LDV Mifa 9 Reviews

The rapid and seemingly unstoppable expansion of Chinese carmakers is something to behold.But is it too far-fetched to think all cars will be Chinese within the next 20 years? Or is it naive not to see it as a strong possibility?For a long time I’ve thought the emergence of new Chinese cars in Australia and globally was the natural progression of the car industry. New brands morph from alternative fledgling brands to mature and established ones. We saw this with Japanese brands such as Toyota, Mazda, Mitsubishi and Nissan which gained popularity in the 1960s and ’70s before becoming established go-to brands in the 1980s and ’90s as they fought homegrown heroes Ford and Holden for space in Australia's driveways. And it stayed that way until the first decade of the 2000s ticked over.Holden and Ford’s ranges and sales shrank giving way to the Koreans who filled the gap with Hyundai and Kia which have climbed high into the top 10 thanks to an excellent range of SUVs and EVs.They’re now marching towards the only brands that stand in their way - Mitsubishi, Ford, Mazda and Toyota - which, by the way, have about three EVs between them.And given another five years Kia and Hyundai may have been able to topple Toyota from number one. But it might be too late for that. The presence of a large and fast-growing force is creating major uncertainty for the established brands in the Australian market - the rise and rise of Chinese brands. At the end of 2024 there were 12 Chinese brands operating in Australia and this year we’re expecting at least another seven to arrive. To put that in perspective we currently have a total of 50 car brands in Australia and nine are Japanese. By the end of 2025 the Chinese tally could easily be 20 brands or 30 per cent of Australia's brand make up.Several Chinese brands have been in Australia for years and have already done the hard yards. It took MG a couple of attempts to find a foothold but it was the seventh best-selling brand in 2024, while GWM came in at 10th. LDV is further down but still sold more than 16,000 vehicles here last year.The newer Chinese arrivals show huge promise with most of them offering affordable electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids when the established brands have only a handful among them, usually at higher prices.BYD, Zeekr, Leapmotor, Geely, Deepal, XPeng, Smart, JAC, Aion, Chery and Jaecoo will spend 2025 launching a multitude of new vehicles here. BYD will be one to watch having sold more cars here last year than Mercedes-Benz and it will likely enter the top 10 best sellers next year. Geely, which is the ‘Volkswagen of China’ in terms of its size and how many brands it owns, is another to watch.Chinese car manufacturers' speed of production, the development of new platforms and technology, the low cost of batteries, availability of electronics and the breakthroughs being made in charging systems, plus the sheer amount of money and Chinese government support behind them make competition almost impossible for many other brands.It’s almost certain that some established brands will bow out of Australia, unable to compete with Chinese brands. It’s also feasible that within the next decade more than half the Australian market could be made up of Chinese brands. And surely some Chinese brands won’t be able to cut it here and leave, too.Who could survive? Well, time has shown that even the mighty like Holden have fallen if they don’t make the cars people want to buy. The sheer brute force of Chinese brands being able to offer what people want quickly and at a low price, and at an always improving tech level could be too difficult for many other brands to fight off.In an extreme scenario this could lead to a 100 per cent Chinese brand market within 15 years. Sounds far fetched? Well they’re a third of the way there already.  

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LDV has addressed a significant specification shortcoming in its T60 4WD dual-cab ute by upgrading its braked trailer towing capacity from 3000kg to a more category competitive 3500kg (750kg unbraked).

A new value-packed eight-seat family-hauler has arrived Down Under.Chinese brand LDV has added an extra seat to its affordable Mifa people-mover.The Mifa competes against the all-conquering Kia Carnival, which outsells the Mifa by about 20 to one, and the Hyundai Staria.LDV’s Mifa kicks off at $46,971 drive-away for the base seven-seat Mode version. The eight-seat Mode costs $47,990 drive-away.The cheapest Kia Carnival is about $8000 more at $54,690 drive-away.LDV Australia boss, Dinesh Chinnappa, said maintaining value for families was important.“Value is extremely important in the family-car market and we are proud to be able to offer a full-size eight-seat people-mover for $47,990 drive-away,” he said. “We have been working with the factory on an eight-seat option for some time and we are delighted that we can finally deliver this option to our customers.”All Mifa variants are powered by a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine making 160kW and 360Nm. This is paired to an eight-speed automatic that drives the front wheels.Buyers of the entry-grade Mode can expect a wide array of safety tech that covers all bases and helped the Mifa achieve a five-star ANCAP safety rating.Seven-seat versions have three child seat ISOFIX and top-tether anchor points and the eight-seat version has four.There are 18-inch alloy wheels and LED lighting front and back.Inside there is a 12.3-inch central multimedia screen paired with a seven-inch digital instrument display.The Executive grade ups the ante with a power-operated tailgate and dual power-sliding side doors. There are 19-inch alloy wheels and other luxe items such as power-adjustable front seats, surround-view camera and a wireless device charging pad among others.The range-topping Luxe grade adds ambient lighting, leather-trimmed seats, heated and cooled front seats, a 12-speaker stereo and second-row captain’s chairs that are power adjustable, heated, cooled and have a massage function.The eight-seat Mifa is due in showrooms this month.

Utes are Australia’s most popular type of vehicle, but which models offer the best resale value when the time comes to selling them? CarsGuide’s analytics team crunched the numbers so that we could bring you this exclusive report. 

MG India has revealed a new seven-seat SUV, which could rival popular ladder-frame-based models as a facelift to one of its Indian-market offerings.

Australia’s new car market rose very slightly in volume in 2024 compared to 2023 - but it wasn’t good news across the board.

At the beginning of each year we dissect the top-10 best-selling automotive brands of the previous year, digging into what went right for some brands and what went wrong for others.What about the brands that just missed out on the glory of a top-10 placing?Based on full-year 2024 data, we’ve pulled together another list. For all the details of the top 10, read about it here. But now we are detailing the brands that landed in positions 11 to 20 on the best-selling car brands list.There are some big names that were once fixtures in the top 10, but a combination of factors have kept them out of the top rankings this time around.Competition from newer brands has had an impact, as has shifting consumer preference and cost-of-living concerns.Check out our table below for the full figures.Subaru was the unlucky brand to just miss out on a top 10 spot last year, after being shut out by growing Chinese manufacturer GWM by 2178 sales.Subaru had been a mainstay in the top 10 for years, but last year it captured 40,604 sales, which was a near 12 per cent dip compared with 2023. All of Subaru’s models, excluding the newer Crosstrek small SUV, experienced double-digit percentage declines last year.Another more recent top-10 entrant, Tesla, also slipped out of the main list last year. Declining interest in its only two models — the related Tesla Model 3 and Model Y — ensured a 17 per cent drop. This was part of a wider trend of stagnating EV sales in Australia. Battery EVs were only up by 4.7 per cent in 2024, a dramatic change from the 160 per cent increase in 2023 over 2022.Another long-standing brand, and former top-10 player, Volkswagen, saw a further slide in 2024. Its tally of 36,480 was about 17 per cent off the previous year.The Amarok ute was in positive territory, but sales of some other key models dropped as the wait for replacements of some of its biggest models like the Tiguan drag on.Fellow German maker BMW landed in 14th place and remained steady, shifting just 157 more cars in 2024 compared with 2023.The next two brands had a big year. Suzuki clawed back lost ground by increasing its sales by 24.6 per cent to 21,278 units. The Jimny continues to be Suzuki’s best seller, with the tiny off-roader nabbing nearly half its total sales at 9697 units - up a whopping 94 per cent year on year.The other big mover was BYD, with the Chinese giant adding 20,458 sales to its name last year.Challenging Australia’s SUV obsession, BYD’s top seller was the Seal sedan on 6393 sales, but the Sealion 6 plug-in hybrid SUV was just behind on 6198. The latter only had six full months on sale, however.Expect this to change in 2025 with the Shark 6 PHEV ute likely to take over of the brand’s most popular offering.Mercedes-Benz Cars took a dive in 2024, dropping by nearly 18 per cent for 19,989 units. If you add Mercedes-Benz Vans to its tally (they are reported separately in VFACTS) it would have recorded 24,831 sales which was enough to beat Suzuki.LDV was one of few Chinese manufacturers to go backwards in 2024 (-24.8%). The commercial vehicle specialist was hampered by ageing models like the D90 SUV and the T60 ute, but both of those are being replaced early this year.In 19th place was Audi which dropped by 19.5 per cent last year, with very few bright spots in its line-up except for the ever-popular Q3 small SUV. That model was ahead by 23.3 per cent last year and led the premium small SUV segment for sales, edging out the BMW X1 and Volvo’s XC40.Rounding out our top 20 is Honda with 14,092 sales. The Japanese brand was another regular visitor to the top 10 in the not-too-distant past, but a drastic change in sales strategy in Australia - including downsizing its model range, dealer network and shifting to an agency dealer model - meant sales dropped, ensuring what the company says is a more sustainable business model.While the excellent CR-V went backwards last year, its two other SUVS, the HR-V and ZR-V, gained ground, increasing by 53.3 and 79.3 per cent respectively.Just missing out on a top-20 placing were Lexus (13,642) and Chery (12,603).

An MG-badged version of the SAIC Motor Maxus Interstellar – to be sold locally as the LDV Terron 9 – has been spotted in China, seemingly giving us a first look at the incoming MG ute.

LDV has given its affordable D90 seven-seat SUV its biggest update since going on sale locally in 2018.