Australia’s longest-running Chinese car brand is plotting a wave of plug-in hybrid and electric cars in a bid to grow sales, placing it in line for a spot among the Top Five sellers.
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A revamped Haval Jolion small SUV line-up and the launch of the Wey prestige brand will lead a wave of at least seven new models due in GWM Australia showrooms over the next 18 months.
Plans revealed by GWM Australia chief operating officer John Kett to local media this week will see at least seven new models reach showrooms next year, focused on plug-in hybrid and electric power.
It forms part of medium-term plans to account for 7 per cent of new vehicles sold in Australia, equivalent to about 85,000 deliveries annually – or Top Five in the market, up from seventh today.
Among the most significant launches will be the Haval Jolion Max, a new small SUV to slot above today’s Haval Jolion range – across boxy Jolion and sleeker ‘Jolion Pro’ shapes – with plug-in hybrid and electric power.
It is the showroom badge for a small GWM SUV shown to Australian reporters on a media preview drive in China earlier this year, at the time badged as a ‘Haval New SUV’ – and sold in China as the Xiaolong.
Few details of the vehicle have been revealed, other than its choice of powertrains and its name, the latter pointing to a price above today’s $37,990 drive-away Haval Jolion Ultra Hybrid, based on the 'Pro' body style.
“The Jolion has a petrol and a hybrid, so the Jolion and Jolion Pro. We're going to introduce what's called Jolion Max next year, which will have two different fuels [PHEV and electric] to that,” said Kett.
The Ora 5 is a slightly smaller vehicle – with the Haval Jolion Max closer to a Geely EX5 in dimensions, in the mid-size SUV segment – and the two are likely to be further differentiated on exterior and interior design.
“We obviously have Ora sitting in the small car segment. In the small SUV segment, we will certainly have an Ora small SUV next year,” the executive said.
In the one-class-up mid-size SUV category, Kett confirmed the Haval H7 SUV – launched this year in a single hybrid grade to test the market for the vehicle – will add plug-in hybrid power in its next generation, though timing for its introduction is yet to be revealed.
“In the mid-size SUV segment, we have H6 and H7 today. Certainly H6, we’ve launched the PHEV, and the new, next-generation H7 will also be [a PHEV],” said Kett.
“Our plans, we're still considering a mid-size SUV coming out of the Ora line-up – and then when we get into large SUV news, it'll all be diesel and plug-in hybrids.”
Confirmed for 2026 is GWM’s Wey brand, a prestige marque aimed at Lexus and the likes of BYD’s new Denza division.
Details of which models Wey will launch are yet to be confirmed, but it is expected there will be a choice of vehicles – including a people mover known as the Wey G9 in other right-hand-drive markets.
Wey also fields a large, six-seat plug-in hybrid SUV in China under the Blue Mountain (translated) name, in which GWM Australia executives have previously expressed interest.
“Beyond that, we're going to launch the Wey brand [in 2026], so we've made that clear that the Wey brand will come to Australia,” said Kett.
“It's very much tied into what we need to do with our brand, certainly around upgrading our network. There'll be certain conditions under which dealers will get access to the Wey brand.
“That will be tied to a project that we've called Rise ... where the dealers need to invest in larger stores so that we can really showcase all of our brands and our portfolio within our stores.”
The rush of new models will lend GWM one of the broadest line-ups of any Chinese brand in Australia – with the widest range of propulsion types, from pure petrol and diesel to hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and electric.
“We feel well covered between petrol, [for] as long as we can [sell them under NVES emissions rules],” the GWM executive told media.
“We feel incredibly well covered with HEVs [hybrids]; we should do better than what we do today in terms of our position.
“And we're certainly well covered for NVES, which is really a supply chain, supply side constraint, but we've got this incredible portfolio, and if we can lift the adoption rates across those segments, we'll win.”
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Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
