Latest news with #JolionPro
Mail & Guardian
05-05-2025
- Automotive
- Mail & Guardian
Ticking all the boxes: The GWM Haval Jolion Pro
Stylish: The GWM Haval Jolion Pro has a more aggressive look compared to the classic Jolion. Since GWM introduced it in 2021, the Haval Jolion has become the brand's best-selling passenger vehicle in South Africa. The Jolion became a talking point in the country as it offered consumers a great deal at an affordable price. South Africans love that and gobbled it up. Haval then introduced the Jolion Pro in the last quarter of 2024. This one came with a much more sporty look. From an aggressive grille to a coupe-like silhouette, a rear spoiler, black door handles and a lightbar at the back, Haval took an already well-liked exterior and styled it to the maximum. It really took the fight to the exterior of the Jetour Dashing and Baic Beijing X55, while maintaining its uniqueness. You will also notice this is the first Haval vehicle that has GWM branding across the back as the Chinese manufacturer has opted to keep all its brands under the GWM umbrella, instead of its own brand. The interior The interior is very pleasing as well. When you get in, you are greeted by comfortable leather seats both in the front and back; a stylish leather dashboard with carbon-fibre print; a fully digital instrument cluster and a 12.3-inch infotainment screen that comes equipped with both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The Jolion Pro also has a few buttons below the infotainment screen for aircon controls, park assist and the demister, which is extremely convenient. Overall, the interior is lovely to look at and provides sufficient comfort for the driver and passengers. Only the boot gave me issues with this car. First, the 291 litres of bootspace felt very cramped. Second, there was no electric tailgate which I thought was odd, especially in a car packed with so much technology. The drive The Jolion Pro, much like the classic Jolion, has a seven-speed, dual clutch transmission gearbox paired to a 1.5-litre turbocharged engine that delivers 105kW of power and 230Nm of torque. I've never had a problem with the engines the majority of Chinese manufacturers put in compact SUVs. They provide sufficient power and a joyful and comfortable drive — albeit not the most seamless. The other issue we've been finding with the 1.5 turbocharged vehicles which are paired to a DCT or CVT gearbox is that the fuel consumption is often far higher than the figure claimed by the manufacturer. Luckily, this time, we were in the hybrid version of the Jolion Pro. It still has that 1.5-litre turbocharged engine but has an electric motor as well. The combined power of the two means increased performance and better fuel consumption. The hybrid version is lightning quick and extremely silent. It is perfect for the urban areas or traffic where your battery kicks in to help save fuel. Haval claims 5.1 litres/100km on the hybrid but a more realistic figure is 6 litres/100km. Safety The Haval Jolion Pro prioritises safety with features like adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping assist, blind-spot monitoring and a 360-degree camera system. The vehicle also benefits from a robust chassis, multiple airbags, ABS with EBD, electronic stability control and tyre-pressure monitoring. Depending on which variant you jump into, you might be without features such as adaptive cruise control, lane-keep assist and a 360-degree camera. But, no matter which variant it is, the vehicle will be packed with technology and safety features to put you at ease. The outer body of the vehicle feels solid and heavy. The robust frame and high-strength steel provide a strong foundation for safety. Verdict For all the technology packed into the Jolion, there was one thing that was slightly annoying. My late grandfather owned one of the first GWM bakkie models brought to South Africa and that bakkie and this Jolion Pro had the same hooter sound. I might be being picky here but the hooter does sound like it's coming from an old vehicle. With that said, aesthetically, the Jolion Pro is definitely an upgrade from the classic version. But, if we are talking about the drive quality, there is not much of a difference. However, it must be noted that the classic Jolion did so well because of the amount of safety and technology that it gave consumers at an affordable price. The Pro does the same but looks cleaner. It ticks all the boxes and is still well worth it for South Africans on a budget who want a beautiful car that has everything. The Jolion Pro comes in four variants: a premium (R391 150), super luxury (R425 950), ultra luxury (R462 950) and a HEV ultra luxury (R516 950). From my experience, it is well worth going for the hybrid version if you can afford it. It provides a better drive and will save you money on running costs in the long run.
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
GWM Haval Jolion Pro review: a Chinese hybrid that's lost in translation
This car is named Jolion. No, not Jolyon; Jolion is supposedly an anglicised form of 'chu lian', which in Mandarin means 'first love'. Its full name is the GWM Haval Jolion Pro. The first three letters stand for Great Wall Motor, the manufacturer; the rest is the model name. So Haval refers to the sub-brand; one of four of GWM's families of vehicles designed for mainstream family motoring. Jolion is Haval's range of mid-size SUVs, while Pro refers to the fact that this is the hybrid model. In short, this is a new SUV from GWM, the company that hitherto brought us the Great Wall Steed pick-up truck and the Ora Funky Cat – latterly Ora 03 – electric hatchback. It's about the size of a top-selling Nissan Qashqai and packs a hybrid powertrain, putting it in the direct line of fire of cheap hybrid SUVs like the MG ZS and Suzuki S-Cross – though the Jolion Pro is larger than either. It's already on sale in Australia, where GWM proudly boasts that it's the third best-selling car in the class in which it competes. With UK hybrid sales on the rise, the company has decided to import it here, too. This decision seems to have been taken rather suddenly. So suddenly, in fact, that GWM's dealers, which had set themselves up with signage bearing the logo of the Ora sub-brand, are now having to hurriedly swap those signs for GWM ones, thus enabling them to sell this car, which doesn't fall within the Ora range. So is this quick and opportunistic thinking from GWM – or a case of 'act with haste, repent at leisure'? And is the Jolion Pro really what the UK market needs? Cheap Should prove to be safe Roomy rear seats Tiny boot Barely average to drive Cheap interior with poor touchscreen There are only three versions; all share the same 1.5-litre hybrid powertrain, with a healthy peak power of 186bhp. Interestingly (and in contrast with most hybrid set-ups) the petrol motor is the lesser partner here; it develops only 94bhp, with a chunky electric motor serving up a peak of 147bhp. The idea is that the Jolion Pro drives more like an electric car. The electric motor does the majority of the work, with the petrol engine acting mainly as a generator unless its extra shove is required to achieve maximum acceleration, at which point it can also drive the wheels in parallel. Consequently, due to the torque of the electric motor, only a two-speed gearbox is required. But what will grab you the most is the price. The entry-level Premium mode is only £23,995; that's despite it having a glut of equipment, including adaptive cruise control, a rear-view camera and keyless entry. The top-of-the-range Ultra version tested here isn't quite such a bargain, but it's still less than £30,000. By comparison, even an entry-level Qashqai costs more than that, let alone if you want to opt for the hybrid model, while even a comparable S-Cross will cost a couple of grand more. The Jolion Pro, then, has the potential to be seriously good value. Especially since it looks to be pretty safe in a crash. Euro NCAP (New Car Assessment Program) hasn't got its hands on it yet, but in the Australian equivalent's crash tests this GWM scored an impressive 90 per cent for adult occupant protection and 84 per cent for child protection. It looks a bit unusual, with big spoilers and aggressive skirts that make it look like an old Subaru – ironic, really, as Subarus are imported alongside GWMs by IM Group. But the wheels sit well inboard of the arches, making the Jolion Pro look oddly top-heavy, as though it's rolling on castors. Inside there's plenty of space for children and child seats in the back, where there's leg room aplenty, and wide-opening doors to make it easy to buckle them in. But that's about where the good news ends. The first problem comes when you open the boot, to discover that the floor (and, consequently, the loading lip) is surprisingly high. That's because the battery is underneath, resulting in a ludicrously miniscule luggage space of 255 litres; about as much as in a tiny Hyundai i10 city car. A week's worth of shopping for a family of four only just fits in beneath the luggage cover; a week's family holiday would probably require a roof box. In the front seats, the story is no less disappointing. On first inspection the dashboard is attractively styled, but it's built from tinny plastics and there are some horribly tacky touches, such as the knurled finisher on the cupholder cover and the cheap-looking light-up decals on the door panels. Storage for odds and ends is minimal; even the cupholders are an odd shape, with only one of the pair large enough for a normal-sized coffee cup. The touchscreen is decidedly second-rate, with slow responses and cheap-looking graphics. In one sub-menu, I noticed a reference to 'windscreen scrapers' (wipers), while warning messages often pop up in garbled English with nonsensical response buttons (more of which anon). You have to use the touchscreen to adjust the climate control, too, but the only way to access the menu is to jab at the tiny readout of temperatures at the top left-hand side of the screen. In here you'll also find controls for the heated seats, but you'll have to look hard – they're hidden several layers deep within a sub-menu. Search for the navigation and you'll be disappointed; for all the Jolion Pro's impressive specification, navigation isn't even an option on any model. Nor is there digital radio – basically, if you don't have a phone with a healthy data plan and the technical know-how to connect it, all you have is an AM/FM radio. The digital instrument binnacle is better, but still flawed; the power readout is the same size as the speedometer, for example. Since both show very similar numbers at 30mph or so, it's easy to mistake one for the other at a glance. If you're hoping things will improve on the road, you're in for more disappointment. The first thing you'll notice is the way the Jolion Pro rides bumps; it manages to crash into most of them rather than smothering them, jittering and bucking over even smaller imperfections You hope things will improve at higher speeds, but they don't; even on a motorway, the Jolion Pro jiggles you around far more than it should. The only difference here is that it also wafts queasily over longer-wavelength undulations. Getting up to speed, meanwhile, means your ears are assaulted by the coarse petrol engine, which spins up to high revs and stays there for the duration of the acceleration. On the plus side, the clever powertrain set-up makes that acceleration seamless and the Jolion Pro feels more than gutsy enough to keep up with traffic. But the delayed response to the accelerator pedal can be frustrating, particularly when trying to pull out onto a busy road. You can forget about having fun on a back road, too; that mushy throttle response combines with utterly remote and overly light steering to make you feel as though your inputs are being sent to the front of the car by telegram. And while the Jolion Pro manages to hold up its body reasonably well during fast cornering – a corollary of the stiff suspension – you won't really enjoy it because there's so little front-end grip. Even modest throttle inputs in a sharp corner can set the front wheels scrabbling; on a greasy road, this loss of composure can be alarming, as it can lead to the nose pushing on toward oncoming traffic. I haven't even covered the 'driver aids', which are so intrusive as to be deeply distracting. The lane departure system activates far more frequently than it needs to, indicating you're crossing the white lines even when you've just drifted close – something you often need to do on crowded urban thoroughfares. Worse, though, is the driver distraction monitor, which chides you for looking away from the road even for a moment – which you have to do, a lot, given how unintuitive the touchscreen system can be. And when it does so, up pops one of those nonsensical messages on the central display, accompanied by a round of bleeps. 'Hey! Don't stray!' it exhorts, along with options to click Yes or No. I've no idea what either option meant, but both seemed to get rid of the message. The overriding feeling here is of a car that isn't ready for British buyers – of one that has been imported hastily, without too much quality control along the way. In some places, the Haval Jolion Pro is rough and ready. In others it's simply shoddy. That won't matter to some buyers. The fact that it costs so little, has plenty of room for the kids and probably won't collapse in a crash will be enough to convince them. But often in life you get what you pay for and that was never truer than here. You, the discerning Telegraph reader, should resolve to pay a little more and get yourself into a better car. One which will dispense warning messages in actual, proper English. And one, perhaps, whose name you won't have trouble remembering. On test: GWM Haval Jolion Pro 1.5 Hybrid Ultra Body style: five-door SUV On sale: now How much? £29,995 on the road (range from £23,995) How fast? 115mph, 0-62mph in 9.0sec How economical? 47mpg (WLTP Combined) Engine & gearbox: 1,497cc four-cylinder petrol engine, two-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox, front-wheel drive Electric powertrain: AC permanent magnet synchronous motor with 1.69kWh battery, no external charging facility Electric range: TBC Maximum power/torque: 186bhp/277lb ft CO2 emissions: 118g/km (WLTP Combined) VED: £210 first year, then £180 Warranty: 5 years / unlimited miles Spare wheel as standard: no (not available) 101bhp, 55.4mpg, £24,495 on the road Superficially, at least, the most obvious rival to the Haval Jolion Pro is its compatriot. But keep in mind that the ZS is slightly smaller and has considerably less power. That, and the fact it isn't as well equipped, goes some way toward explaining how much cheaper it is; for all that, though, there's almost as much room in the back, more in the boot and a longer warranty. 134bhp, 53.3mpg, £25,740 on the road Don't be fooled by the name; the C3 Aircross is a mild hybrid, rather than a full one, although perhaps that doesn't matter when it can compete with full hybrids in fuel economy terms. This roomy little car offers almost double the boot space of the Jolion Pro and while you don't get all the fancy toys the trade-off is that it's much more pleasant to drive, with a deliciously comfortable ride and crisp handling. It's much nicer to sit in, too. 113bhp, 54.3mpg, £31,949 on the road In hybrid form, the S-Cross isn't much cop, but it's a heap better than the Haval Jolion Pro. And while it might cost more, it's also more fuel efficient; that, and the fact you get a longer warranty, will help mitigate against the extra cost. If you really must have a cheap, fully-loaded hybrid, this is a better bet – even though it's not really very good. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
26-02-2025
- Automotive
- Telegraph
GWM Haval Jolion Pro review: a Chinese hybrid that's lost in translation
This car is named Jolion. No, not Jolyon; Jolion is supposedly an anglicised form of 'chu lian', which in Mandarin means 'first love'. Its full name is the GWM Haval Jolion Pro. The first three letters stand for Great Wall Motor, the manufacturer; the rest is the model name. So Haval refers to the sub-brand; one of four of GWM's families of vehicles designed for mainstream family motoring. Jolion is Haval's range of mid-size SUVs, while Pro refers to the fact that this is the hybrid model. In short, this is a new SUV from GWM, the company that hitherto brought us the Great Wall Steed pick-up truck and the Ora Funky Cat – latterly Ora 03 – electric hatchback. It's about the size of a top-selling Nissan Qashqai and packs a hybrid powertrain, putting it in the direct line of fire of cheap hybrid SUVs like the MG ZS and Suzuki S-Cross – though the Jolion Pro is larger than either. It's already on sale in Australia, where GWM proudly boasts that it's the third best-selling car in the class in which it competes. With UK hybrid sales on the rise, the company has decided to import it here, too. This decision seems to have been taken rather suddenly. So suddenly, in fact, that GWM's dealers, which had set themselves up with signage bearing the logo of the Ora sub-brand, are now having to hurriedly swap those signs for GWM ones, thus enabling them to sell this car, which doesn't fall within the Ora range. So is this quick and opportunistic thinking from GWM – or a case of 'act with haste, repent at leisure'? And is the Jolion Pro really what the UK market needs? Pros Cheap Should prove to be safe Roomy rear seats Cons Tiny boot Barely average to drive Cheap interior with poor touchscreen Simple choice There are only three versions; all share the same 1.5-litre hybrid powertrain, with a healthy peak power of 186bhp. Interestingly (and in contrast with most hybrid set-ups) the petrol motor is the lesser partner here; it develops only 94bhp, with a chunky electric motor serving up a peak of 147bhp. The idea is that the Jolion Pro drives more like an electric car. The electric motor does the majority of the work, with the petrol engine acting mainly as a generator unless its extra shove is required to achieve maximum acceleration, at which point it can also drive the wheels in parallel. Consequently, due to the torque of the electric motor, only a two-speed gearbox is required. But what will grab you the most is the price. The entry-level Premium mode is only £23,995; that's despite it having a glut of equipment, including adaptive cruise control, a rear-view camera and keyless entry. The top-of-the-range Ultra version tested here isn't quite such a bargain, but it's still less than £30,000. By comparison, even an entry-level Qashqai costs more than that, let alone if you want to opt for the hybrid model, while even a comparable S-Cross will cost a couple of grand more. The Jolion Pro, then, has the potential to be seriously good value. Especially since it looks to be pretty safe in a crash. Euro NCAP (New Car Assessment Program) hasn't got its hands on it yet, but in the Australian equivalent's crash tests this GWM scored an impressive 90 per cent for adult occupant protection and 84 per cent for child protection. Odd looks – and the first snag It looks a bit unusual, with big spoilers and aggressive skirts that make it look like an old Subaru – ironic, really, as Subarus are imported alongside GWMs by IM Group. But the wheels sit well inboard of the arches, making the Jolion Pro look oddly top-heavy, as though it's rolling on castors. Inside there's plenty of space for children and child seats in the back, where there's leg room aplenty, and wide-opening doors to make it easy to buckle them in. But that's about where the good news ends. The first problem comes when you open the boot, to discover that the floor (and, consequently, the loading lip) is surprisingly high. That's because the battery is underneath, resulting in a ludicrously miniscule luggage space of 255 litres; about as much as in a tiny Hyundai i10 city car. A week's worth of shopping for a family of four only just fits in beneath the luggage cover; a week's family holiday would probably require a roof box. In the front seats, the story is no less disappointing. On first inspection the dashboard is attractively styled, but it's built from tinny plastics and there are some horribly tacky touches, such as the knurled finisher on the cupholder cover and the cheap-looking light-up decals on the door panels. Storage for odds and ends is minimal; even the cupholders are an odd shape, with only one of the pair large enough for a normal-sized coffee cup. Touchscreen troubles The touchscreen is decidedly second-rate, with slow responses and cheap-looking graphics. In one sub-menu, I noticed a reference to 'windscreen scrapers' (wipers), while warning messages often pop up in garbled English with nonsensical response buttons (more of which anon). You have to use the touchscreen to adjust the climate control, too, but the only way to access the menu is to jab at the tiny readout of temperatures at the top left-hand side of the screen. In here you'll also find controls for the heated seats, but you'll have to look hard – they're hidden several layers deep within a sub-menu. Search for the navigation and you'll be disappointed; for all the Jolion Pro's impressive specification, navigation isn't even an option on any model. Nor is there digital radio – basically, if you don't have a phone with a healthy data plan and the technical know-how to connect it, all you have is an AM/FM radio. The digital instrument binnacle is better, but still flawed; the power readout is the same size as the speedometer, for example. Since both show very similar numbers at 30mph or so, it's easy to mistake one for the other at a glance. Road manners If you're hoping things will improve on the road, you're in for more disappointment. The first thing you'll notice is the way the Jolion Pro rides bumps; it manages to crash into most of them rather than smothering them, jittering and bucking over even smaller imperfections You hope things will improve at higher speeds, but they don't; even on a motorway, the Jolion Pro jiggles you around far more than it should. The only difference here is that it also wafts queasily over longer-wavelength undulations. Getting up to speed, meanwhile, means your ears are assaulted by the coarse petrol engine, which spins up to high revs and stays there for the duration of the acceleration. On the plus side, the clever powertrain set-up makes that acceleration seamless and the Jolion Pro feels more than gutsy enough to keep up with traffic. But the delayed response to the accelerator pedal can be frustrating, particularly when trying to pull out onto a busy road. Unresponsive You can forget about having fun on a back road, too; that mushy throttle response combines with utterly remote and overly light steering to make you feel as though your inputs are being sent to the front of the car by telegram. And while the Jolion Pro manages to hold up its body reasonably well during fast cornering – a corollary of the stiff suspension – you won't really enjoy it because there's so little front-end grip. Even modest throttle inputs in a sharp corner can set the front wheels scrabbling; on a greasy road, this loss of composure can be alarming, as it can lead to the nose pushing on toward oncoming traffic. I haven't even covered the 'driver aids', which are so intrusive as to be deeply distracting. The lane departure system activates far more frequently than it needs to, indicating you're crossing the white lines even when you've just drifted close – something you often need to do on crowded urban thoroughfares. Worse, though, is the driver distraction monitor, which chides you for looking away from the road even for a moment – which you have to do, a lot, given how unintuitive the touchscreen system can be. And when it does so, up pops one of those nonsensical messages on the central display, accompanied by a round of bleeps. 'Hey! Don't stray!' it exhorts, along with options to click Yes or No. I've no idea what either option meant, but both seemed to get rid of the message. The Telegraph verdict The overriding feeling here is of a car that isn't ready for British buyers – of one that has been imported hastily, without too much quality control along the way. In some places, the Haval Jolion Pro is rough and ready. In others it's simply shoddy. That won't matter to some buyers. The fact that it costs so little, has plenty of room for the kids and probably won't collapse in a crash will be enough to convince them. But often in life you get what you pay for and that was never truer than here. You, the discerning Telegraph reader, should resolve to pay a little more and get yourself into a better car. One which will dispense warning messages in actual, proper English. And one, perhaps, whose name you won't have trouble remembering. The facts Body style: five-door SUV On sale: now How much? £29,995 on the road (range from £23,995) How fast? 115mph, 0-62mph in 9.0sec How economical? 47mpg (WLTP Combined) Engine & gearbox: 1,497cc four-cylinder petrol engine, two-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox, front-wheel drive Electric powertrain: AC permanent magnet synchronous motor with 1.69kWh battery, no external charging facility Electric range: TBC Maximum power/torque: 186bhp/277lb ft CO2 emissions: 118g/km (WLTP Combined) VED: £210 first year, then £180 Warranty: 5 years / unlimited miles Spare wheel as standard: no (not available) The rivals MG ZS Hybrid+ Trophy 101bhp, 55.4mpg, £24,495 on the road Superficially, at least, the most obvious rival to the Haval Jolion Pro is its compatriot. But keep in mind that the ZS is slightly smaller and has considerably less power. That, and the fact it isn't as well equipped, goes some way toward explaining how much cheaper it is; for all that, though, there's almost as much room in the back, more in the boot and a longer warranty. Citroën C3 Aircross 1.2 Hybrid 136 Max 134bhp, 53.3mpg, £25,740 on the road Don't be fooled by the name; the C3 Aircross is a mild hybrid, rather than a full one, although perhaps that doesn't matter when it can compete with full hybrids in fuel economy terms. This roomy little car offers almost double the boot space of the Jolion Pro and while you don't get all the fancy toys the trade-off is that it's much more pleasant to drive, with a deliciously comfortable ride and crisp handling. It's much nicer to sit in, too. Suzuki S-Cross Ultra Full Hybrid 113bhp, 54.3mpg, £31,949 on the road In hybrid form, the S-Cross isn't much cop, but it's a heap better than the Haval Jolion Pro. And while it might cost more, it's also more fuel efficient; that, and the fact you get a longer warranty, will help mitigate against the extra cost. If you really must have a cheap, fully-loaded hybrid, this is a better bet – even though it's not really very good.
