Haval China journey - part 3

By Lawrence Minnie

GWM and Haval are one of the largest auto manufacturers in China and they set out to prove that they are the best by inviting a group of global journalists on a cross country tour with the brand. Shanghai was next on the list and it did not disappoint.

Please read parts one and two for the full story

Day 4

Arriving in Shanghai is nothing short of an assault on the senses. The sprawling cosmopolitan city hits you like an F5 tornado, the sights the sounds, the TRAFFIC!

Shanghai would be our base of operations for the next 3 days as we would be attending the Auto Shanghai 2019 international motor show.

Auto Shanghai 2019

The main reason for our visit to the show was to witness the unveiling of a number of GWN and Haval concepts as well as production models.

Our first day saw us attending the WEY X concept unveiling as well as the Haval Vision 2025 and GWM P Series Utility unveilings.

I do hope that Haval seriously considers the WEY brand for our market as these vehicles are truly amazing. Visually stunning and technologically advanced, the WEY would do well in South Africa.

Haval has proven that they are a force to be reckoned with when they unveiled the stunning Vision 2025 concept with real-world technology that makes many European SUV’s look positively archaic. If even half of the technology that has been crammed into this vehicle makes it to market by their deadline we will be seeing a new breed of SUV on our roads.

The focus of our visit though was the as yet unnamed P series pick-up, or as we call it, bakkie.

GWM has hit the ball out of the park on this production ready double cab with comparable fitment to the best luxury double cabs on the market.

After the unveiling, we were able to sit down with the production team and its program manager Phil Simmons to get some more insight into this market breaking vehicle.

Details

The South African market should see the first right-hand drive units arriving in 18 – 24 months.

The immediate release will see three derivatives, a commercial unit with the alternative energy drive train, a luxury unit for families and the rough and ready off-road unit.

There are no plans to bring the commercial unit to South Africa and we will most likely only see the luxury and off-road units locally that will take the fight to the likes of Ford and Toyota.

As far as power trains are concerned, a 2-litre turbo-charged petrol engine will see use in the initial rollout as well as a 2-litre diesel option. There are larger, more powerful engines currently under development.

Although total power outputs have yet to be confirmed ballpark numbers indicate 150kw and 380-400Nm from the power plants.

A 6-speed manual and an 8-speed auto transmission have also been confirmed for production while 4x4 and a multilink rear suspension have also been confirmed.

If the production team is to be believed we should be seeing these units landed on our shores at a sub 500k price range which will really put the cat amongst the pigeons in our local utility market.

Once the press conferences and unveilings had been completed we set out to explore the massive convention centre and all of the automotive jewels that were on display.

There were stands and displays from just about every automaker in the world and an entire hall dedicated to the local Chinese domestic market.

 

To be continued….