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What is GWM Haval? Complete brand, model and tech guide for UK car buyers

Havals are budget SUVs from Great Wall. Tomorrow looks tastier than today

Step into the Haval Jolion Pro and step back in time to when Dacias felt like an impoverished collection of old Renault parts, or when noisy Toyota hybrids drowned you in flailing revs.

That’s not to dismiss the Jolion Pro out of hand: its £23,995 price tag makes it one of the cheapest hybrid SUVs on the UK market. And that’s Haval’s positioning in a nutshell – it’s Great Wall Motors’ budget SUV brand.

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Importer International Motors launched Haval in early 2025, needing to extend its offer beyond the Ora EV brand and buoyed by the Jolion Pro reaching the giddy heights of Australia’s third best-selling sub-compact SUV. The model is 4,470mm-long, which makes for decent cabin space, although the boot is tiny. The JP may pull away in electric mode, but that’s not enough to unlock more than 47mpg.

More interesting is what comes next. GWM is assessing the H9, a BMW X5-sized boxy SUV that, like many SUVs, looks like it owes the Land Rover Defender royalties. Available in China with four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines (the one in the Poer300), expect the Australian market to unlock right-hand drive to enable UK sales in 2026. The H6 – a crossover SUV sitting between the two in size and running petrol and hybrid engines – is also waiting in the wings. 

UK models:Jolion Pro
Our pick:Wait for the H9 SUV
How big in China?Part of Great Wall Motors, which has made 1.23 million vehicles
2024 global exports:453,141 (37 per cent of total sales)
2025 UK registrations:126
Retailer network and warranty:47 GWM dealers/service centres; seven-year/unlimited-mileage warranty
We say:The H9 will make or break Haval; the Jolion Pro wasn’t the finest start point, and could put plenty of people off in the short term

Chinese car brands ranked by UK impact

Below is our Chinese power list, with all 17 brands ranked on current and potential UK market impact. Click the links to explore each manufacturer in detail...

 

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Phil McNamara Editor at large Auto Express

Phil is Auto Express’ editor-at-large: he keeps close to car companies, finding out about new cars and researching the stories that matter to readers. He’s reported on cars for more than 25 years as editor of Car, Autocar’s news editor and he’s written for Car Design News and T3. 

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