2025 LDV T60 ute replacement leaked

First images and details of the all-new 2024 Maxus Star X have been leaked via the Chinese government ahead of its imminent global reveal and its release in China in the fourth quarter of this year, giving us our best look yet at the long-promised successor for the LDV T60.

Published on China’s vehicle homologation database and subsequently posted to X by Tycho de Feijter, these images confirm the Star X is the production version of the 2023 GST concept and official data confirms it will be produced with both turbo-diesel and battery-electric powertrains.

The combustion version of the all-new LDV T60 replacement features a huge square grille trimmed with dark chrome sails and bold ‘MAXUS’ letting across the front (which will be replaced by an LDV logo in Australia), flanked at either end by a set of sharp and vertically-stacked headlight clusters.

The EV version, meantime, sports a Ford Ranger-style C-clamp lighting arrangement linked by a full-width DRL strip, beneath which is a solid grille and a completely different front bumper design, which combine to make it look a lot friendlier than the more aggressive diesel ute’s front-end design.

According to the preliminary data, the Star X will measure 5500mm long, 2005mm wide and 1860mm tall, and will ride on a similarly-long 3300mm wheelbase, making it significantly bigger than any of Australia’s most popular mid-size dual-cab utes – but not as big as the full-size pick-ups from North America.

Under the bonnet of combustion versions will be a 2.5-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine outputting 165kW, while the EV will be powered by a dual-motor all-wheel drive set-up (138kW front, 216 kW rear), although a range-extender hybrid powertrain is also expected.

Diesel versions will have a minimum kerb weight of 2230kg, while the EV will weigh in at a hefty 2850kg, with payload suffering as a result: 940kg versus just 320kg.

Its immense size makes the Star X difficult to deem as a direct replacement for the current LDV T60 Max, which is now available with all-coil suspension, but there’s little doubt the model will be offered in Australia in some form.

The same goes for the EV version, which has already been confirmed for Australia by local LDV executives – just not by name.

The Maxus Star X will be released in China by the end of this year, ahead of its expected Australian release in 2025.

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