The LDV T60 Max is one of Australia’s cheapest utes, but mainstream versions of the budget-friendly Chinese-made dual-cab 4×4 ute range are about to become far less affordable.
Available exclusively in 4×4 dual-cab form (except for the rear-drive electric eT60), the T60 Max is normally priced from $41,042 drive-away in manual guise, and $43,148 drive-away as an auto.
But a current offer runout offer for ABN holders includes a $3000 discount plus a $1500 gift card, effectively slicing $4500 off the already-low price of the base T60 Max Pro manual to $35,990 drive-away, and the auto to $37,990 drive-away for non-private customers.
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However, this runout offer ends on January 31, 2025, ahead of a minor model year change for mainstream T60 Max variants, which were joined in mid-2024 by the new T60 Max Plus flagship.
The offer is not expected to be extended, and dealers have been told there will be a yet-to-be-announced price increase for the T60 Max from February 1.
This will result in the current T60 Max lineup not only losing the current $3000 discount and $1500 bonus for ABN holders – which applies to the Luxe manual (normally $40,490 drive-away), Luxe auto ($42,490 drive-away) and Luxe Mega Tub ($43,990 drive-away) – but incurring a price rise on top of that.
Currently the LDV T60 undercuts all of its direct rivals except the Mahindra Pik-Up ($32,990 drive-away) and SsangYong Musso (from $40,000 drive-away).
There will likely be no change to the top-shelf T60 Max Plus, the facelifted and upgraded range-topper of the T60 lineup which arrived last year.
But while there’s an impending price rise for most of the T60 lineup, it’s not clear whether Max Plus manual variants will continue to be priced from $45,990 drive-away for ABN holders ($2000 more for the auto). LDV also offers a Plus Mega Tub version, priced from $49,490 drive-away for ABN holders.
The new T60 flagship has a fresh front-end look, more interior tech, an overhauled chassis and, for the automatic version, new safety gear including autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise control and lane-keep assist.
It also gains electric power steering and an electric park brake, and a new dashboard with column-mounted automatic gearshifter and steering wheel paddle shifters, a 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system (up from the 10.25-inch unit in the T60 Max) with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster.
In addition, the T60 Max Plus also replaces the Max Pro’s leaf-sprung rear-end with a multi-link suspension arrangement to improve ride, stability, ground clearance and payload.
All LDV T60 variants are powered by the same 2.0-litre four-cylinder twin-turbo diesel engine, producing a segment-leading 160kW of power and 500Nm of torque, though the Plus receives remapped engine software to make power delivery more linear.
It’s available with either six-speed manual or eight-speed automatic transmissions, and average fuel consumption is 8.9L/100km for the latter.
Payload capacity stands at 800kg in the T60 Max Plus Mega Tub, 840kg in the T60 Max Plus manual and 830kg in the T60 Max Plus auto. That’s up from between 730kg and 750kg in Luxe and Mega Tub versions of the regular T60 Max, while ground clearance is up 5mm to 220mm.
The LDV T60 range is backed by a seven-year, 200,000km warranty, however, the five-star safety rating it received from ANCAP in 2017 will expire at the end of this year.
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