Suzuki Scross

Damien O’carroll gets the first NZ view of LDV’S T60 ute and the 2017 van lineup

At a recent event held at its headquarters in Taupo, Great Lake Motor Distributors, the local importer and distributor of LDV and Ssangyong, revealed the new LDV T60 ute that will be hitting New Zealand roads in July. The T60 is an all-new vehicle from the ground up and features a 2.8-litre common rail diesel four-cylinder engine by VM Motori that produces 110kw of power and 360Nm of torque. Sitting up at the larger end of the ute segment at 5,365mm long, 1,900mm high and 1,809mm wide, the LDV ute will land in New Zealand initially only in double cab 4WD guise, with 2WD and 4WD single cab models arriving in November and a 2WD single cab some time later. The T60 will be available with a choice of six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmissions and two different specification levels - Comfort and Luxury. While local specification is yet to be finalised, the Comfort is likely to come standard with a six airbags, huge 10-inch touchscreen infotainment system, a backing camera and parking sensors, LED headlights and daytime running lights, cruise control and a 220v power outlet. The Luxury will add full leather upholstery, a locking differential, push button start, lane departure warning, electrically-adjustable heated front seats, a 360 degree camera and side steps. Pricing will start at $29,990 for the manual Comfort model and top out at $36,990 for the automatic Luxury. GLMD had a left hand drive Chinese domestic market version on hand for viewing, but no driving as of yet. The company also revealed the latest updates to its van range for the 2017 model year. The large V80 range (available in 6.4, 10.4 and 11.6 cubic metre, cab chassis and 11 or 12 seat minibus configurations) now gets a new Euro 5 diesel engine and a new sixspeed manual transmission. The diesel engine is a 2.5-litre inline fourcylinder common rail diesel with a variable geometry turbocharger that produces 100kw of power and 330Nm of torque and now features a diesel particulate filter (DPF) and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) system to enable it to conform to Euro 5 specifications. While the manual transmission is now a six-speed manual (up from a five-speeder in the previous model), the automatic option remains a six-speed single clutch automated system. The smaller G10 now also gets diesel engine for 2017, this time a 1.9-litre fourcylinder diesel turbo that produces 107kw of power and 350Nm of torque and attached to either a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission. GLMD also announced that it would be releasing two fully electric V80 models in the fourth quarter of 2017 - a long wheelbase, medium roof van and a cab-chassis version. While local specification and prices are yet to be finalised, the UK version of the vehicle packs a 100kw/320nm permanent magnet synchronous motor and a 56kwh battery pack that has a range of 190km and a charge time of 2 hours on a DC fast charger.