NZ-owned LDV distributor Great Lake Motor Distributors Ltd has brought a left-hand drive example of its incoming T60 ute into New Zealand.
But it’s unavailable for test drives. Instead, it’s here to show dealers, train staff, and ensure after-market parts are ready to go the moment the first NZ-market ute will be unveiled to the public at the National Agricultural Fieldays in June, with the first shipment arriving in July.
“We aim to hit the ground running,” says sales and marketing manager Warren Willmot.
LDV’s tag line is ‘Working Harder Every Day’, and Willmot says that as a private company, the distributor is the underdog here, and has to work hard to sell its product.
He takes that philosophy so seriously he’s now known as ‘the van geek’ – a tag which even appears on his business card.
Whether he’ll also become a ute geek remains to be seen, but the T60 offering appears very competitive, given the likely sub-$30,000 entry price.
Willmot won’t confirm final specification, but does say it’ll be similar to the information he had on hand in March.
At 5365mm long, 1900mm high and 1809mm wide with a standard double-cab tray of 1485mm by 1510mm by 530mm, Willmot says size is similar to the Ranger or Hilux.
The engine is a 2.8-litre third-generation VM Motori common-rail turbo diesel rated as Euro V. It delivers 110kW and 360Nm and has part-time four-wheel drive with low range.
There will be a six-speed manual and six-speed double-cab four-wheel drive auto at launch, in both Comfort and Luxury specification.
Features will include six airbags, ESP and ABS, a rear-view camera and four-wheel disc brakes on 245/65R17 wheels.
Depending on variant, you’ll get a leather interior, heated seats, Bluetooth, a reverse camera and sensors, lane departure warning and cruise control, a 10-inch touch screen and more – with all variants including a 220V inverter as well as the 12V power socket.
We can expect a two-wheel drive single-cab in November, with a two-wheel drive double-cab likely later, a petrol engine in 2018, and a larger tray (with the same payload weight limit) plus a space cab in future.
Willmot says: “We are looking at the market closely, and will have more details in July.”
The T60 lands with a spray-on liner, but Great Lake Distributors will go through outside NZ sources for after-market parts like canopies, liners, bull bars and tow bars, “All the accessories Kiwi businesses expect,” Willmot says.
As for marketing, LDV’s T60 is pitched as “a work truck. We are not looking to compete with the private buyer looking at the likes of Ford’s Ranger.”
The target market is someone seeking a good-value working ute, and especially small businesses that can’t leverage big fleet deals.
Willmot says his van experience suggests there’ll be few adverse preconceptions about Chinese brands to deal with. “There’s emotion about trucks and cars, but not with vans. The buyer process is, ‘I need a van, does it do what I want, is it reliable, and is it good value. If it ticks those boxes, they buy it.”
Given the T60’s value-workhorse focus, he anticipates the same response.
Especially given Great Lakes Motor Distributors places great importance on ensuring the fleet is kept on the road. “If someone is awaiting a part and has a problem getting it, they’ll tell everyone at the pub.”
A generous supply of parts will therefore be in stock when the ute goes on sale.
