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.
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