SAIC's commercial-vehicle brand, built on the remains of British van maker LDV and now selling vans, MPVs and pickups in China and around 70 export markets. It trades as LDV in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
SAIC Maxus's mid-size pickup, on sale in China since December 2024 and exported as the Terron 9, LDV Terron 9 and MG U9. It is offered with a 2.5-litre turbodiesel or a dual-motor electric drivetrain with a 102 kWh battery, and Volkswagen has chosen its Starbridge architecture for the next South American Amarok.
Maxus is SAIC Motor’s commercial-vehicle brand, and the only one in the group with a British birth certificate. LDV, the Birmingham van maker descended from Leyland DAF, collapsed into administration in 2009; SAIC acquired its designs and tooling and relaunched the operation in 2011 under the Maxus name, which LDV had used on one of its own vans. Design and manufacturing moved to China, and what carries over now is the badge rather than the engineering.
The range is built around light commercials. The Deliver vans and their eDeliver electric equivalents are the volume products, joined by the Mifa MPVs and, since December 2024, the Interstellar X pickup. Nearly every model is sold in both combustion and battery-electric form, which is unusual for a van maker of this size and is the main reason Maxus reached European fleets earlier than most Chinese brands.
Exports run to roughly 70 markets, under three different names. It is Maxus across most of Europe, Asia and Latin America, LDV in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, and in a few markets SAIC badges the same vehicles as MG - the Interstellar X pickup sells in Australia and Pakistan as the MG U9. Inside SAIC the brand sits alongside MG, Roewe, IM Motors and Wuling, covering the commercial segments the others do not.
The pickup has since drawn outside interest. Volkswagen confirmed in August 2026 that the next Amarok for South America will be built on the Interstellar X architecture at its plant in Argentina, with Volkswagen handling design, chassis tuning and testing itself.
