LDV Group

LDV UK
Subsidiary
Industry Automotive
Fate Administration
Predecessor Leyland DAF
Successor SAIC Maxus Automotive Co., Ltd.
Founded 1993, as Leyland DAF Vans from Leyland DAF
Defunct 15 October 2009
Headquarters Washwood Heath, Birmingham, West Midlands, England
Number of locations
 Washwood Heath
Products Commercial vehicles
Owner
  • 1993–2005: Management
  • 2005: Sun Capital
  • 2006–2009: GAZ Group

LDV Group Limited, formerly Leyland DAF Vans, was a British van manufacturer, based in the Ward End area of Birmingham. Historically part of Rover Group and Leyland DAF, it was latterly a wholly owned subsidiary of the Russian GAZ group.

Owing to the worldwide recession and a lack of long term investment, production was suspended at the LDV factory in Birmingham in December 2008. After a series of failed rescue attempts in 2009, the assets of the company were sold by administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers to China Venture's firm Eco Concept, on 15 October 2009.[1]

History

High topped LDV Convoy from 2000
Low topped LDV Convoy
LDV Cub
LDV Pilot
2005 LDV Maxus 2.8 CDi 95 SWB

LDV was formed in 1993 as Leyland DAF Vans Limited following a management buy-out of DAF NV's Leyland DAF van manufacturing division, following the bankruptcy of the Dutch company. Later the name was officially changed to LDV Limited. Prior to its merger with Leyland Trucks and DAF Trucks in 1987, it was part of the British Leyland/Rover Group empire, and was latterly the Freight Rover arm of the Land Rover Group division.

In December 2005, after going into administration, LDV was bought by group Sun Capital Partners/Sun European Partners, and was subject to a financial restructuring.[2] What Van? reported LDV's commitment to its existing customers, including an assurance from their marketing director that their production target of 1,000 vans per month would put them well above break even point.[3]

The Russian GAZ Group acquired LDV on 31 July 2006, and also established a new company, GAZ International, based in the United Kingdom, to focus on the automotive industry.[4]

The BBC reported a GAZ spokesperson as saying that the company had appointed former Ford of Europe executive Martin Leach and former A.T. Kearney executive Steve Young to run the business, and that it planned to expand production at LDV's Birmingham plant by adding new product lines and entering new markets in Europe and elsewhere.[2]

GAZ had plans to export LDV technology to Russia, and start producing the Maxus at the GAZ Nizhny Novgorod plant in Russia with 50,000 as an initial volume. (https://web.archive.org/web/20080408102253/http://www.autoindustry.co.uk/news/05-11-07_4)[4][5] There were also proposals to export the GAZ Maxus to Australia, a traditional market for British Leyland.

However, GAZ's plans never really showed any increased output, and due to the severe worldwide recession and a lack of long term investment and commitment, production was suspended at the LDV factory in Birmingham in December 2008. After the British Government tried once again to save the company by agreeing to pour in £5 million of grants to enable Malaysia's WestStar Corporation to purchase LDV. WestStar failed to secure financing.[6]

The assets of the company were sold by administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers to Chinese firm ECO Concept on 15 October 2009,[1][7] and then sold to SAIC Motor in 2010.

Vehicles

LDV produced a range of panel vans, pick ups and minibuses, all available with various modifications and specifications. LDV's main customers were large British corporations, such as Royal Mail, National Grid plc and many other utility companies, which were politically persuaded to buy British built vehicles

200/400 Series The plant produced what was known as the 200 and 400 Series vans, inside the plant these were known as the K2 and 210 respectively. After the factory went into receivership in 1993, and a management backed buyout headed by Allan Amey, the 200 and 400 were given a facelift on the existing chassis, and renamed Pilot and Convoy.

Convoy/Pilot

Until 2006, LDV produced the Convoy and Pilot, derived from the British Leyland Sherpa, and developed considerably throughout the 1970s to 1990s, and which are a common sight in the United Kingdom.

Cub

Between 1998 and 2001, LDV sold the Cub, a badge engineered Nissan Vanette. In June 1998, LDV entered into an agreement with Nissan, to sell a re branded version of the Vanette Cargo.[8]

Maxus

The last range of vans, the Maxus, was introduced in the end of 2004. The Maxus was originally planned as a joint venture with Daewoo Motors of South Korea. Daewoo however, went into receivership in November 2000, before the project came to fruition.

LDV subsequently acquired the exclusive rights to the van from General Motors, who had taken over Daewoo, and purchased the existing tooling and shipped it all to Birmingham from the Daewoo Plant in Poland where the van was originally intended to be built.[9] The Maxus was fitted with direct injection, common rail, diesel engines supplied by VM Motori.[10]

Sponsorship

Notes

  1. 1 2 "LDV assets sold to Chinese firm". BBC News. 15 October 2009. Retrieved 15 October 2009.
  2. 1 2 "Russian company buys UK vanmaker". BBC. 31 July 2006. Retrieved 7 September 2007.
  3. ↑ "LDV reassures customers over warranty". What Van. 15 March 2006. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007.
  4. 1 2 "GAZ International". LDV. Archived from the original on 1 May 2007.
  5. ↑ "Russia: GAZ to launch LDV brand with Maxus van; Russian built Maxus is planned for 2009 with a volume of 50,000 units (http://www.autoindustry.co.uk/news/05-11-07_4)". AutomotiveWorld. 13 August 2007. Retrieved 7 September 2007. External link in |title= (help)
  6. ↑ Figel, Ján (7 August 2009). "State aid NN 41/2009 (ex N 313 / 2009) – United Kingdom Rescue Aid for LDV Group Limited" (PDF). European Commission. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  7. ↑ "SAIC to Resurrect LDV Maxus". ChinaAutoWeb.com.
  8. ↑ "LDV to launch own version of Nissan Cargo one-tonne van". fleetnews.co.uk. 24 June 1998. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  9. ↑ "Van maker plans 1,000 new jobs". BBC. 19 August 2003. Retrieved 7 September 2007.
  10. ↑ "Current Vehicles". VM Motori.
LDV Group timeline, 1996–2009
Type 1990s 2000s
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Van Convoy
Pilot
Cub
Maxus
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