LDV News

The Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) has published ratings for several new cars after crash testing new SUVs, a ute and a sedan.

China’s LDV has just launched the new Terron 9 turbo-diesel dual-cab ute in Australia, but the electric eTerron 9 counterpart is still nowhere to be seen.

Renault Australia has simplified its Master van line-up to just two variants but it's offering a driveaway deal to ABN holders which will see them get on the road from $57,990. 

LDV is doubling its ute line-up. The Chinese brand’s new Terron 9 dual-cab workhorse will arrive in showrooms in July, where it will sit alongside the brand’s existing T60 ute.

Geely is latest to issue warning about the unsustainable state of global car market joining GWM and even the Chinese government in concerns about price-cuts and oversupply.

It’s EOFY time again!

There are more and more Chinese car brands entering the Australian new car market seemingly every day.

In 2025 branding means way more than a hot iron mark scorched into a steer’s backside.It’s about a brand’s personality, reputation and your interactions with it. What it says about you. What it delivers. How it makes you feel. A visual identity, a design style… and a million other things.   And there are automotive brands in the Australian new-car market that have strategically built solid brand equity over many decades.Current market leader, Toyota began dipping its corporate toe into global export waters by shipping cars here in the late 1950s. And other Japanese makers like Honda, Mazda and Nissan followed it in conquering initial hesitancy by steadily investing in strong retail networks, pushing product improvement and focusing on a positive customer experience.Ford has built its global brand around everything from the Model T and its revolutionary assembly line to pumped up muscle cars and victory at Le Mans. While here it embedded itself in the local landscape via a manufacturing presence spanning close to a century and regular victory at Mount Panorama.And more recently, relative newcomers like Hyundai and Kia have moved rapidly from cheap and (mostly) cheerful to innovators that repositioned the concept of value and quality in the local market.All of which led to large pockets of ‘rusted on’ brand loyalty. The concept of ‘Ford and Holden families’ started to diminish from the moment the latter departed the scene in 2020 (if not before), but Toyota’s reputation for value, durability and affordable ownership has seen it maintain a legion of never-say-die fans.Same for Ford, Mazda, Mitsubishi and others. But I'd argue a turning point was when, after an initial false start through a private importer in 2013, MG set up as a direct subsidiary in 2017.Great Wall had landed as the first Chinese car brand in the Aussie market in 2009, but MG 2.0 was different. Even if its ‘Since 1924’ positioning stretched credulity, its products were better than expected and pricing was ultra sharp.Sharp enough to encourage budget-focused new-car buyers, even used-car prospects, to give the brand a go.With the introduction of new-generation products in the early 2020s sales took off like a rocket, and it’s here that my ‘That’s a good idea’ theory kicks in.I reckon executives at rival Chinese car brands, keeping an eye on MG’s increasing success Down Under, all had the same ‘good idea’ at the same time. Namely, let’s get into Australia and grab a piece of that action. Hence the subsequent arrival of Chery in 2023, itself a factory-backed restart after an initial import-distribution arrangement broke down back in 2011. Followed by the flood gates opening, with BYD, Deepal, Geely, a ramped up GWM, JAC, LDV, Leapmotor, Smart, Jaecoo, XPeng and Zeekr all jumping in with Aion, Avatar, Jetour, Lynk & Co, Skyworth and others waiting in the wings.Doesn’t matter which category you’re talking about - white goods, sporting equipment, hi-fi - if one fresh competitor enters a mature market, it’s likely to be met with reluctance, even contempt by existing brand loyalists.But if near enough to 20 newcomers blaze into market at the same time, clearly something seismic is going on and it feels like you’d be missing a trick if you didn’t at least investigate the rapidly changing competitive landscape.Give them the benefit of 20/20 hindsight as well as a time machine and it’s not certain all the new brands above would currently be making an Aussie entrance.But multiple triggers have been pulled with retail network deals done, head office staff recruited, parts warehousing set up, service and sales training completed and marketing campaigns launched. So, in a mature market, early movers like MG, Chery and GWM have the advantage and more recent arrivals will need to find a way to win over buyers… fast. And it’s a fair bet the ever-impactful lever marked price will be pulled on a regular basis.Some of the newcomers as well as more than a few existing legacy brands will be forced into a price war. Like it or not, loyalty comes under pressure when the incentive is enticing enough and with a cut-price cage fight likely to take place sooner rather than later not everyone will leave the octagon alive.Stand by for new-car buyers tempted en masse into ‘unbeatable deals’ that mean brand loyalties will be stretched beyond breaking point. The shake out from this looming war of attrition will be huge. 

Chinese commercial vehicle brand LDV is being taken to court by Australia’s competition and consumer watchdog over claims its cars are not reliable or tough.The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) today issued a media release detailing its claims against LDV which is distributed in Australia through private importer, Ateco Automotive.The importer has responded, saying it has tried to work with the ACCC and that the legal actions are “disappointing”.The claims relate to the T60 pick-up (but not the electric eT60) and G10 mid-size delivery vans built in China.The ACCC says between April 2019 and November 2024, LDV made “misleading representations” to consumers about the two models, with the company claiming they were “durable and tough, and that they were suitable for use in, near, or on, a variety of environments and off-road terrains”.The ACCC alleges in its claim that the two models are prone to rust or corrosion within five years of the date of manufacture and that as a result, the T60 and G10 were “not durable and tough”.It’s alleged the models are more likely to rust when they are housed near or on particular terrains and environments.According to the ACCC, LDV advertised the G10 and T60 online, on television, radio and social media in environments like beaches, lakes, rivers, unsealed and gravel roads and terrain.The ACCC also alleges “false or misleading representations” by LDV in advertising a 10-year anti-corrosion warranty for the T60, given the ute did have a propensity to rust or corrode.Further, the ACCC alleges LDV was aware of the T60 and G10 rust and corrosion issues by April 2019 and that LDV’s representations of the models were false or misleading as the brand didn’t have a basis to make such representations.LDV received more than 5000 complaints from G10 and T60 customers about rust or corrosion between January 2018 and November 2024.ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said a new car is a “significant financial purchase” and buyers should expect the product to live up to its advertised promise.“We allege that despite being aware of the propensity for the vehicles to rust, LDV continued to make representations for a number of years that the T60 and G10 vehicles were durable and suitable for use in a variety of terrains,” Cass-Gottlieb said.“As a result, we allege that LDV’s conduct is likely to have caused harm to affected consumers, including because the propensity for rust or corrosion lowered the value of their vehicles, and because consumers lost the opportunity to make an informed decision that may have involved purchasing an alternative vehicle that did not carry the same risks.”In a statement, LDV Australia said it acknowledged the announcement by the ACCC.LDV Australia General Manager Dinesh Chinnappa said the company would defend itself against the allegations.“For 18 months LDV Australia has been engaged in good faith discussions with the Commission in an attempt to resolve its concerns, and to provide remedies to consumers. It is disappointing this process has ended in these legal proceedings.“LDV Australia takes its obligations under Australian Consumer Law seriously, and we look forward to defending the ACCC’s allegations in court.”According to the ACCC, LDV has sold a combined total of 60,000 examples of the G10 and T60 in Australia between 2018 and 2024.The ACCC is seeking “penalties, declarations, consumer redress, costs and other orders”.

Can you have too much of a good thing? Australians love utes and in recent years we’ve seen more and more brands look to capitalise on that, but it may not be a case of the more the merrier.