Here's a comparison between the Toyota Hilux and the Great Wall Motors V240 4x4 pickup. The V240 is also known as the Great Wall Motors Wingle.

The Great Walls Motors is a new brand from China and the V240 a new model introduced to the world market at the end of 2009.   What is going to be more interesting is how the manufacturer is going to handle criticisms and any bad reviews.

The V240 uses the Isuzu hardware like the older Rodeo underneath which is fair enough - no need to hide that! The key selling point is price. It is the cheapest 4x4 utility that you can buy in the country. It's price does of course mean that it does have significant short falls. You can only justify cheapness for sales to a certain extent these needs to be more done to actually make it a desirable car.

Great Wall Motors V240
VS
Toyota Hilux

The V240 These are full sized cars that are significantly cheaper than the competition. Besides price they also have a genuine niche of being the only 4x4 pickups that still have 4 cylinder petrol engines.

The V240 like its relative the Colorado and is smaller than the others in terms of measurements. However it is very cheap price you can basically ignore any difference unless size is a critical factor in choosing any ute.

The ads claim that there are lots of equipment as standard - which there is for the price. However at the same time other motoring press also point out that it only has a 2 star safety rating. I guess that doesn't mean its unsafe it means that you should avoid getting into accidents. It is also very slow which helps. The extra equipment is only good if it doesn't break down after a few uses.

However despite the price we still couldn't live with the V240 as a replacement for the Prado or a Hilux even at that price. Aside from the unattractive front end, after seeing one left in the airport car park for a week and the external and deformed window trim did not leave a good impression of quality. Looking underneath reveal some surface rust. They come with a 3 year warranty so that should be reliable? BUT if you are are a throw away commercial vehicle than this could be worth a look.

As for its competitors stay tuned for some more comparisons over the next few months. Our leader board reads like this:
1 - Triton
2 - Navara
3 - Hilux
4 - Colorado
Unrated - GWM V240
 

Toyota Hilux
2010 FROM $44,500-$56,000 AUD

Great Wall Motors V240
2010 FROM $26,990 AUD