Haval H2 vs Toyota C-HR

What's the difference?

Brand Finance self-effacingly describes itself as "the world's leading independent branded business valuation and strategy consultancy". And adds that it regularly picks apart the current and future value of more than 3500 brands across multiple market sectors around the world.

These London-based boffins reckon Delta trumps American Airlines, Real Madrid has knocked off Manchester United, and Haval is a more powerful SUV brand than Land Rover or Jeep. So, no surprise Haval promotes the research on its Australian website.

Just to split hairs, Land Rover leaps to the top of the rankings when it comes to overall value, but in terms of an upward trajectory and potential for future growth, Brand Finance says Haval is the one.

The irony is you probably wouldn't know a Haval if it ran into you, which obviously isn't good in any sense, but a factor of the Chinese Great Wall subsidiary's relatively brief time, and so far, limited sales in the Australian market.

One of three models released in late 2015 to launch the Haval brand locally, the H2 is a small, five-seat SUV competing against a hot bed of more than 20 established players including the segment-leading Mitsubishi ASX, ever-popular Mazda CX-3, and recently arrived Hyundai Kona.

So, is Haval's potential reflected in its current product offering? We spent a week living with the sharply priced H2 City to find out.

According to the chief engineer for the Toyota C-HR, a second generation was never guaranteed for this uncharacteristically (for Toyota) design-led small SUV.

After the Corolla Cross came into existence, the top brass didn’t think the brand needed two similarly sized models in the line-up. So, why is it here, and is it any good?

The first question is easy to answer - the team drew the new C-HR up as a European model, built in hybrid-only and with enough key differences from the Corolla Cross to avoid the models competing. 

The second question? Let’s find out.