LDV T60 out to show that a premium Chinese bakkie can work

The influx of Chinese automakers into the South African market has continued at an unabated rate as evidenced by the most recent debut, or return in fact, of Foton.

Besides the expansion of products from Chery and its Omoda and Jaecoo brands, Great Wall Motors (GWM) announced a brand restructuring at the beginning of this year, while another Chery owned brand, Jetour, launches its operation in September.

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There was, however, the matter of two brands, surprisingly, announcing their entry into the local market earlier year.

Of these two, LDV has been the most prominent with the second, GAC, having provided only incremental details of its three planned products.

History lesson

Owned by Chinese juggernaut Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, better known by its abbreviation SAIC Motor, LDV – itself an acronym denoting Leyland DAF Vans that emerged following the partnership between Dutch truck brand DAF and the remains of Leyland after the bankruptcy of British Leyland in 1986 – isn’t new to South Africa, albeit under a different name.

Bought by SAIC Motor in 2010, examples of the Ford Transit lookalike V80 were sold locally under the Maxus brand until eight years ago.

A name used on a model of van in the United Kingdom before the SAIC Motor takeover, the Maxus quietly returned to South Africa this year on an electric van called the eDeliver3 that offers a range of 250 km and payload of 945 kg.

At the opposite end of the scale is the T60 bakkie sold as the Maxus T90 in China, but as the LDV T60 in Australia and the MG Extender in Thailand due to SAIC owning the MG marque.

The South African plan

Imported by LDV South Africa and not via a partnership, the T60 forms part of an incoming four-product range set to consist of the D90 three-row SUV, the G90 luxury MPV and the G10+ van.

As the first to launch, the T60 represents a different take on the Chinese bakkie norm, evident by its price.

Stickered at R790 000 for the flagship four-wheel-drive Max Luxe automatic tested here, the T60 is dearer by R95 050 than the GWM P Series Limited 4×4 auto and a considerable R130 100 more than admittedly less rugged-looking JAC T9 Super Lux 4×4 auto.

Introduced in 2021 and therefore a newer design, complete with more power, the T60 struck an interesting figure when a Maple Leaf Orange example arrived from the weeklong test.

Its colour and cladding appearing similar to the Isuzu D-Max V-Cross, the 418 km and seven-day bout concluded with the question of whether the T60’s premium could indeed be justified over both its countryman.

Not copied

Stylistically, the T60 – confusingly the name LDV uses for the entire line-up in spite of the base Elite being called the Maxus T60 in China and the step-up Pro the Maxus T70 – cuts a more aggressive figure than the P Series, but arguably not as controversial as the T9.

Resplendent with the LDV logo in place of the Maxus lettering on its grille, the T60’s combination of thin LED headlights, hexagonal grille, chunky cladding and dark 19-inch alloy wheels makes for a unique and almost sporty look unlikely to be confused with anything else.

Billed as the off-road focused derivative of the range, the Max Luxe further receives side-steps, a soft tonneau cover, black roof rails and a polyurethane sports bar similar to the V-Cross as standard.

Not as distinctive, especially the light clusters some observes compared to those of the ill-fated Mercedes-Benz X-Class, the T60’s rear facia appears just as rugged in not only the T60 Max branding across the tailgate, but also the integration of the sports bar atop the rear wings.

A design trait once used by General Motors (GM) for the Chevrolet Avalanche – no surprise as SAIC has had a partnership with GM since 1998 – the T60 Max Luxe boasts a pair of steps integrated into the rear bumper that adds to its promised off-road credentials.

Simple but a challenge

Inside, LDV has opted for a simplistic design as opposed to the massive central displays on the P Series and T9.

Not bad in principle, the 10.25-inch infotainment system, flanked by a digital instrument cluster of similar size, looks disappointingly dated despite being relatively easy to fathom.

Made even more frustrating by the touch-sensitive icons at its base, the lack of at least a volume knob will also be missed by some.

Making liberal use of piano-key black inserts, the interior, while ergonomically sorted, is beset with varying grades of plastics ranging from good, to cheap in the case of the silver inserts on the passenger’s side.

By far the greatest irritation is the lack of sufficient height adjustability for the steering column, plus the seats not dropping low enough.

The result being a compromised driving position, the lack of buttons extends to the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) switches, which are also touch-sensitive but, it has to be said, more agreeable than that of the infotainment system.

Loaded

As with the majority of Chinese vehicles, the T60 fights back on the spec front where, apart from the pair of displays, the Max Luxe boasts keyless entry and push-button start, leather upholstery, a wireless smartphone charger, heated front seats, rain sense wipers, paddle shifters, folding electric mirrors and Apple CarPlay plus Android Auto.

Included on the safety and driver assistance sheet are six airbags, cruise control, Lane Departure Warning, Lane Keep Assist, Driver Attention Alert, Hill Start Assist, Hill Descent Control and Electronic Stability Control.

As well as front and rear parking sensors, the Max Luxe has a 360-degree surround-view camera system, which developed an annoying glitch where the rear display would fail to show any image or if it did, a pixeled display.

Only impacting the rear camera, the intermittent working could well be an isolated incident that had to befell to a test unit.

In terms of comfort, space is anything but lacking, with the same applying to headroom. Less so are the hard seat cushions that will make long distance travelling somewhat of a pain.

Here we go again…

That being said, the T60’s main area of concern is driveability, an aspect that continues to blight the majority of Chinese vehicles

Producing 160kW/500Nm, the 2.0-litre bi-turbodiesel engine has sufficient urge and go when asked, but only after the irritating delay brought-on by the “off” accelerator mapping.

A situation that results in the T60 experiencing a turbo-lag sensation before matters return to normal, the irksome delay’s outcome is an elastic feel more commonly found on CVT-equipped vehicles.

In the T60, the amount of twist is routed to the rear or all four wheels through the usually sublime ZF-sourced eight-speed automatic gearbox, which appears to have been revised an in unsuitable manner.

Matched awkwardly to the engine, box’s delivery varies from slick at speed, to erratic in the lower ratios mostly, again due to the throttle calibration.

Equipped with an Eco or PWR mode, the part-time four-wheel-drive system offers an Auto setting similar to the Ford Ranger, which doubles up as the default.

While welcome from a safety standpoint, the T60 feels somewhat lethargic off the mark, though this did improve with the selector switched to 2H.

In spite of this. as well as the drivetrain, the T60 surprised when let loose at Gerotek. With Road Test Editor Mark Jones at the wheel, the 2 150 kg Max Luxe dispatched the 0-100 km/h sprint time in a more than agreeable 11.4 seconds.

Roughing it up

Out on the road, and with no load in the rear, the T60’s ride is hard and bouncy, though this should improve with a few hundred kg in the loadbin.

That being said, it is nowhere near as compliant as a Ranger or as refined with the engine being audible inside the cabin at the national limit.

While the usual Chinese electric power steering avails little feedback, the T60 will still tow 3 500 kg and according to LDV, transport a load of 730 kg.

Worth noting is that the tailgate will require a little more than usual muscle to close on account of being rather heavy.

As for fuel consumption, the T60 recorded an indicated best of 9.8 L/100 km, not far from LDV’s 9.3 L/100 km claim.

Conclusion

In a capacity similar to later Korean vehicles, premium Chinese offerings are becoming more apparent with higher than normal price tag not expected until now.

The LDV T60 Max Luxe is proof of this as its almost R800 000 price tag officially makes it the most expensive bakkie made in the People’s Republic to be sold in South Africa.

With Chinese still being associated with value than premium, the flagship T60 can be seen as overpriced and not as “sorted” as a package compared to the T9 and P Series.

More powerful and likely to prove reliable given LDV’s commercial vehicle background, for the moment, it finds itself in a tricky position and still in need of proving itself in the long-term.

Road Test Data

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