Maxus V80 brings new Chinese brand here

“Cheap Chinese” is a reflection not only on the purchase price but also the build quality of some Chinese car brands operating here. 

The latter point will change once the European-designed Maxus V80 van arrives here later this year.

Maxus is a brand of vehicles built by China's largest automaker, SAIC, and owes its very existence to the now defunct European LDV which SAIC bought lock, stock and production line a few years ago.

LDV was a joint venture between Leyland and DAF and carved out a goodly slice of the light commercial vehicle pie in Europe back in the day.

SAIC picked up where LDV left off  and came up with a totally new style van made for the 21st century, added safety equipment with a four star crash rating and then sourced the powertrain from Europe - VM Motori for the 2.5-litre turbodiesel engine (100kW/330Nm) and ZF for the five-speed manual gearbox. An Allison automatic is optional.

This is the initial entry into the Australian market from SAIC and heralds the beginning of a much more concerted effort from China manufacturers to get a strong foothold here.
SAIC itself makes over 4 million vehicles a year.

The Maxus V80 arrives late 2012 in short wheelbase, low roof delivery van spec' followed soon after by a cab/chassis and a small bus/people mover version. Numerous variants of the V80 are available in short and long wheelbase and low and high roof. Plans for seven models are in train.

SAIC made the decision to come to Australia only a few weeks ago and chose the Melbourne Truck Show to debut its van - which generated huge interest from patrons.

Though prices were not available last week, SAIC officials said indicative pricing will be between 20-30 per cent under existing players in the market.

It will be distributed here by White Motor Company (WMC) which also has the JAC franchise and was until recently, the front runner for Foton Chinese utilities until a pricing issue stymied those plans.

Maxus will restrict itself to light commercial vehicles locally as there are no plans to import passenger cars at this stage.

SAIC also owns the prestigious MG brand it bought from the UK and also Rover which it markets under the Roewe nameplate. It also has joint ventures with VW and GM. The new generation Maxus vans have front wheel drive and come with a load capacity of between 9-14 cubic metres and a payload up to 1.8 tonnes.

The four passenger van variants will include models with 11 passenger  through to 15 passenger capacities. WMC spokesman Jason Pecotic said Maxus vehicles will be sold here with more kit than their competition  and have a strong European feel.

"The Maxus range will go head to head with some established brands in Australia. Maxus vehicles will come with some standard features not offered on some competitor vehicles. These include rear barn doors, tyre pressure monitoring, 16-inch alloy wheels, dual sliding doors and door integrated electric entry steps.''