Nothing cheap and nasty here: Haval's new Jolion raises the bar.
Picture: SUPPLIED
SA consumers have shown little appetite for low-quality Chinese cars in spite of their bargain price tags, which saw firms such as Chana, Chery and Geely sent packing after failing to gain a local foothold.
Haval Motors has bucked the trend with its GWM bakkies and Haval SUVs making a decent sales impact over the past several years, and their products have steadily improved — especially Haval, which is the premium division of blue-collar brand GWM. Cars like its H6 and H9 have shaken off the cheap-and-nasty Chinese-car mantle, just as happened when Korean cars went from bargain-basement specials to products that could go toe-to-toe with mainstream Japanese and European brands a decade or two ago.