Big brands join Village Motors

Village Motors has welcomed two big new brands to the family, with RAM and LDV now part of the fold.

Village Motors Sales Manager for RAM and LDV Ross Willson says they complement the other brands on offer at the North Lakes-based dealership.

“At the southern end of the Village Motors site, we’ve got GWM Haval and Chevvy and GMSV – you’ve got the Chinese brands and the big American tanks down there and then you’ve got LDV and the big American tanks up here at the northern end,” Ross says.

“It is a one-stop shop. We have a lot of people saying I’m comparing the Silverado and the RAM … they don’t have to go far.

“It’s the same with GWM and LDV, with the ute variant, they work well together. Each has their strong points and at the same time, we’ve also got Nissan … you’ve got the higher end in the ute range as well.

“It has been working really well and we’re only two and a half months in now.

“RAM has a few models in the line-up – Express, Warlock, Laramie, Limited, TRX, and the big 2500 and 3500s built for a purpose, especially for the Australian market because of the towing capacity.

“The 1500 range pretty much covers a 4.5 tonne towing capacity, which is really good across the board for everyone here who likes to buy big caravans … once they load up those big caravans they have to tow them with something. The traditional vehicles people buy just aren’t big enough.

“The market is certainly there for that. Some of the bigger ones, the 2500, can tow up to eight tonnes. They are monsters.

“Then you’ve got the TRX model, which is the fastest truck in the world 6.2L supercharged … it’s phenomenal.”

LDV is one of the oldest automotive companies in the world. Its first vehicle in 1896 was a 1.5-tonne, steam-powered van before a series of mergers with other stalwarts of the British automotive industry resulted in it morphing into Leyland DAF in 1987.

LDV joined the SAIC Motor family in 2010.

Ross says LDV has a big range of commercial vehicles including D90 SUV, T60 Max Ute, Deliver 9 (Van & Cab Chasis & Bus), V80 Van and G10 Van.

“They’re also about to release MIFA, which is a seven-seat people-mover. It looks like it should shake the market up. There’s not a lot of competition out there. There’s the KIA Carnival but that’s really about it,” he explains.

“It looks really good. They’ve also just released the full electric range. LDV is the first to bring out a utility in an electric spec in the country. They also have the MIFA 9 which is an electric people-mover and the e-deliver 9 which is an electric commercial van.

“Someone had to test the waters for that sort of range and LDV are in there to do it.”

He said a massive portion of electric vehicles in the world were built in China including some of the biggest brands.

“LDV offers great value for money, quality and power in the T60 range is up there with some of the best in the class. It makes the other brands have to look at what they’re doing.”