Hybrid SUV price attack! Look out Toyota Corolla Cross, updated GWM Haval Jolion slashed by $4000
An updated GWM Haval Jolion has reset the entry bar for hybrid SUVs in Australia with a $32,990 drive-away price.
Tied to a new Premium specification of the Chinese petrol-electric hybrid, the price blows away the likes of the Toyota Corolla Cross ($36,480) and Hyundai Kona hybrid ($36,000), which are significantly more expensive even before on-road costs are taken into account.
The far smaller Toyota Yaris Cross Hybrid 2WD is cheaper at $30,900, but once on-road costs are included it is more expensive.
The Jolion Premium Hybrid is also not that much more expensive than Australia’s cheapest plugless ‘full’ hybrid, the new $27,990 MG3 Excite+, which equates to about $30,000 on the road.
However, it doesn’t get close to the mild hybrid Suzuki Swift Hybrid, which at $24,990 drive-away is Australia’s cheapest ‘electrified’ new car.
GWM Haval has not only added a third cheaper Jolion hybrid, it has also cut the price of two existing petrol-electric models by $1000 to $35,990 in the case of the Lux and $2000 to $38,990 in the case of the Ultra.
It has also reduced the number of orthodox ICE-powered models from four to two, dropping the more expensive Ultra and ‘S’ and retaining the Premium and Lux, both of which also received a price cut.
The Premium is down $1500 to $26,990, while the Lux is reduced $1000 to $29,990. All pricing quoted is drive-away.
And while the Jolion hybrid receives all-new sheetmetal to cloak its carry-over 140kW/375Nm front-wheel drive powertrain, the petrol Jolion gets a much more rudimentary facelift and a slight power drop from 110kW to 105kW.
Since launching in Australia three years ago, a total of 29,417 Jolions have sold here.
