brand began selling a 2.0-litre turbo-diesel version badged X200 TDi, its engine producing 105kW at 4000rpm and 310Nm of torque between 1800 and 2800rpm, with combined fuel consumption rated at 7.6L/100km.

The diesel X200 also heralded the arrival of an automatic transmission option plus the fitment of electronic stability control.