GWM Haval HX – new flagship 4×4, dual-motor PHEV with 239 PS 2.0L turbo four, 800V, Beijing debut

There’s a new player in the Chinese flagship 4×4 market, and it comes from GWM. The as-yet-unnamed SUV from the Haval sub-brand, codenamed HX, is set to debut at the Auto China show in Beijing later this month.

As you can see in these first images, the styling riffs off its large, boxy and rugged rivals, with an upright body and a wraparound windscreen design that almost apologetically ape the Land Rover Defender. At the front, you’ll find a rectangular fascia housing quad dual-tier headlight projectors on each side, plus a grille made up of inverted U-shaped silver frames, topped by a surprisingly small Haval badge. The beefy bumper is also silver but does not house any fog lights, looking oddly blank.

Moving to the side, the HX receives squared-off flared wheel arches, sturdy door pulls, vent-like front fender appliqués and a window line that kinks upwards at the C-pillars before dropping back down. The rear end gets the obligatory external spare tyre, framed by vertical taillights and a handle for the sideways-opening tailgate. The look is completed by 20-inch multi-spoke alloy wheels, looking a little lost under such a big body.

Despite what its appearance might suggest, the HX is not based on the Tank 500. Instead, it rides on GWM’s new One platform, which also underpins the Wey V9X – another top-of-the-line SUV. But whereas that car looks to be a unibody SUV, this appears to be a proper ladder-frame 4×4.

According to Autohome, the two are expected to share the same powertrain – a Super Hi4 plug-in hybrid system consisting of a 239 PS 2.0 litre turbo four-cylinder, front and rear electric motors, and a four-speed dedicated hybrid transmission. The One platform supports an 800-volt electrical architecture, so the battery should charge very quickly on DC.

The HX will be named through a contest, with a final vote set to take place on April 10 ahead of its Beijing debut. The car is under consideration for right-hand-drive markets such as Australia, per CarExpert, but if it does come to Malaysia, it won’t come cheap, given that the Tank 500 is already well north of RM300,000. It will have plenty of rivals, however, with the Denza B8 and Zeekr 9X both earmarked for our market.

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