LDV

The Chinese LDV T60 ute is poised to better handle harsh Australian backroads after joining the growing number of imported vehicles opting for locally-tuned suspension. The LDV T60 has been updated with suspension tuning by Walkinshaw Automotive Group – using the same team of engineers who developed Holden Special Vehicles over the past 30 years, including the HSV SportsCat pick-up.

The Shanghai Automotive Industry Corportation, better known as SAIC – parent of the LDV and MG brands – has opened a new design studio in London, UK. Dubbed 'SAIC Design Advanced London', the new creative hub is the company's second European-based design centre, after MG's Birmingham facility which opened in 2011.

LDV has announced a limited-edition, higher-grade 'Executive' trim for its G10 people-mover, priced from $36,990 drive away. Power in the Executive comes from the same 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol engine as the regular G10, making 165kW and 330Nm. You also get the same six-speed ZF automatic transmission as before too, putting power to the front wheels.

A high-riding, off-road-ready version of the 2018 LDV T60 ute has been confirmed. It is expected that the flagship model will be a production-ready version of the LDV T60 Off Road - a sort-of Ranger Wildtrak model to the Chinese brand's brigade of utes, offering buyers a range-topping model that has rough-and-tumble looks and extra all-terrain cred.

The increasingly popular China-made LDV G10 van, and its people-mover derivative, have been awarded a sub-par three-star ANCAP crash result. The rating applies to all petrol and diesel van and people-mover variants sold in Australia from mid-2015.