Next LDV T60 and eT60 less than two years away

LDV wants its next electric ute to play a big volume role in the expansion of the Chinese brand when the all-new LDV T60  arrives around 2024.

Fresh from unleashing the first EV ute on the Australian market, LDV is already deep in development of the second-generation model, which may see the T60 name replaced to reflect the leap over the existing model.

LDV Australia general manager Dinesh Chinnappa says it has already provided feedback to the company’s Chinese headquarters to ensure the new ute can better rival the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux that dominate ute sales.

“A year and a half ago they [SAIC Motor Commercial Vehicle, the parent of LDV] came to us and they said ‘tell us what your dream next-gen ute looks like, what do Australians want?’. We spent a month prepping a paper for them.”

Key attributes that were included in the Australian feedback included reliability, performance and injecting the T60 replacement with more tech and comfort.

“We talked a lot about the ‘passenger-isation’ of the pick-up, the need for it to be comfortable, refined… to have all the smartphone connectivity.”

However, one thing LDV Australia didn’t ask for was a V6 engine, something that is proving popular in Rangers and Volkswagen Amaroks.

Instead, Chinnappa wants the focus for the next-gen LDV ute – which will be branded Maxus in most other markets – to be on electric motors.

“Maybe the next generation ute is more about EV capability than it is about ICE capability,” he says, adding he’d “rather see them make advances in that space”.

“My preference would be that they get that part of the equation right and focus on it.”

Chinnappa also says the new electric ute will be better at doing the things people expect of a ute, such as going off-road, driving longer distances and towing.

“A completely new [LDV] pick-up range is not that far off and I’m confident that they are developing two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive versions of that vehicle,” he says.

“I think the next generation utes will address largely some of those core issues.

“Maybe there might even be a second version of it to really get that Nullarbor, ‘I want to drive to Darwin’… you need that time to develop the technology.”

While the just-launched eT60 electric ute – the first EV ute in Australia – is an expensive proposition ($92,990 drive-away) and likely to appeal predominantly to fleets looking to green their image, Chinnappa says the new one will be a serious volume player in the LDV ute line-up.

When asked whether the EV version of the next-gen LDV ute could eventually outsell the diesel-powered models, he said: “It’s a future that I see happening, yes.”

That said, he says it won’t happen immediately, with much still to come on infrastructure and government policy around EVs.

“Things could change very, very quickly,” says Chinnappa.

The local LDV chief is also planning for Australian input into the tuning and dynamics of the vehicle, even if it just means some local development worked arranged by importer Ateco, as happened with the existing car.

But he would also like to see some more widespread local development testing.

“We’ll encourage them to. We’ll encourage them to pay attention to the way Australians like their steering dynamics set up, the way they like their suspension dynamics set up,” he said.

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