Steed leads charge for Great Wall Motor Company in UK

Now here’s some news. Great Wall Motor Company is the first Chinese carmaker to sell its products in the UK starting this month. Their makes will be sold in 40 dealers, all newly appointed and hand picked.

The vehicle that gets the dubious honour of becoming Great Wall’s – and indeed China’s – first is the 2012 Steed pick up truck. Which the Chinese carmaker says is ‘equally adept as a workhorse or a weekend getaway vehicle’.

The Steed runs with a 2.0 litre, 16-valve turbocharged diesel engine that is said to give good mileage of 34.0 mpg, or about 6.9 l/100km. No other performance figures are given. The Steed also comes equipped with a ‘on demand’ 4WD system.

It’s got a spacious cargo area that is 1,380 mm long, 1,460 mm wide and 4,80 mm deep, and has a maximum payload of 1,050 kg. Towing capability hits the limit at 2,000 kg with a ‘braked’ trailer and 750 kg ‘unbraked’.

Great Wall’s first will come in two trim levels – the Steed S and the Steed SE. The Steed S, priced at £13,998 is kitted with 16-inch allow wheels, daytime running lights, remote central locking, a Thatcham-approved Category 1 alarm, electric front and rear windows, Alpine CD/radio with USB and Bluetooth, steering-wheel audio controls, air-conditioning, heated front seats and full leather interior.

The Steed SE comes complete with everything the Steed S has plus body-coloured hard top canopy and spoiler, chrome trimmed daytime running lights and side bars, black roof rails, load bay liner and rear parking sensors. The price for the Steed SE is £15,998.

Great Wall is giving a three-year/60,000-mile (or 96,560km) mechanical warranty, a six-year anti-perforation warranty, three-year paint warranty and three year’s roadside recovery and assistance. Great Wall also promises inflation-proof servicing plans, service pick-up and drop-off, and arranging test drives in customer’s location of choice if it is within 20 miles of the dealership.

Given the fact that the Brits are spoilt for choice when it comes to vehicle selection, I wonder if Great Wall has done enough to kick-start a revolution.

© 2012 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Thu, 19 Apr 12 02:38:12 +0000.

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