Great Wall Motors At Auto Expo 2020: What To Expect

The brand is likely to start its Indian innings with the Haval H6 SUV sometime in 2021

• The Indian car market is about to see a new entrant in the form of Great Wall Motors, a Chinese brand that will make a grand debut at the 2020 Auto Expo. The manufacturer will have more than 10 offerings on showcase ranging from full-blown SUVs to small electric cars. 

• Great Wall Motors has a variety of sub-brands including Haval (line of SUVs) and Ora (line of EVs), GWM pick-ups and WEY. 

• GWM has reportedly set up its manufacturing facility in Sanand, Gujarat, and is going to make an investment of around Rs 7,000 crore. 

• Among the many GWM attendees that could come to the Auto Expo 2020 are the Haval H6, a midsize SUV that has also been teased by the maker on its Indian Twitter handle. 

• The Haval H6 is expected to be the first product from the brand and will take on the likes of MG Hector, Mahindra XUV500 and the Tata Harrier. The China-spec Haval H6 is available in two petrol T-GDI options: 1.5-litre and 2.0-litre. It was recently spied testing in India as well. 

• Brace yourself to see the Haval F7 at the expo as well. The 4.6m-long SUV is a competitor to the likes of the Jeep Compass, Hyundai Tucson and is available with either a 2.0-litre or 1.5-litre direct-injection turbo petrol engines that can be had a 7-speed DCT. There’s also a coupe version of the same, christened F7X. 

• Apart from that GWM could also bring the Haval H9 full-size SUV that competes with juggernauts like the Toyota Fortuner, Ford Endeavour and the Mahindra Alturas G4. Interestingly, this ladder frame SUV is also powered by a 2.0-litre turbo petrol unit just like its smaller siblings. 

• Haval will also add to the high count of EVs that are bound to debut at the Auto Expo 2020. This will include the Ora R1, the world’s cheapest electric car. It features a 30.7kWh battery pack with a claimed range of around 351km per charge.

• The Ora R1 has an incentivized price tag that ranges between Rs 6.24 lakh (converted from $8,680) and around Rs 8 lakh (converted from $11,293). For reference, the Maruti WagonR-based EV that we are expected to get in India could cost more than Rs 9 lakh.