There’s much song and dance surrounding the new LDV D90 SUV, heralded as the precursor to a new generation of cars from the Chinese marque, with the SUV following in the footsteps of the T60 ute that also managed to garner similarly lofty praises for its safety ratings.
LDV, perhaps known best in Australia for its rough-and-ready utes, is committed to offering competitive, safe, and refined vehicles, and the D90 is testament to that. The D90 managed to score highly in the frontal offset, side impact, and even the pole test, with its scores putting it up there with cars like the Kia Sorento, Mazda CX-9, and Hyundai Santa Fe insofar as safety is concerned. Anyone who may have been looking at the D90 as a potential family wagon will likely be feeling that much more confident about this contender.
“The LDV T60 set our safety benchmark with its five-star ANCAP safety rating and, with the D90, LDV has proven that the highest safety rating is now LDV’s minimum standard for new vehicles launched in Australia. The D90 not only meets the stringent criteria set by ANCAP for the 5 star rating, with technology such as road sign recognition, it reveals the next generation of road safety features. LDV is producing a new generation of vehicles, heralded by the T60 and confirmed by the D90, that offer 5-star safety with value, technology, connectivity, features and comfort.” - Dinesh Chinnappa, General Manager, LDV Australia
At launch, the D90 will find motivation from a sole 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol unit, capable of a healthy 165kW and 350Nm, mated to a six-speed automatic gearbox as standard. LDV’s version of terrain response, low-range gears, and a rear diff-lock will feature on all-wheel drive models. If you’re hankering after a diesel (which you would, naturally), one will be made available mid-2019.
Prices for the 2018 LDV D90 kick off at an entirely reasonable $36,990 drive-away for the base Mode 4x2, which despite its entry-level position, offers things like autonomous emergency braking, forward collision warning, hill-descent control, hill-hold assist, adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, blind spot monitoring, and traffic-sign recognition. Not bad by any regard.
For more information on LDV, check out our Showroom.
