Great Wall Motors, the company behind the Ora Funky Cat, will add a second brand to its UK portfolio next year with the introduction of SUV brand Haval. 

Having launched the Ora brand with the Funky Cat electric hatchback in 2022 (before renaming it the Ora 03 last year), GWM is now moving to “provide a wider choice for customers, as it enhances its overall product offering”. 

Previously officially named GWM Ora, the company will now rebrand as simply ‘GWM’ in the UK, with all its dealers adopting a new look to suit by mid-february. 

The first Haval to arrive in UK dealers will be the Jolion Pro - a hybrid crossover that’s roughly the same size as the Nissan X-Trail and Kia Sorento. 

The Jolion Pro is powered by a 1.5-litre petrol engine with an electric motor in the seven-speed automatic gearbox, with a combined 188bhp and 277lb ft. 

GWM quotes a 0-62mph time of 8.5secs and claimed the Jolion Pro hybrid can achieve an average of 55mpg.

The cabin is characteristically minimalist, with the dashboard topped by a 12.3in central touchscreen and a digital gauge cluster. There is a physical button panel below the screen as well, and several more on the steering wheel and centre console. 

Pricing has not been revealed yet, but a start price in the mid-£30,000s would put it on a par with the likes of the BYD Seal-U DMI and Jaecoo 7 hybrid SUVs. 

GWM says the Jolion Pro has already “proven hugely successful in markets like Australia”, and promises further details of UK specification in the coming weeks. 

The company will be hoping that the addition of a new line of hybrid SUVs will boost its sales footprint in the UK, having sold just 3000 examples of the Ora 03 (née Funky Cat since it launched two years ago. 

GWM is the latest of many global car makers to turn to hybrids as a means of bolstering sales amid a downturn in demand for pure-electric cars in Europe. 

BYD, for example, has confirmed plans to launch three new plug-hybrid models in Europe in 2025, having initially launched here with a five-strong line-up of pure-EVs. 

GWM UK’s managing director Toby Marshall hailed the arrival of Haval as “a new era for GWM in the UK”.

“With the introduction of Haval under the GWM umbrella, we are able to offer customers a very competitively priced, and well specified petrol hybrid car, for those that want to make their first step toward electrification.”

In addition to Ora and Haval, GWM also sells cars under the Way, Tank and Poer brands in China. It hasn’t yet confirmed plans to bring any of those here, but says the move to being known as just ‘GWM’ leaves space for “any future GWM product” to be sold alongside the Ora 03 and Jolion Pro in dealers.