Maxus has one of the more unusual histories of any brand on this site, since it isn’t really a new Chinese export brand at all, it’s the successor to a British one. The story starts with LDV, the Birmingham based van maker descended from Leyland DAF, which collapsed into administration in 2008. Rather than the brand disappearing entirely, its intellectual property, including vehicle designs and tooling, was bought by SAIC Motor, the same Chinese state owned giant that also owns MG. SAIC used those assets to establish Maxus as a commercial vehicle brand in its own right in 2011.
Maxus
Founded: 2011 (successor to LDV, which collapsed in 2008) HQ: Wuxi, Jiangsu, China (SAIC Motor) Parent: SAIC Motor Official website ↗
Last updated: August 1, 2026
Maxus Overview
Since then, Maxus has grown into a genuinely global operation, selling vans, pickups and increasingly passenger vehicles across China, Russia, South America, Asia, Australia and Europe, including the UK, where it has been present for well over a decade under the Maxus name, working through around 60 dealers nationwide. In several export markets, including Australia and New Zealand, Maxus vehicles are still sold under the old LDV badge as a nod to that heritage.
The brand’s core UK business remains commercial vehicles, vans and pickups aimed squarely at trade and fleet buyers, though its range has expanded considerably beyond simple diesel workhorses. Maxus has been notably quick to electrify its commercial lineup, and became the first manufacturer to offer a genuinely electric pickup truck in the UK with the T90 EV, a re-engineered version of a truck that had already been on sale in other global markets since 2021.
Vehicles are designed and built in China, primarily at SAIC’s manufacturing base in Wuxi, in Jiangsu province, with some models also assembled in Russia for regional markets. Maxus continues to expand its range with newer models like the Terron 9 pickup, sold in some markets as the Interstellar X, though not all of these have yet made it to UK showrooms.
Because Maxus operates primarily as a commercial vehicle brand, its UK pricing is often quoted ex VAT, or discussed alongside incentives like the plug-in van grant, rather than presented the same way as a typical passenger car. Business buyers considering an electric van or pickup are generally the intended audience, even where a model, like the eDeliver 9, is spacious enough to double as a family sized minibus.
