GWM is eyeing the return of the Haval H9 off-roader to Australia, and it thinks it could become one of its most popular models.
“There’s another car which is on the radar and under consideration, again we haven’t locked it in yet: H9, which comes with diesel,” Steve Maciver, GWM Australia and New Zealand’s head of marketing and communications, told CarExpert.
“If brought in at the right place, would give us a couple of options within that seven-seat SUV seat range, Tank 500 potentially sitting at a more luxurious hybrid level, then having something else to complement it with diesel which may serve well for different buyer types, different regional buyers.
“So again, no commitment to it yet but again another car that we’re looking at.”
100s of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now.
The Tank 500 isn’t offered with a diesel, though a plug-in hybrid is coming in 2025 and a turbocharged petrol V6 is offered in China.
A Haval H9 diesel, then, could give GWM a vehicle to more directly take on the likes of the Ford Everest, Isuzu MU-X and Toyota LandCruiser Prado.
Like those vehicles and the Tank 500, it features body-on-frame construction, a live rear axle, and an available third row of seating.
The Tank 500 is an outlier, considering large, three-row, body-on-frame SUVs from mainstream brands are almost entirely diesel-powered. Only the LDV D90 offers a petrol option.
The first-generation Haval H9 formed part of the Haval brand’s original rollout in Australia back in 2016. It was discontinued here in 2021, though it lived on in China.
The closest thing to a direct replacement for it was the Tank 500, which didn’t launch here until earlier this year.
Being from GWM’s Tank brand, it’s positioned as a more premium vehicle.
“If you think about Haval SUVs [they’re] a mainstream volume SUV brand in terms of the styling, in terms of the positioning, in terms of the pricing. You’re arguably going to attract a larger volume of buyer in the Australian market based on all of those things,” said Mr Maciver.
“We think the volume will continually grow [with Tank SUVs], but we would argue we’re never quite going to get to the same volume with a Tank 300 or Tank 500 as we do with an H6 for example, as they’re much more mainstream and conventional in their SUV style. And they’re exactly what most people are looking for.
“An H9 would have to carry on that same ethos of thinking within the Haval model series, so if you think of Jolion, H6, even an H9, [plus] the Cannon ute, those are always going to be the volume pillars of GWM moving forward.
“The other products inside, we’ll continue to offer as many options as we can that make sense, but you can look at them as perhaps more niche, more specialist [vehicles].
“We’ll still continue to offer the right opportunities to customers. If the demand is there, we can bring more here, but our strategy moving forward is that certainly those cars we’re talking about – Jolion, H6, potentially an H9, Cannon – will be a lot of the volume to come.
“And certainly the Cannon Alphas, Tank 300s, Tank 500s, they’ll add on the side but we’re not going to get a thousand a month out of the Tank 500 for example.
“Who knows, we might be surprised, but we see the Haval model series as being where that [main volume] sits.”
Here are some key specifications of the new Haval H9:
| Haval H9 | |
|---|---|
| Length | 5070mm (with external spare wheel) 4950mm (without external spare) |
| Width | 1976mm |
| Height | 1930mm |
| Wheelbase | 2850mm |
| Ground clearance | 224mm |
| Approach angle | 31 degrees |
| Departure angle | 25-26 degrees |
| Wading depth | 800mm |
That makes it 36mm longer than a Ford Everest (ignoring the external spare) on a 50mm shorter wheelbase.
The Haval H9 is offered in China with a turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with 160kW of power and 380Nm of torque, mated with an eight-speed ZF-sourced automatic, but a turbo-diesel 2.4-litre four has also been confirmed.
This is the same engine as in the GWM Cannon Alpha ute, which produces 138kW and 480Nm and is mated with a nine-speed auto.
The Haval H9 features a four-wheel drive system, a ‘tank turning’ function, hill descent control, a surround-view camera with a transparent chassis mode, and locking centre, front and rear differentials.
Inside, there’s a 14.6-inch touchscreen infotainment system and a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster.
Available equipment includes heated, ventilated and massaging front seats, a heated steering wheel, a panoramic sunroof, power-assisted side steps, and LED headlights with adaptive high-beam.
Tank 500 and Tank 300
There’s also a suite of active safety technology available, which includes autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring and lane-keep assist.
The Haval H9 would need to be priced under the Tank 500, which ranges from $66,490 to $73,990 drive-away.
Since the original Haval H9 was axed, GWM has also slotted in the Tank 300 off-roader into its local lineup.
Smaller than traditional body-on-frame off-roaders like the Everest and Prado, and lacking their available third row of seating, it’s priced from $47,990 to $60,990 drive-away (or $46,990 to $55,990 under a current promotion).
MORE: Everything GWM Haval H9
MORE: 2024 GWM Haval H9 review: Quick drive
