7 Questions about Haval

By Farzana Chaumoo

Haval invited AutoTrader on a two week journey around South Africa which they called the Outreach Expedition. The Expedition allowed for Haval vehicles to be tested on all types of roads around the country, as well as, giving back to the community for welcoming the Haval brand with enthusiasm.

The two week journey was split into three parts between my colleagues and myself. From the first leg, Martin has covered a full review on the Haval H9 which you can find here, and Lawrence has covered the third leg from PE to Cape Town, which you can soon read about.

Leg two: Durban to PE

On my part of the trip, leg two, I flew in to Durban and we made our way to Port Elizabeth with a stop-over in a different town each night. We spent our first night at San Lameer then drove to Coffee Bay the next day, with a lunch stop in Port ST Johns. On day three we drove to East London, where guests from the East London dealership were taken on an off-road course the morning of day four. We were excluded from the off-roading and went sightseeing on foot around the area of our hotel. Thereafter, on day four, we then made our way to Port Elizabeth. On our leg of the trip, we didn’t do much gravel roads as we had a 7-month pregnant social media influencer with us so we stuck to tar roads.

Donations

Our very first stop was at the Marine Surf Lifesaving Club to donate sport gear as members of the club will be participating in the Lifesaving World Championships taking place in Australia later this year. Haval also donated equipment and supplies to the Wylie House Child and Youth Care Centre, in operation for 70 years, in Durban.

Dealership Visits

We visited and celebrated the opening of Haval’s new dealership in Shelly Beach. Following that, we also visited the dealership in Port Elizabeth, where the winner of Survivor South Africa 2018, Tom Swartz, was handed the keys to a brand-new H9.

Social Media Questions about Haval

From the many posts I made on social media during the trip, I found the same questions repeatedly being asked from the general public, so I thought I’d share them here with my readers.

Q: Who is Haval?

Haval is a Chinese automaker owned by Great Wall Motors. It began launching its SUVs in SA in 2017 but were previously selling passenger models and a bakkie under the GWM badge.

In its home market of China, it has sold more than a million SUVs since its launch in 2013, and its H2 model is a best-seller.

Tyrone Alberts, National Sales Manager of Haval Motors South Africa has said that Haval China is fully dedicated to supporting the South African market and is expecting to make serious in-roads into the local SUV market, selling quality vehicles at extremely reasonable prices. Haval has placed notable emphasis on R&D, and it shows clearly in the quality and capability of the vehicles.

Q: How are those cars? (overall)

There’s questionable all-round visibility from the driver’s seat of the H9 - it’s huge -  but the SUVs are overall well-specced, have good quality interiors with leather upholstery, neat styling, very spacious, is relatively comfortable, has a great sound system but catching a radio station can be troublesome, there’s good luggage space, they drive well and hold solidly to the road.

In terms of safety, the SUVs have good scores in CNCAP crash testing.

They also should’ve had more powerful engines but there’s decent power output. There’s no word yet on whether or when diesel engines will make its way to SA.

But the H9 is so extra! (and I mean, urban dictionary “extra”). The rear seats can recline, both front seats have a massage feature, as well as a comfort level feature that will inflate or deflate the back rest according to how you’d like it. The front passenger seat has a double set of automatic seat adjustment controls for that “VIP Experience” where the rear passenger or driver needn’t hurt their ribs in stretching over to move the seat forward. Visit the Haval website for full brochures on each model.

Q: Do those SUVs have any safety features?

These vehicles are equipped with plenty of the latest electronic aids which include front and rear parking sensors and reversing camera are standard on some models.

Depending on the model, there’s also features like the latest Bosch Electronic Stability Program and a suite of tools including Electronic Brake Force Distribution, ABS antilock braking, Traction Control, Hill Descent Control, Hill-Start Assist Control, Blind Spot Monitoring, an Intelligent Park Brake and a Tyre Pressure Monitoring System can also be found.

Furthermore, there’s alarm systems, seatbelt warning systems (for rear passengers too), and an Intelligent Anti-Door Locking Function.

SRS airbags can also be found in all models. Higher specced models are fitted with full-length side curtain airbags in the rear

Q: What are they offering?

Haval only offers SUVs. There’s the H1, H2, H6, H6 C and the H9 - in order of size. For each model there’s several configurations and trim levels that can be had.

Q: What’s the prices like?

The H1 starts from R179,900

The H2 starts from R259,900

The H6 starts from R244,900

The H6 C starts from R329,900

The H9 starts from R599,900

All models come with a 5 year/100,000 km Warranty, Unlimited km Roadside Assistance and a 60,000 km Service Plan.

Q: What about servicing, maintenance and parts?

The brand continues to gain momentum in South Africa and plans on growing its dealer base to 31 by the end of the year. Dealerships are equipped with servicing workshops and Haval has spent a few million on bringing in all the major parts, which will be housed in Johannesburg. Getting parts to workshops around the country is likely to take around two days by courier. If smaller and unusual parts need to be replaced, it will be shipped in but will, however, take longer to arrive.

Q: Would you buy one?

From the Haval offerings, I would probably pick the H6 C. From sales numbers, the H2 is the popular seller at the moment. For me, the H6 C was the perfect “in-between” from all the models. It wasn’t too big or too small. Power was right for its size. It had better road composure, was more responsive and more engaging to drive when compared to the H9, which I felt was sluggish.

You can watch a video review on the H6 C here where its overall refinement was rated “quite high” and “the drive is befitting of a vehicle with a considerably higher price tag.”

Find other News and Reviews of Haval on AutoTrader here.