Haval isn't a household name in Australia yet, but it is a big deal in China.
The Haval H6 is China's most popular SUV, and is the fifth highest-selling in the world, which gives us a snapshot into the immense buying power of the Chinese market considering the brand's tiny footprint outside its own market.
In it's the current form, the H6 went on sale locally in 2016 - despite being offered in China for years - but failed to make a sales impact.
Haval loaded up the H6 with a lot of kit and offered it at a bargain basement price in an attempt to woo buyers away from more traditional and popular models such as the Mazda CX-5, Toyota RAV4 and Hyundai Tucson.
The Chinese brand is looking at the same formula again with the second-generation H6 revealed in China this week and destined to arrive in local showrooms within the next 12 months.
Haval has super-sized the touchscreen, growing it from a respectable 7.0-inches to a mammoth 12-inch display in the new generation. This is also joined by a sizeable digital instrument cluster often only seen in luxury marques.
The Chinese SUV brand has also attempted to alleviate pollution concerns with the addition of a smaller capacity 1.3-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine, which joins the current 145kW/315Nm four-cylinder turbo petrol.
Styling was never a weakness of the current H6, and only minor tweaks have been made to give it a squarer, stronger and more masculine look.
The new Haval H6 is due to be displayed at the upcoming Shanghai motor show in April.
1 Comments
donk1 | 2017-02-28 04:14:12
Haval have really struggled to get any traction here. The vehicles poor reputation for quality , unknown reliability & 38% estimated 3 yr resale will count against it. Thirst 2.0 turbo petrol & a need for premium ULP Wong help either. Since going on sale, only 295 vehicles have been sold since it was launched around 16 months ago. At that rate, it's going to hardly be worth the cost of bringing them into Australia. Unfortunately , there's very little to recommend it. So this one's a big pass.