SAIC bought the Maxus brand in 2009 from LDV Group, a bankrupt United Kingdom commercial vehicle maker. SAIC unveiled the Maxus brand this year in China after it decided to phase out its little-known Huizhong commercial brand.

The Maxus V80 was developed on a platform bought from LDV. The vehicle is assembled at SAIC's plant in Wuxi in east China's Jiangsu province. The plant will have annual production capacity of 100,000 units by 2015.

SAIC expects to sell the van in China and export it to Colombia, Turkey and South Africa.

SAIC has three commercial vehicle joint ventures: a partnership with Sweden's AB Volvo to build buses, a partnership with Italy's Iveco S.p.A. to build vans and a three-way venture with General Motors Co. and Liuzhou Wuling Motors Co. to make small commercial vans.