All-new LDV electric ute here in 2024

CHINESE automotive giant SAIC’s commercial brand LDV has confirmed it will replace the eT60 electric ute in Australia in the second half of 2024 with an all-new, hi-tech model previewed at the Shanghai motor show earlier this year called the Maxus GST.

Announcing the new ute to Australian media last week, LDV general manager Dinesh Chinnappa said: "We have a product plan and a timeline. We’ll get into that as we get closer, with a launch mid-late next year. We’ll get product information out mid-next year.”

Based on the Maxus GST concept revealed at the Shanghai show in April, the new ute will be larger than the existing eT60 and unlike that model, will power all four wheels. 

The Maxus GST concept is a technical tour de force, with a motor at each wheel developing a claimed 746kW and 1400Nm. The concept also displayed a semi-solid state battery pack, a claimed 1000km range, a tank-turn function and a claimed 0-100km/h acceleration time of just 3.0 seconds.

LDV Australia project manager Shaun Garrard explained to GoAuto that the production model’s outputs have not been revealed, but it should be no surprise that it might not have quite such show-stopping credentials.

He also said the new electric ute would be marketed under the LDV brand here and is unlikely to bear the GST moniker.

“We are not certain about the name, it’s not likely to be called GST. It may continue with T- something, maybe T80 or T90, we will know more in quarter two next year,” explained Mr Garrard.

When asked what the new ute’s introduction meant for the existing diesel T60 Max, Mr Chinnappa  said the brand was “not about to abandon ICE models or customers”.

“We have a wonderful ICE business, and will keep it for as long as customers want us to,” he emphasised. 

“There is no universe in which we drop all of our ICE range and become converts to EVs overnight, trying to force something that doesn’t need to be. The market will change progressively over time. As the EV dynamics shift, we’ll shift with it.”

While no information about a diesel T60 replacement was forthcoming, LDV management assured GoAuto that there would be no sales gap between existing diesel T60 and a new one.

Mr Chinnappa confirmed that the diesel will not be here first. “The EV is first, then ICE second. We can’t talk about ICE timing at this stage. I don’t have a timeline for it. As far as SAIC is concerned, there’s an EV version, and an ICE version. But for us, EV is coming first.”

The existing LDV eT60 was only launched locally late last year in 4x2 form and at $92,900 before on-road costs its LDV’s most expensive ute and the most expensive 4x2 ute from any manufacturer. LDV has sold 60 eT60s in Australia to the end of August.