The Dadi Shuttle was a sport utility vehicle produced by Dadi Auto, the Baoding company that once built military vehicles, between 2007 and 2012. It was one of the largest models in a range that openly mirrored the line-ups of Great Wall Motor and Zhongxing, and it was based on the penultimate generation of the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado.
Dadi Shuttle at a glance
| Maker | Dadi Automobile Group Co., Ltd., Baoding, China |
|---|---|
| Production | 2007–2012 |
| Class | SUV |
| Based on | penultimate generation Toyota Land Cruiser Prado |
| Range position | the largest of the Dadi SUVs listed for the period |
| Sister SUV | Dadi City Steed, based on the second-generation Prado |
| Owner from 2011 | CHTC, as Hengtian (CHTC) Dadi Automobile |
| Works capacity claimed | 50,000 units a year |
Based on one source: the English Wikipedia article on Dadi Auto, which lists the Shuttle with its production years and the Toyota model it was based on. No separate article about the model exists.
History of the Dadi Shuttle
Dadi Auto began as a military automobile maker and assembled its first civil pickup in Baoding in 1988. Its product line-up mirrored that of two rival Chinese makers, Great Wall Motor and Zhongxing, and the company claimed a production capacity of 50,000 units a year, although that figure may have counted engines together with whole vehicles.
The Shuttle arrived in 2007 as the larger of the company’s two Prado-derived SUVs. Its sister model, the City Steed, was built on the second-generation Toyota Land Cruiser Prado; the Shuttle used the penultimate generation, so it was the more modern of the pair. Both were on sale until 2012, in the last years of the company as an independent manufacturer.
By then Dadi had already changed hands. In November 2011 the Chinese conglomerate CHTC acquired the company and reincorporated it on 16 October 2012 as Hengtian (CHTC) Dadi Automobile Co., Ltd. After that the firm stopped making passenger cars and concentrated on the commercial vehicle market.
Design and features
- Prado-derived platform: the body and chassis came from the penultimate generation of the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado.
- Largest of the range: a bigger SUV than the City Steed, which used the older Prado generation.
- Copy-the-leader strategy: Dadi followed the product lines of Great Wall Motor and Zhongxing rather than developing its own shapes.
Dadi Shuttle versions
- Shuttle (2007–2012): the only version listed for the model, sold throughout its production life.
Its smaller stablemate was the Dadi Smoothing pickup. More vehicles from the same maker are in the Dadi collection.
Sources
- Dadi Auto, English Wikipedia: production years, source model, company history
