Great Wall X240, Available in Australia

What may very well turn out to be the cheapest SUV available Down Under, the Great Wall X240, is now ready to meet its Australian customers. And since we were talking about the price, the Chinese SUV starts at AU$23,990 driveaway (including dealer delivery and statutory charges). As GoAuto says, about the same as the Suzuki Jimny Sierra, powered by a 1.3l engine and priced at AU$20,490!

So, what do you get for this bargain? Not much or, should we say, the same as the guy next door. The X240 will be available in only one trim level and has only one optional addition: a AU$1,000 sunroof.

Still, the SUV packs several safety features considered sine qua non in a car its size: ABS, EBD, four-wheel disc brakes and rear parking sensors. What it must have had and it lacks is another essential safety system, electronic stability control. Also standard on the X240 are leather interior, power driver's seat, AC and an eight speaker MP3 system.

We left the really interesting part for last on purpose. The X240 is powered by a 2.4l four-cylinder petrol engine, developing a somewhat small troop of only 134 hp at 5,250 rpm and 200 Nm of torque at 3,000 rpm. The unit will be mated to a five speed manual transmission. The naught to sixty acceleration (and this is the really good part) is rated at "under 20 seconds".

The car is so good that even it's distributor, Ateco Automotive, has great...hopes for it.

“We’re taking a fairly modest outlook on the sales potential of the X240 because it is manual-only,” Ric Hull, Ateco's managing director was quoted as saying by the source.