LDV cars for sale

Overview

LDV is a British van name on Chinese vehicles, and in Australia it is a serious presence in the light commercial market — the Deliver 9 van, the G10 people mover and the T60 ute compete almost entirely on price and payload.

History

LDV Group was formed in April 1993 as Leyland DAF Vans, a management buyout of the British operation, and shortened its name to LDV in January 1994. It built the Pilot and Convoy — both descended from the British Leyland Sherpa — at Washwood Heath in Birmingham, and launched the Maxus van in late 2004.

Ownership passed to Sun Capital in 2005 and to Russia’s GAZ in 2006. Production stopped in December 2008 in the financial crisis, and the intellectual property was sold to Chinese buyers in October 2009. SAIC Motor acquired the rights in August 2010 and began Chinese production of the Maxus in March 2011. In Australia and New Zealand those vehicles are sold as LDV.

Buying a used LDV

These are bought as working vehicles and should be inspected as such: check the load area and rear suspension for evidence of consistent overloading, look closely at the clutch on manual vans, and confirm the service history exists at all — commercial vehicles are frequently under-serviced.

Resale is weaker than the Japanese equivalents, so a used LDV is genuinely cheap to buy. Price the running costs and downtime, not just the purchase.