They may look all but identical, but the differences between LDV's new ute and its rebadged MG sibling go beyond a new grille, it has been revealed.
Buyers looking for the biggest difference between China's latest ute twins – the just-launched LDV Terron 9 and upcoming MG U9 – will need to crawl on their hands and knees.
The MG U9 will join a handful of new utes in Australia with multi-link independent rear suspension, rather than the solid rear axle and leaf springs of most rivals, including the Terron 9.
MG says it will provide a more comfortable ride over bumps, but not at the cost of a 3.5-tonne braked towing capacity and one-tonne payload.
The mechanical differentiator will join modest exterior changes – a different front grille pattern, body-coloured lower front bumper, and new wheels – and a different interior centre console in setting the U9 apart from the Terron 9.
Showroom deliveries of the U9 are due to commence in November, pending any delays, following the arrival of the first shipments of Terron 9 utes last month.
"After we decided to bring a ute to Australia, we deeply researched ... this market," MG Motor Australia CEO Peter Ciao told Drive.
"Australia, I think, is the best popular country for utes in the whole world. In Australia, the ute is not just a work tool for the job, it's also a very important lifestyle, like the AFL and rugby for people.
"We found in this market lots of people love utes [to] replace their seven-seat or off-road SUV. They want a ute which they can bring lots of goods, go on holiday or go to their holiday farm, or just from home to work. Fishing, hunting – lots of lifestyle [uses].
"We found in Australia, for these lifestyle utes, the spec list is on top of the chassis. Their chassis is just a ute chassis, a spring leaf. MG will focus on just providing multi-link.
"... People [are] very concerned [that] the ute, when you're driving, it's not comfortable because the suspension is spring leaf. Some people put 50 kilograms of weight on the back [to settle it]. MG, we're totally focused to solve this issue."
Few new utes in Australia offer fully independent multi-link rear suspension, among them the BYD Shark 6 plug-in hybrid.
"I believe that is the greatest solution. Because ... you could say 99 per cent of volume is spring leaf. That's not because people don't want a better car. These are the choices. If you want the choice, you need to pay more," he claimed.
Australian government homologation documents confirm Ciao's promise that the multi-link suspension won't hurt the U9's on-paper credentials.
It is listed with a payload of 1102kg with a 3500kg gross vehicle mass (GVM), or 822kg with a 3320kg gross vehicle mass – because the latter is listed as 100kg heavier – both with a 3500kg braked towing capacity.
"No compromises for the ute basic requests, but we [will] keep very, very comfortable drive handling," Ciao said.
"It's off-road, everything, towing, capability. Everything is compared with the top level, even the size. We are 5.5 metres. That's top-level."
How the U9 will perform in the real world – and how well it can carry a heavy load, or go off-road, which are often weaknesses of independent-suspension vehicles – remains to be seen.
The MG boss said the Chinese car brand is willing to listen and quickly respond to feedback, should the response to the tuning of the rear coil springs not meet expectations – as with the first few iterations of the current Nissan Navara launched in 2015.
"We already put in the [request to book] Lang Lang for our Australian local final test, in end of September," Ciao said, Lang Lang being the Victorian proving ground established and owned by Holden to develop its cars.
"In China, SAIC Motor owns [facilities with] triple times [the area of] Lang Lang on the test area, [they] have lots of kinds of roads.
"However, we want to follow [with] a local test before we launch. We [have] already done lots of Australian road testing. We've had lots of engineers working here."
Interestingly, the U9 in its 3.5-tonne GVM form is listed as 57kg heavier than an equivalent Terron 9 (2398kg vs 2341kg), even though independent suspension is typically lighter than a solid axle.
It is likely a result of additional equipment fitted to the MG, expected to include a 'mid-gate' allowing the partition between the cabin and tub to drop into the floor to extend the load area.
Fewer differences are found in the styling of the ute twins, which share most exterior panels, and are separated by unique front grille patterns, a body-coloured lower front bumper on the MG, and different wheels.
"I think [for] that we go to the next MG [ute] model," Ciao said when asked about scope for further differentiation between the utes, "but the current model, we are just [changing the] front of the face, and the interior, and some specs are different. The wheel, that's different.
"I think the major point is it looks [a bit] different, but what makes the car really different is the chassis, the suspension. That is the key point."
He claimed the suspension difference between the two utes is due to each brand's "separate business strategy".
"For the new platform, we have a separate business strategy: they focus on spring leaf, I focus on multi-link. Separate. Because it comes from the same platform, it's very easy to give the public confusing information that 'ah, that's the same car'.
"No. I want to tell the public this is totally different car because the chassis [suspension] is different. Interior, different. Exterior, somewhere it looks similar, but that's just a small case. The major case is different."
Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
