GWM Haval Jolion News

It’s 2026, and this year will mark a decade since Ford ended manufacturing in Australia, with Holden and Toyota also ending local production a year later. So, who’s making the cars we love now? And by who, we mean which countries?Here are the top five countries that made our favourite cars in 2025.Australia’s love of European cars is ongoing but that appears to be coming off the boil slightly with 2025 sales of cars built in Germany dropping to 54,905, down by 2639 units on the year before.Doing the heavy lifting are models such as the Volkswagen Tiguan and Golf, along with the Mercedes-Benz GLC and GLA SUVs which are made in Germany for Australia.It’s unlikely Aussies will stop treating themselves to cars from Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Volkswagen anytime soon, if ever. But as you will see the gap between prestige-niche (prest-niche?) and mainstream models could grow increasingly larger as Chinese offerings head further upmarket while keeping prices low.Hyundai and Kia are the big two Korean carmakers, with KGM (formerly SsangYong) struggling but still hanging on. Between the three they made 149,966 of the cars bought by Aussies in 2025. That’s down from 157,760 in 2024.Australians love models such as the Hyundai Kona and Santa Fe and Kia Sportage which are all made in Korea for our market. The drop in the number of Korean-made cars we bought could be attributed to the biggest mover in the top five manufacturers. Enter China.Number three today, number two tomorrow? Possibly sooner. The popularity of Chinese-made cars accelerated dramatically from 2024 to 2025, the overall number going from 176,159 to 221,699. Yes, an increase of 45,540 cars (+26 per cent), almost the total amount of German-made cars sold in 2025. Impressive.Chinese-made models such as the BYD Shark 6 ute, GWM Haval Jolion and MG ZS SUV have been snapped up by Aussies in their tens of thousands.As with any race, the battle between third and second place is often more riveting than what’s going on in first and China is breathing down the neck of Thailand right now.It might surprise you (or not at all) to know that Thailand came in second place for 2025. But only just, with 249,958 cars made for Aussies, which is down from 272,139 in 2024.What cars does Thailand make? Pretty much every ute on sale in Australia and utes are hugely popular here.Yep, from the Ford Ranger, Isuzu D-Max and Mazda BT-50 to the Mitsubishi Triton, Nissan Navara and Toyota HiLux. Thailand is a ute powerhouse.Japan is our winner for 2025 as the country which makes more cars that we buy than any other nation. Japan made 358,981 of the cars Aussies bought and that’s up from 241,296 in 2024. Carrying the heavy end of this big number is Toyota with firm Aussie favourites such as the RAV4, Corolla, Camry, Corolla Cross, Land Cruiser and Prado.By now you know the Toyota HiLux is made in Thailand, but did you know the Kluger is built in the United States for Australia? You do now.

GWM has tinkered with its fast-selling Haval Jolion small SUV, delivering big results.The Chinese brand has made some rolling changes to its compact SUV that have delivered massive reduction in fuel use.The Jolion Hybrid now uses 4.8L/100km, down from 5.1L/100km. And petrol Premium and Lux grades go from 8.1L/100km down to 6.7L/100km. GWM has also ditched the range-topping Ultra grade and replaced it with the Vanta variant. Its petrol engine is even more efficient than the cheaper grades, with it using 6.5L/100km.GWM said the fuel savings were due to the addition of stop-start function on petrol versions and new tyres and a more aerodynamic undertray on all variants. Engine performance remains unchanged despite the improvements.Hybrid version use a 1.5L petrol engine matched with an electric motor to make a combined 140kW and 375Nm.Lux and Premium petrol variants use a 1.5-litre turbo-petrol motor making 105kW and 210Nm. This jumps to 130kW and 270Nm in the Vanta grade.Petrol variants use a seven-speed dual-clutch auto and hybrid examples have a hybrid automatic transmission. All Jolions are front-wheel drive.All models run on the cheapest 91 RON regular unleaded petrol, which boosts value by reducing running costs.The increased efficiency also pushes the hybrid models under this year’s CO2 threshold as set out by the federal government’s New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES).The NVES slaps carmakers with penalties for every gram of CO2 emitted over a certain threshold per car. This CO2 limit gets lower every year until 2030.Carmakers can offset the penalties via credits earned from the sales of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.This type of change shows just how flexible Chinese carmakers can be, ushering in proper alterations outside of model year updates.This is referred to as "China Speed", which is a new industry buzz and something many established carmakers such as Audi, GM and Nissan are looking to replicate.GWM is currently offering sharp drive-away deals on current Jolion stock, but this deal is unlikely to apply to the revised versions. 

Back in 1995, the most popular SUV in Australia was the then-new and pioneering Toyota RAV4, way down at number 43. How things have changed, with SUVs sat at seven of the top-10 spots, and then (mostly diesel-powered) ladder-frame-chassis utes making up the difference. Here are 10 reasons why Australia’s (and the world’s) SUV obsession have made motoring worse than in past decades for people who love cars.

This year is not even over and yet one of 2026’s most-improved SUVs is already looming in sight for Australia. Due by the middle of next year, the GWM Haval Jolion will undergo a significant transformation to improve and update a number of shortfalls to bring it up to class standards against the best-selling Hyundai Kona, MG S5 and Chery Tiggo 4.

GWM has reduced the drive-away price of its Haval Jolion small SUV by up to $2000 signalling a price war with its Chinese rival Chery and its Tiggo 4.

If you need any proof that Australians are well and truly in favour of Chinese cars, just take a look around your local supermarket car park.

A bold successor for the Mazda CX-3 is in the wings at last. Believed to be badged the CX-20, the company’s smallest SUV and second best-selling model after the evergreen CX-5 mid-sizer is set to surface sometime before the end of next year, as a 2027 model.

Geely is considering introducing a cheaper SUV to Australia, in the shape of the Cityray.

Did we just drive Haval's electric Jolion before it's even finished?

GWM announced all new hybrid Haval SUVs will be all-wheel drive only, using its signature Hi4 electrified drive system, it announced during a presentation at the Shanghai motor show.The brand’s new Hi4 system, which is not yet available on any Haval model in Australia, uses a 1.5-litre petrol engine, at least one motor on the front axle and a motor on the rear axle. The brand said the Hi4 system is focused on both weight and cost reduction compared to competitor systems, which it said can be expensive for mainstream buyers when it comes to adding all-wheel drive.GWM recently introduced a plug-in hybrid system on its H6 GT in Australia, this is a predecessor technology. The new second-generation Hi4 system is expected to arrive in Australia on the upcoming off-road-styled H7 mid-size SUV before the end of 2025.The Hi4 system has been plug-in hybrid only, but speaking to global media, GWM’s chief powertrain engineer, Yvan Le Neindre, confirmed in the future Hi4 will also be deployed as a plugless hybrid as well as the current plug-in hybrid vehicles.The H6 will be superseded by a similar mid-size SUV known as the Xiaolong Max in China. GWM has long hinted at the Xiaolong Max becoming a tech-leading vehicle in Haval’s range in Australia.This mid-size SUV is currently plug-in hybrid only, with its hybrid set-up producing a combined 238kW/595Nm, with up to 165km of electric driving range (according to the more lenient CLTC testing procedure) from the largest 27.54kWh LFP battery pack option.The most efficient version of the system claims a WLTC combined fuel consumption of 0.97L/100km.For now the brand’s local division won’t be drawn on timing for the currently left-hand-drive only Xiaolong Max for the Australian market, or whether it will sit above the H6 or replace it entirely in time.Le Neindre did confirm the current H6’s plugless hybrid front-wheel drive system is on borrowed time, as the future of all Haval products is the Hi4 system.He added there are ten new models in the pipeline using Hi4 technology, and hinted “we can adjust the size of the components - from a technical point of view - to cover a wide range of products” when asked whether Hi4 would make it to more compact models like the Jolion.On top of this hybrid push, the brand will also deploy a new 4.0-litre V8 engine by 2027, which will be paired with a Hi4 system in order to meet emissions regulations. The brand said the larger capacity engine is specifically required for markets like Australia where off-roading and heavy towing is popular.