SAIC Jumps Into Australian Van Market

China's largest auto maker is about to test its influence in the crowded Australian market.

SAIC later this year will launch a range of passenger and cargo vans set to challenge not only the established Japanese and Korean players, but also the Europeans.

SAIC announces at the Melbourne Truck Trailer and Equipment Show it will partner with Australian vehicle importer WMC Group to release its lineup of European-designed, Chinese-built Maxus vans and people movers.

It is WMC’s second time around with China’s auto industry.

Last year, the importer took Australian journalists on a high-profile trip to China after announcing plans to import the Beiqi Foton range of pickups, but then canceled the deal.

At the time, WMC Managing Director Jason Pecotic said he pulled the plug because of the unwillingness of Foton’s Chinese management to accept his company’s suggested pricing for the pickups.

The new agreement with SAIC is only for the Maxus range and not for passenger cars.

The new Maxus V80 vans are based on a front-wheel-drive platform developed in the U.K. by LDV Group (the former Leyland), using the latest-generation common-rail

turbodiesel powerplants produced by Italian maker VM Motori.

SAIC purchased LDV’s U.K. commercial-vehicle operation and intellectual rights to the van in 2009 and since has carried out further research and engineering to ensure it meets European standards.

WMC plans to launch a 7-model range of Maxus V80 vans – three cargo versions and four passenger models – in the year’s fourth-quarter.

The lineup will include short- and long-wheelbase cargo vans, both with standard roof height, as well as a high-roof version of the long-wheelbase model. The range will feature load capacity of between 318 cu.-ft. and 494 cu.-ft. (9 cu.-m and 14 cu.-m) and a payload of up to two tons (1.8 t).

The 4-passenger van variants will include the 11-passenger short-wheelbase version with standard roof; a 15-passenger long-wheelbase variant in either standard-roof or high-roof configuration; and an 11-passenger long-wheelbase luxury model.

Pecotic says the Maxus range has all the credibility and potential to be successful in Australia.

“The Maxus range will go head-to-head with some established brands, but will offer more creature comforts as standard and a strong European feel,” Pecotic says in a statement.

“Maxus will offer us enormous opportunities in Australia, broadening the appeal of our range particularly in speaking to fleets, whether on the cargo- and work-van side or as a passenger-carrying minibus.

"They also represent a real challenger in the upper end of the people-mover MPV market, where they represent value and a serious alternative to Japanese and European models.”

Pecotic says the Maxus vehicles will come with standard features that are not available on other brands. These include rear barn doors, tire-pressure monitoring, 16-in. alloy wheels, dual sliding doors and door-integrated electric entry steps.

Maxus vans meet European crash and safety standards, and the VM Motori diesel will comply with the latest emissions standards. Suspension and handling have been tuned by MIRA, one of Europe’s leading automotive design and engineering consultants.

The 2.5L VM diesel in the Maxus range boasts 134 hp and 243 lb.-ft. (330 Nm) of torque.