A caravan straight out of "Mad Max": this Chinese off-roader weighs 730 kilos – and that's exactly its problem

In Hall 11 at the Caravan Salon 2026, I suddenly felt like I'd been dropped into a post-apocalyptic scene: at the stand of Chinese manufacturer Lidu, there was a compact caravan on display that would've fit right into any "Mad Max" movie: the Lidu Veteran 350, once in black, once in grey. Fierce, with angular shapes, chunky off-road tires, and a hitch box that looks like it could survive a firefight. Honestly, I've got a soft spot for this kind of look.

The Veteran 350 is built in Changshu, in Jiangsu province. A Dutch importer brings it to Europe. On the spec sheet at the stand, one detail made me do a double take: unladen weight of 730 kilos. According to the manufacturer's website, the permitted gross weight is only 750 kilos.

Do the math on that for a second.

Exactly. And because the rest of the caravan is genuinely interesting, it's worth a closer look. We've already introduced you to the Aquila 360 from the same manufacturer. The Veteran 350 is the off-road answer to it — but not quite in the way you'd expect.

Who's behind Lidu RV?

According to its own company profile, Lidu RV (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd. was only founded in 2024. Sounds like a garage startup, but it isn't. Its parent company is Zybody, also known as Zhongyuan Auto, founded in 2012, which has been supplying aluminum body parts to Toyota, Jaguar Land Rover, and Tesla for over ten years. The plant is certified to IATF 16949, the quality standard used across the automotive industry.

That explains why the caravan feels the way it does. The body is made from hot-formed steel and aluminum parts, joined, according to the manufacturer, using methods like self-piercing rivets and laser welding. In other words, exactly the techniques used to build car bodies today. The first caravan rolled off the line in January 2025, with a capacity target of 5,000 units per year.

The Veteran comes to Europe via Starlight B.V. from the Netherlands. The company calls itself Lidu's official European representative, covering the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Scandinavia. There's no German dealer network yet — it's currently being built up. More on that below.

The dimensions of the Lidu Veteran 350

According to the spec sheet at the show:

• Length: 505.5 cm

• Width: 228 cm

• Height: 203 cm (the brochure lists three values: 203 / 216 / 235 cm, presumably depending on the roof setup)

• Ground clearance: at least 30 cm

• Bed: 194 × 150 cm

• Tires: LT245/70 R17 on alloy wheels

• Unladen weight: 730 kg

• Permitted gross weight per manufacturer's website: 750 kg

What does that mean in practice? At just over five meters including the hitch, the Veteran is shorter than most touring caravans and fits on any standard pitch. The 228-centimeter width, though, isn't exactly compact. On narrow forest tracks, it'll feel just as tight as a big caravan — except here you actually get the ground clearance to match.

A side note: the website lists four colors (Desert Yellow, Olive Green, Midnight Black, Dawn Silver), while the show brochure lists six (including Danxia Red, named after the rainbow mountains in Gansu). Even the "Full specifications" link on the manufacturer's site led to the data for a completely different model when we checked. The European communications clearly aren't fully sorted yet.

Military looks, but done properly

The looks are half the sales pitch, and they seem to work. Powder-coated sheet metal instead of GRP sandwich panels, frameless panoramic windows, car-grade doors with heavy-duty hinges. The door shuts with a solid thud you won't get from a classic caravan.

Insulation is PU foam (B1-rated, meaning flame-retardant). After an hour at a trade show, I can't judge how well that insulates in real conditions. Sheet metal conducts heat better than sandwich panels — that's just physics. How Lidu has addressed that would need a winter test to find out.

Storage is the real strength here: 500 liters at the rear, 300 liters in the front box, plus roof storage. For a caravan this size, that's a huge amount. But we'll come back to the weight in a moment.

Chassis: German engineering underneath

Lidu develops the chassis itself, from hot-formed high-strength steel. What sits on top of it, though, comes from Germany: independent wheel suspension, the overrun brake system, hitch, and mechanical corner steadies all come from KNOTT. It rolls on LT245/70 R17 tires on alloy wheels.

A real practical advantage: any trailer service shop in Germany can maintain a KNOTT axle. If you're importing from China, that's worth a lot.

Two things on the spec sheet caught me off guard, though. First: The corner steadies are optional. Crank-down stabilizer legs come standard on pretty much every European caravan. On the show unit with the price tag, they weren't ticked.

Second, and this one matters more: The full-size spare wheel is also optional. It's listed as its own line on the spec sheet ("Tires: LT245/70 R17 with full-size spare"), and on the show unit, that box was empty. An off-road trailer without a spare wheel doesn't make much sense. You won't find LT245/70 R17 tires at the next tire shop in rural Portugal, and your tow vehicle probably runs a different size anyway. If you're planning to use this thing the way the marketing photos show, you need to order the spare separately.

1 / 3

Interior: one bed, two fold-out tables, that's it

The inside of this Chinese off-roader is a lot more modest and homely than the rugged exterior suggests. According to the spec sheet, standard equipment includes:

• a 194 × 150 cm bed that folds down into a sofa during the day,

• a rail system for sliding storage boxes,

• a pegboard for hanging gear,

• a storage bag

• a mosquito net and sun-shade roller blind, both operated by hand,

• two fold-out tables at the front,

• an LED main light plus ambient lighting,

• a 2-kilo powder fire extinguisher,

• and a shore power connection.

No kitchen. No bathroom. No toilet. No water tank. There's an optional 26-liter canister for an outdoor shower and a shower tent. Neither comes standard.

On the 2025 show unit, the tailgate folded down 90 degrees and doubled as a work surface for a portable gas stove you'd bring yourself. There's no roof or cover over it. If it rains, you cook wet.

1 / 6

Power: 100 Ah standard, 314 Ah optional

Standard equipment: a 12V, 100 Ah LiFePO4 battery, plus a 2,000-watt inverter, USB and standard AC outlets, a shore power hookup, and a 2-kilo powder fire extinguisher. Optionally, you can get a 314 Ah battery (roughly 4 kWh) and a solar panel.

Without heating, a fridge, or a water pump, this setup genuinely can keep you off-grid for several days. That's an honest calculation, not marketing fantasy. The catch: the optional battery costs you weight. And weight is exactly the problem here.

The weight problem: 20 kilos of payload

730 kilos unladen weight on the show unit. 750 kilos maximum permissible weight according to the manufacturer. That leaves a grand total of 20 kilos of payload.

This isn't my interpretation — both figures come from the same manufacturer page. The body text on that very same page even says "roughly 690–750 kg curb weight." Worst case, you're left with nothing at all.

What this means in practice (my own math, not the manufacturer's):

• Bedding, clothes, dishes, and tools for two people realistically weigh 40 to 80 kilos.

• Upgrading the battery from 100 to 314 Ah adds roughly 20 kilos on its own. Even without anything else, you're already over the limit.

• Shower tent, toolbox, pegboards, a full spare fuel canister: it all adds weight.

And then there's 500 liters of storage at the back plus a 300-liter front box that you're practically not allowed to fill. 800 liters of storage volume for 20 kilos of payload just doesn't add up.

What I'd want to clarify with the importer: Does the 730-kilo unladen weight apply to the European-spec standard trim, or to a bare base unit? Is there an option to increase the permissible weight? And what's the actual weighed unladen weight of the specific unit you're buying? Get this in writing, not just a verbal answer over the phone.

My guess, and I want to be clear this is pure speculation: the trailer has a braked axle with a KNOTT overrun brake system. Unbraked trailers are already allowed to weigh up to 750 kilos anyway. If you're fitting a brake at 750 kilos, the axle was probably designed to handle more. So bumping the permissible weight up to 1,000 kilos would technically be possible. The catch: that would kill the trailer's strongest selling point. More on why in the next section.

Driver's license and tow vehicle: what you need to check

With a Class B driver's license, you're allowed to tow a trailer up to 750 kilos gross weight behind any car up to 3.5 tonnes. No extra training, no test, no extra math. The Veteran 350, at exactly 750 kilos, sits right on that limit.

It gets complicated once you go above that: for trailers over 750 kilos, the combined weight of car and trailer can't exceed 3.5 tonnes. That rules out a lot of bigger SUVs. In that case, you need B96 (up to 4.25 tonnes combined, just a driver training course) or BE (trailers up to 3.5 tonnes, but with a practical test). More on this in our guide to the caravan driving licence.

What about EVs? This is where it actually gets interesting. Many electric cars are limited to a towing capacity of 750 to 1,000 kilos. The Veteran fits right in that range. Still, there are two things you need to check: your car's noseweight (the maximum download allowed on the tow ball) is listed in the vehicle registration document, and it's often tight on EVs. So check fields O.1 and O.2 in your registration document — before you fall in love with the trailer.

The price: What does the Veteran 350 cost?

The show vehicle at the 2026 fair had a handwritten price tag reading €23,900. The year before, the figure floating around was €25,000, so the price has actually dropped. Whether that €23,900 is gross or net, and whether it's a recommended retail price or a special show price, isn't clear from the documents. I couldn't find a second source confirming this figure either. So: as of September 2026, without guarantee.

And now the important part: The spec sheet for this particular vehicle showed exactly what was actually fitted. Not ticked off: the 314 Ah battery, the solar panel, the 26-litre water tank, the corner steadies, the full-size spare wheel, the shower tent, the exterior toolbox, the outdoor pegboard, and the electric fly screen.

So €23,900 is the price for the base model: chassis, running gear, bed, 100 Ah battery, inverter, lighting, fire extinguisher. Everything that actually makes this trailer usable off-road day to day costs extra. Lidu hasn't published prices for the options anywhere yet.

For comparison, because it puts things in perspective: in China, the Veteran 350 starts at 89,800 yuan according to the manufacturer's website. Depending on the exchange rate, that's roughly €11,000 to €12,000. Before anyone shouts "rip-off": there's transport, import VAT, customs duties, European homologation, importer margin, and probably a different equipment package in between. It's not a fair direct comparison. Still, the number is worth knowing.

My tip: Get a written equipment list matching the quoted price before you buy. On a trailer where the solar panel, corner steadies, shower tent, electric blinds, and the big battery are all optional extras, that list is what determines your final price.

What to watch out for when buying

• Check the type approval: The manufacturer's website advertises "CE" and "EU type-approved." The importer, however, wrote in September 2026 that the Veteran is "in the final stage of European TÜV/WVTA homologation." That's a contradiction, and CE marking isn't a vehicle type approval anyway. → Ask to see the Certificate of Conformity (CoC) before you put down a deposit. Without EU type approval, you'll need an individual inspection under §21 StVZO in Germany.

• Double-check the weight: With a 750 kg gross weight, the spec sheet leaves just 20 kilos of payload. → Ask for the weighed unladen weight of your specific unit, and whether a gross weight upgrade is possible.

• Servicing and spare parts: The KNOTT axle, overrun brake, and drawbar can be serviced anywhere in Germany. Body panels, windows, and brand-specific electronics can't. → Ask exactly where damage would get repaired and how long a part from China would take to arrive.

• Dealer network: There's currently no named dealer in Germany — according to the importer, the network is only just being built up. Hoped-for delivery time: 8 to 16 weeks after ordering. → Clarify who your contact would be in case of a warranty claim, and where they're based.

• Warranty: Neither Lidu nor Starlight has published warranty terms. → Get it in writing before paying a deposit.

One more thing: there's no long-term track record for Lidu vehicles in Europe. The first production unit rolled off the line in January 2025, and the market launch started at this very show. On the manufacturer's website, the "Owner reviews" section for the Veteran 350 still reads "No reviews yet." Anything anyone tells you about weatherproofing, durability, or resale value is speculation — my assessment included.

Technical specs at a glance

My verdict: Who is the Veteran 350 right for?

The Veteran 350 isn't a caravan for a two-week family holiday on the Adriatic. It's not a substitute for a teardrop trailer with an outdoor kitchen either, since it doesn't even have a kitchen.

It suits people looking for a base camp: a dry, lockable, sprung bed at the end of a gravel track, with power for a few days and a tow vehicle that can handle more than tarmac. If you already travel with a stove, cool box and jerry cans, you won't miss anything. If you expect a heater and a toilet, keep looking.

What I really like is the build quality. Hot-formed steel, aluminum outer skin, KNOTT chassis, car-grade doors. Someone here understood that an off-road trailer has to withstand one thing above all: vibration. The manufacturing know-how from the automotive industry isn't a coincidence, it's the whole point of the company.

What bugs me: the 20 kilos. A trailer that boasts 800 liters of storage space but only gives you 20 kilos of payload has a contradiction built into its concept. Either that figure still needs correcting by the importer for Europe, or it's a real problem. Until that's cleared up, I wouldn't put down a deposit.

And honestly? I'd still stop at the booth just for the looks. Again.

What's your take: is a bed on wheels with off-road suspension enough for you, or does a caravan need at least a kitchen as far as you're concerned? And would you buy a caravan from China as long as there's no dealer in Germany yet? Let us know in the comments.