SCALING THE WALL

HAVAL, CHINA’S BESTSELLING SUV BRAND, ENTERS SOUTH AFRICA AS PART OF ITS GLOBAL AMBITIONS

HAVING already established itself as the top-selling SUV brand in China for the past 14 years, Haval now has its sights set on conquering global markets. One of these is South Africa. By the time that you read this, the company would already have introduced the brand, and its first product offering (the H2), to local shores … with many to follow.

In essence, Haval is a sub-brand of GWM, the well-established Chinese company that also offers utility and passenger vehicles. Since GWM first entered into the South African market 10 years ago, it has been able to establish a firm foothold, especially with its Steed bakkie line-up. The company also offered passenger vehicles and, most noteworthy, started an assault on the local SUV market. Over the last decade, it developed a wide network of 40-plus dealers across the major metro regions and has always been committed to offering high levels of service and support, a key requirement in our market.

With Haval, the company intends to bolster its SUV efforts. The carmaker will aggressively expand its dealer network and remain committed to supporting the South African market and are expecting to make serious in roads in to the SUV market, selling quality vehicles at extremely affordable prices. The company is in the process of rebranding its GWM dealers to Haval Motors SA.

Haval sees South Africa as a key market outside of China and its positioning in the market clearly indicates the commitment to global expansion that Haval has, not only as a vehicle exporter, but as a true global auto manufacturer (see overleaf ).