Medium LDV van looming

There's a new player on the light commercial van scene, with LDV's G10 – and its two People Mover variants – due to go on sale in Australian dealer showrooms from July 1, priced from $29,990 drive away (ABN holders).

Boasting an internal volume of 5.2 cubic metres and a maximum payload of 1093kg, the G10 is available in the one 3198mm wheelbase and with the one 1980mm roof height, and slot into the LDV range below its larger V80 van siblings, which will continue to be sold in three different wheelbase/roof height combinations.

The smallest V80 has an internal volume of 6.4 cubic metres and a roof height of 2132mm, precluding it from many tighter environs including multi-level car parks.

While the V80 can trace its roots back to LDV's former British owners, the G10 is a clean-sheet design produced wholly in China under SAIC Motor Corporation Limited (formerly Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation), the state-owned automotive giant that acquired LDV in 2010. And unlike the V80, the G10 is rear-wheel drive.

The Australian importation and distribution rights for LDV are held by Sydney-based Ateco Automotive, which is also charged with Chinese brands including Great Wall, Chery, Foton Ute and Foton Trucks, along with high-end sports-car brands Maserati and Lotus.

Ateco acquired the local rights to LDV from White Motor Corporation Australia 12 months ago, and says the keenly priced G10 van issues a direct challenge to Toyota's market-leading HiAce (which is priced from $32,990 plus ORC), and the segment's second-best-selling Hyundai iLoad (priced from $30,990 plus ORC).

First arriving on China's domestic market around a year ago, the model is now poised to enter the Australian LCV scene. The G10 is based upon SAIC's people-mover platform, and indeed here in Australia it will be offered in seven-seater and nine-seater people-mover formats, along with the straight commercial van.

The G10 is offered only with a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine, which has been mated to a ZF-sourced six-speed automatic transmission. However, according to Ateco Automotive's Daniel Cotterill, a diesel engine is currently "under development".

"We haven't pushed them [SAIC] for a date," he said.

"They're on the job; they're very keen to do it for themselves, and it will be along when it's ready."

Similarly, Cotterill believes there's future scope for a manual transmission to sit alongside the auto.

"There is a manual transmission possible but it's not with the same engine, so it's under discussion as we speak," he says.

"There's potential for a manual transmission sooner rather than later."

The petrol engine, which powers both the van and people-mover models, is said to produce 165kW and 330Nm. That compares very favourably to the HiAce (118kW/243Nm in petrol auto form; 100kW/300Nm for the diesel auto) and the iLoad (129kW/228Nm in petrol manual form; 100kW/343Nm for the diesel manual).

LDV quotes a combined ADR fuel economy figure of 11.7L/100km for its three G10 variants.

The G10 packs in plenty of niceties for the money, too – the standard features list includes dual sliding doors, power windows and mirrors, air-conditioning, cruise control, and a twin-speaker entertainment system with MP3, DVD and 7-inch touch-screen. Bluetooth-enabled hands-free telephony is also standard, as is a reversing camera, parking sensors, and a tyre pressure monitoring system.

As a commercial vehicle there's no obligation for the G10 to be rated under the ANCAP safety rating scheme, but the model does receive stability control, anti-lock brakes with electronic brake force distribution, emergency brake assist, rollover mitigation, and driver and front passenger airbags.

LDV claims an 11.8-metre turning circle for the G10, which – with a measurement of 1278mm between its wheel arches – will accept a standard Australian pallet. The van's load bay measures 2365mm long by 1270mm high, while the van comes in at a GVM of 3000kg.

LDV says all G10 variants have a braked towing capacity of 1500kg.

Ateco offers a three-year/100,000km warranty on the G10, with full roadside assistance. The first service is indicated at 5000km or six months, with future intervals pegged at 10,000km or every 12 months. The HiAce also has 10,000km service intervals, while the iLoad sees this figure go out to 15,000km.

Pricing for the full LDV range is as follows (for ABN holders, drive away)

The G10 van is available only in white, while the people mover variants are available in white, black, silver or gold.

The model will be sold through Ateco's LDV dealer network, which is present in all states and territories and currently numbers nearly 40 outlets. Ateco says a further eight to 10 outlets will come online in the near future.

Mr Cotterill says Ateco has high hopes for the G10, which is entering a lucrative market segment that recorded 15,890 new registrations in 2014.

"The most exciting thing for us at the moment is the G10 van," he said.

"It's a very competitive offering and it's genuinely a good vehicle. Given the nature of that segment, the numbers of those vans that are sold, that to us is the most exciting business case we've had in a vehicle for quite some time."