Maxus V80 History

The Maxus V80 was the brand's first product, unveiled at the Auto Shanghai motor show in April 2011 and launched for sale in June 2011. It is a direct continuation of the LDV Maxus van developed in Birmingham, England — SAIC Motor acquired the LDV Group's intellectual property in 2010 after the British company entered administration in 2009, and relaunched the tooling in China under the new Maxus marque.

SAIC invested heavily to update the platform: the V80 received a new 2.5-litre turbodiesel engine and was progressively upgraded to meet successive Chinese and European emission standards. An all-electric variant, the EV80, entered production in 2014, making it one of the first purpose-built electric large vans available in China.

The V80 is sold in passenger-minibus and RV conversion forms as well as the base panel van, and it remained in the Maxus catalogue into the 2020s alongside its eventual successor, the V90. In Australia and New Zealand it has been marketed under the LDV badge.