LDV D90 diesel dropped, but the door remains open for its return

The facelifted 2025 LDV D90 will go without the option of turbo-diesel power for now, as the brand moves to a petrol-only lineup for its sole SUV.

The arrival of LDV’s updated D90 – which brings fresh looks, an expanded safety suite and more standard equipment – has come at the expense of the large off-road SUV’s twin-turbo diesel engine, which is absent from the 2025 model range.

This is despite government documents showing that LDV had applied for and has been granted approval for local certification of the existing diesel engine in the refreshed D90, in which the four-cylinder continues to produce 160kW and 480Nm.

“A diesel version of the MY25 LDV D90 is under consideration for Australia,” said Dinesh Chinnappa, LDV Australia General Manager, in a statement to CarExpert.

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“It is available to us as an option and we are currently assessing it for our market.”

 “In the meantime we are excited to offer the MY25 LDV D90 with a more powerful, new-generation turbo petrol engine.” 

“Among the long list of upgrades that come with the MY25 LDV D90 is an improved braked towing capacity of 3000kg (up from 2000kg) compared to the previous petrol model.”

According to LDV, limited stock of the pre-facelift D90 turbo-diesel remains, while the new-look petrol SUV is now on sale.

The exclusion of a diesel engine in the D90 comes despite a majority of its more expensive body-on-frame SUV competitors – such as the Ford Everest, Isuzu MU-X, Mitsubishi Pajero Sport and Toyota Fortuner – are exclusively sold with oil-burning engines.

However, the pre-update D90’s sales were understood to be largely driven by the petrol versions that were cheaper, not only in terms of their entry price but also like-for-like with their diesel equivalents.

For context, the 2024 LDV D90 started from $38,937 drive-away in base petrol guise, while the flagship petrol-powered Executive rose to $46,832. Diesel versions of the range-topper were priced from $52,095 – a $5263 premium.

While all petrol D90s have increased in price by $4210 post-facelift, the turbocharged four-cylinder engine has also been given a power and torque bump, now producing 184kW and 410Nm – up 19kW and 60Nm.

It’s mated to a new eight-speed automatic transmission (up two ratios), which has also resulted in a braked towing capacity increase of 1000kg, now standing at 3000kg, but this doesn’t quite match the outgoing diesel’s 3100kg figure.

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