Maxus, a Chinese-owned brand with a British heritage, recently entered SA’s market with a range of people-carriers and commercial vehicles.
The name may be new to South Africa but its roots can be traced back to the Leyland Steam Van which debuted in 1898. The company was part of the British Leyland/Austin Rover Group empire and was the commercial vehicle used by the UK’s Royal Banks and Royal Mails. It later became known as the LDV Group before being taken over by SAIC, China’s largest automaker, in 2009.
Locally Maxus is distributed and sold by Mandarin Motors, which also encompasses MG South Africa, and is part of the Combined Motor Holdings (CMH) group. There are 12 dedicated Maxus dealers throughout SA.
The flagship of the Maxus range is the V80 2.5TD Deluxe, a nine-seater people-carrier that comes standard with air conditioner, alloy wheels, audio system, remote central locking, cruise control, LED daytime lights, electric mirrors and front windows, leather upholstery, park-distance control and power steering.
It also sports the latest safety equipment including ABS brakes, two airbags and a tyre-pressure monitor.
The Maxus V80 is also available as a 16-seater taxi, a panelvan, and a dropside commercial vehicle.
All are powered by the same four-cylinder 2.5-litre turbodiesel engine with outputs of 100kW and 330Nm, driving the front wheels via a 5-speed manual transmission.
Prices:
V80 2.5TD Comfort – R319 900
V80 2.5TD Deluxe – R399 900
V80 2.5TD Panel Van – R299 900
V80 2.5TD Dropside – R299 900
All Maxus vehicles come with three-year/100 000km warranty and require a standard code 8 licence. -Star Motoring