LDV launches diesel G10 van

A LONG-AWAITED diesel engine for the LDV G10 van range has arrived in Australia, opening up the market for the Chinese brand and prompting independent distributor Ateco Automotive to predict an almost immediate doubling of sales.

The 1.9-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder – producing 107kW of power at 4000rpm and 350Nm of torque from 1800-2600rpm – is now available with a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission priced from $28,990 and $31,490 driveaway (for ABN holders) respectively.

This represents a $3000/$1500 increase over the petrol manual/auto variants, with the pricing disparity explained by the petrol engine line-up in which the manual is linked to an older-school Mitsubishi-sourced 105kW/200Nm 2.4-litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder, while the automatic combines with a more advanced 165kW/330Nm 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder.

The new manual diesel’s combined-cycle fuel consumption of 8.3 litres per 100km is markedly down from the 11.7L/100km listed for the manual petrol.

A similar difference is anticipated with the automatics, although an official figure is not yet available for the diesel compared to the petrol auto at 11.5L/100km.

LDV claims that diesel power represents 80 per cent of sales in the van segment, and its addition to the G10 range is expected to see sales soar for the brand in this market.

“The significance for this market is that up until now the G10 has only been in the petrol sector which is less than 20 per cent of that market sector,” said LDV spokesperson Edward Rowe at a media event in Sydney this week.

“With diesel arriving we can almost double sales immediately.”

The manual versions are available now, with automatics to follow in the coming weeks.

The 5186mm-long G10 is significantly longer than the $30,000-plus entry-level Toyota HiAce that leads the segment, and both petrol and diesel versions include twin sliding doors, rear lift-up tailgate (barn doors are optional) and a maximum cargo volume of 5.2 cubic metres.

The diesel automatic has a braked towing capacity of 1750kg – up 250kg on all other variants – while gross vehicle mass is 3000kg across the board and payload is just beyond the one-tonne mark for all versions. The petrols can carry 1093kg, the manual diesel 1030kg and the auto diesel 1010kg.

Standard safety equipment across the G10 range includes rear parking sensors, a reversing camera, electronic stability control, a ‘roll movement intervention’ system, tyre pressure monitoring, four-wheel disc brakes and ABS brakes with electronic brake-force distribution and brake assist, but only two front airbags.

Other equipment is also largely mirrored across the range, with 16-inch alloy wheels, rear foglights, remote central locking, 7.0-inch touchscreen with Bluetooth phone and audio connectivity, two-speaker MP3-compatible radio/stereo, manual air-conditioning, power steering, power windows and electric mirrors, as well as cruise control on auto versions.

Ateco has sold 359 G10s to the end of September this year, representing 30 per cent of the brand’s overall year-to-date volume of 1170 units.

Sales are fairly evenly divided between the G10 and the larger V80 van (374 units) – priced from $37,490 – and the G10 people-mover (399), with the V80 bus accounting for 38 units.

There is no move to add diesel power to the G10 people-mover at this stage.

Ateco expects LDV sales to reach 1600 units this year, which would make the Chinese commercial vehicle brand the independent distributor’s top-selling brand ahead of Foton (trending towards 900 units) and Maserati (600 units expected).

2016 LDV G10 pricing*

Petrol	$25,990
Petrol (a)	$29,990
Diesel	$28,990
Diesel (a)	$31,490

*Excludes on-road costs. Driveaway for ABN holders.