Australian automotive distributor, WMC, has changed the name of its soon-to-be-released range of European-designed, Chinese-manufactured vans from ‘Maxus’ to ‘LDV’ for the Australian market.

In consultation with SAIC, the change was made to avoid a clash of trademarks with an Australian company which uses the name Maxus for a range of truck and trailer components and consumables. LDV was the name originally used for the range when it was manufactured and marketed in Europe, prior to SAIC acquiring the brand in 2009.

Jason Pecotic, CEO of WMC Group, is confident that the LDV brand will be well received by Australians.
"LDV reflects the European heritage and design of the vans and we believe Australian buyers will embrace the brand because of the excellent value, engineering quality and equipment levels they will offer," Pecotic said.

WMC is planning to launch a seven model range of LDV V80 vans from the fourth quarter of 2012, with three cargo versions and four passenger models. The lineup will include short and long wheelbase cargo vans, both with standard roof height, as well as a high roof version of the long wheelbase model. The range will feature load capacity of between nine and 14 cubic metres and a payload of up to 1.8 tonnes.

All vans in the range are based on a front-drive platform originally developed in Britain, using Italian-made VM Motori common rail turbo diesel powerplants. Bodies meet European crash and safety standards and the VM Motori diesel will attain the latest emission standards.

Further details of the LDV range, including pricing and specification, will be revealed closer to the launch date.