Previously unknown Great Wall Motor looks set to change all that with the CV Show seeing its launch of the 2012 Steed pick-up – and at rock bottom prices.
It's an impressive beast – plainly robust and practical, with impressive quality and with prices starting at £13,998 for what is clearly a well equipped double-cab 4x4 pick-up.
This is not just a low-cost versatile load-lugger. You're looking at a vehicle with galvanised steel skin and a rust-proofed ladder-frame chassis, strengthened and braced by reinforced middle cross-members. There is also an impact-resistant rear beam and a reinforced cargo bed.
Carrying capacity compares well with many established UK pick-ups, too – with payload of 1,000kg, towing capability of 2,000kg (braked trailer and 750 kg unbraked) and a cargo bay measuring 1,380 mm x 1,460 mm x 480 mm.
It also delivers good fuel economy, via its newly-developed 2.0-litre, 16-valve turbocharged diesel powerplant (30.1 mpg urban; 37.7mpg extra urban; 34.0 mpg combined) – and comes in at a low insurance rating of just 7A.
As for the powertrain itself, this is a four-cylinder diesel fitted with charge air cooled intercooler, new glow plug technology and a variable-geometry turbocharger (VGT), with Delphi high-pressure common-rail direct injection and EGR (exhaust gas recirculation).
It's also long stroke – and hence its maximum power of 143ps at 4,000 rpm, but torque of 305Nm over a rev-band from 1,800 to 2,800 rpm – delivered through a six-speed manual box and an 'on-demand' part-time, four-wheel-drive selected by pressing a dashboard button on the move.
Great Wall also says it has already established a nationwide network of 40 dealers, with standards of customer service "that will break new ground in the pick-up market".
In fact, sales operations exec Lorraine Jones tells us that Great Wall is one of China's most successful car manufacturers, and that the firm is now starting volume vehicle sales in Britain.
Indeed, Great Wall has manufactured the best-selling pick-up in China every year since 1998, and the Steed pick-up attracts around 120,000 customers in its domestic market each year, with 700,000 sold to date.
One to watch.