IT’S China’s largest SUV producer but it’s name is hardly known in Britain.

Now Great Wall is about to change all that by launching its first vehicle here – a four-wheel-drive double-cab pick-up with a price and specification that’s going to be hard to beat.

Brought to the UK by Birmingham-based Great Wall Motor Distributors (UK), the new Steed has just gone on sale with an entry level price of £13,998 plus VAT, the lowest priced 4x4 double-cab in the UK and a figure the company says is cheaper than competitors charge for two-wheel-drive single cabs.

For that price you get full leather upholstery, heated front seats, air-conditioning, alloy wheels, Thatcham Category 1 alarm and on-demand four-wheel-drive with high and low ratio.

If you step up from the S model to the SE – at £15,998 plus VAT – you also get a body-coloured hard-top canopy, roof rails, chrome side rails and rear parking sensors.

The Steed has already proved to be a best-seller in its home market with more than 700,000 units sold and is also making a name for itself in Australia, South Africa and Italy.

And while this rugged looking double cab may be made at a plant near Beijing it has a very Western-style design.

Inside there is plenty of head and leg room even for rear seat passengers and there are numerous storage areas including a front centre console and lockable glove box.

Like most double cabs the interior is more functional than glamorous, with quite a bit of black plastic.

And while I did find one bit of trim which could have been more solidly fixed the inside did stack up pretty well against the competition.

The Steed is powered by a torquey 2.0-litre, 143 bhp diesel engine with a top speed of 87 mph and an average fuel consumption of 34 mpg.