Van start-up to tackle Aussie market

Chinese start-up light commercial brand Maxus is set to launch into the Australian market. Imported by Milperra (NSW) based operation WMC Group , the brand will arrive Down Under with multiple variants of its V80 light van around October 2012.

Maxus is a new manufacturer established less than two years. It has strong backing, however, as a wholly owned subsidiary of SAIC Motor (formerly Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation), China's largest automotive manufacturing group.

SAIC is perhaps best known for its passenger car joint ventures with General Motors and Volkswagen. In 2011 the group built more than 4.0m vehicles, placing it in the position of eighth largest automaker in the world.

Maxus is based in Wuxi, around 120km north of Shanghai in China's south. Construction of the factory in which the new V80 range is built, a greenfield site, was finished in 2010. Maxus produced its first V80s last year, thus Australia is one of the first export markets for the van.

Based on a Leyland-DAF design, V80 is a front-engined, front-wheel drive van that features unitary (passenger car style) construction. Designed initially to take on Ford's Transit in Europe, it will tackle the Blue Oval boxcar again in China where Ford has a substantial share of the rapidly expanding LCV market.

Maxus claims the vehicle is built to European standards of fit, finish and construction. It says V80 meets European commercial vehicle collision standards. The van earns a four-star rating in its domestic C -NCAP crash test program (not directly comparable to ANCAP) and Australian-delivered vans will come equipped with dual front airbags.

The Wuxi plant itself uses manufacturing equipment sourced from Leyland-DAF Van's Birmingham operation. Production updates include a move to the latest water-based paint and coatings technology. Many of the Maxus staff and executive team have been drawn from SAIC's JV passenger car operations.

Maxus claims the design of the van itself has had around 100 detailed changes from its LDV roots. Notable upgrades include a revised interior with passenger car style centre-stack and instrument panel, four-wheel disc brakes and late-spec Bosch antilock braking hardware.

V80 is powered by a VM Motori-designed 2.5-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel rated (for Australia) at 100kW and 330Nm. Matched to a five-speed manual transmission, the powerplant is built under licence in China.

The engine is currently certified to Euro 4 emission regs, though Maxus says a Euro 5 version is in development. So too for the Australian market, says Maxus, an automatic transmission option. Aisin-Warner is the partner supplier, WMC representatives told motoring.com.au.

Chinese fuel consumption figures have the van in its varied configurations rated at around 9.3L/100km. It's not clear how this figure will translate to local ADR testing.

In the Australian market WMC will launch both passenger and cargo versions of the V80 across a range of configurations and specifications.

Passenger vans will be offered in long (3850mm) and standard (3100mm) wheelbase models and standard and high-roof body styles. Seating layouts range from seven in single captain-style leather recliners to more utilitarian cloth-faced 16-seater versions. Twin zone twin compressor air-con systems are standard on the larger vans.

The cargo variant will be offered in two and three-seat versions (and perhaps a crew van) — again in both long and short wheelbase. No short wheelbase high-roof cargos will be sold Down Under at this stage, WMC reps say. 

Exact Australian specifications and range are yet to be finalised -- along with pricing.

Maxus says it is looking to deliver high levels of comfort and amenity with the V80. Options offered in the Chinese domestic market include rear park sensors and a large screen rear view camera, while passenger vans can be equipped with electrically operated folding steps.

Other options include cruise control, 220-volt power outlets and a tyre pressure and temperature monitoring system. Vans rolling off the line at Wuxi wore a mix of 16-inch steel and 17-inch alloy wheels.

motoring.com.au visited Maxus' production facility in Wuxi this week. The new plant is currently building vans at a run-rate approaching 30,000 units per annum but plans to step up to a two-shift output of approximately 50,000 vans per year. Exports currently account for around ten per cent of volume.

Cab-chassis and dropside tray versions of the V80 are undergoing final testing and are expected to debut in China before the end of 2012. These too are earmarked for Australian market sales.

Longer term Maxus intends to build a smaller van with a true MPV variant. Execs are tight-lipped regarding any prospect of building ute or SUV style vehicles.

A quick drive of a manual long-wheelbase 14-seater right-hand-drive Standard spec V80 straight off the Wuxi line (see pics) hardly comprises a thorough review, however, we can attest that the van performed as advertised.

Control weightings are light (the steering is boarding on vague) and the manual gearchange is deliberate but far from truck-like. The VM engine's response with six persons onboard was eager enough. Indeed, even dropping down below 1000rpm in third gear didn't illicit any histrionics as the turbodiesel four just torqued its way back into its sweet spot.

More time in both Standard and Deluxe versions of the passenger vans provided as our transport to and from Wuxi showed noise levels are commendably low. It's clear, however, that the standard gear ratios are quite short. At 110km/h on the freeway engine revs are up towards 3000rpm mark on the manual variant. No autos were available to drive.

Also impressive was the general refinement of the vans -- both our transport and those coming off the Wuxi line. Vans are not luxury cars, and the Maxus offerings don't match the best Euro vans, but as many buyers have to spend hours in their cabins, decent fit and finish is a consideration even for those on a budget.

In the case of the V80, the plastics appear durable but they also have a level of graining and gloss that's better than average. There are niceties like central locking (even a folding ignition key) and Deluxe versions got better than average leather seat facings and high-spec audio units in the Chinese models we saw.

There are some driver-related negatives at first flush, chiefly: no steering wheel adjustment; limited driver's seat rail travel; and the necessity to operate a separate central locking switch to exit the van -- even from the driver's seat. But perhaps the biggest niggle behind the wheel is the old-gen Yaris-style centrally located instrument cluster. Your eyes are away from the road for an awfully long time when speedo checking. Given the miles and pace at which most van owners drive, this could be an issue.

WMC Group is still to confirm its full dealer network for Maxus in Australia along with details such as warranty coverage, service intervals and, of course, price.

It's a balance of these factors but mainly the final detail that will dictate just how many professional van operators take the plunge and give Maxus a go. That said, if first impressions count, WMC Group is already ahead of the curve.

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