Despite offering cheap and in some cases good value for money offerings, many marques soon left the country after less than five years, as buyers hesitated spending their cash on a completely unknown brand.
A success story
It has been a different story for Great Wall Motors (GWM) though, which has become one of the most successful Chinese companies locally. In May this year, the brand took a further step by not only introducing its upmarket Haval division, but rebranding itself as Haval Motors South Africa.
Aside from the H1 that was previously known as the GWM M4, the rest of the Haval range is brand-new with the first arrival being the H2, a rather smart looking compact crossover and the bigger H6 C editor Sean Nurse recently drove.
No copying here
Arriving soon after its bigger sibling had departed, the H2 continues to take a step away from the blatant copycat styling adopted by a number of Chinese manufactures until now, with a distinct multi-slat grille, sweptback headlights with daytime running lights, colour coded door mirrors and handles and smart 18-inch alloy wheels.
The rear meanwhile draws visual similarities with the Subaru Outback, but overall comes across as a stylish offering if not up to the level of its rivals from Mazda and Renault.
Interior surprises
Being to GWM what Lexus is to Toyota, the H2’s interior comes as the biggest departure from many Chinese vehicles seen up to now, with a good helping of piano key black trim, faux aluminium inserts and body coloured pieces spanning most of the dashboard.
Although some of the plastics used exhibit a distinctly cheap feel, overall quality is a step in the right direction with even the buttons for the ventilation switches and audio system feeling rather chunky.
The biggest downside is rather dated sound system. Granted, while a touchscreen infotainment system is standard on the mid-range Premium and flagship Luxury, the entry level City tested here does without this in favour of a small dot-matrix unit surrounded by less than attractive black plastic. It is however an easy thing to operate and does include Bluetooth with both the USB input and Aux jack located in the centre glovebox, which also doubles up as an armrest.
Measuring 4 335 mm in overall length with a wheelbase of 2 560 mm and width of 1 814 mm, the H2 does offer decent amounts of space both front and rear, although the boot rates on the small side for a vehicle of this type. That aside, you do get a full-size spare located underneath the boot board.
Impressive spec
As mentioned, the initial trump card of Chinese vehicles has been their value-for-money factor, an area where the H2, even in City spec, does not disappoint.
Standard items include a multi-function steering wheel, cruise control, a 3.5-inch TFT instrument cluster display, keyless entry and push button start, electric windows all around, auto lock/unlock doors, electric mirrors, dual front airbags, ABS with EBD and Brake Assist and rear parking sensors.
Drivetrain needs work
Underneath the bonnet is where the H2 starts to falter however, as the 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine simply does not feel up to the task. Developed in-house, the motor develops 105kW/202Nm, but is hobbled by severe turbo-lag at low revs.
Compounding matters further is the rather hesitant six-speed automatic gearbox, which would unexpectedly drop a few cogs when you are keen to get moving, or have a tendency to hold on to the selected gear for too long. Surprisingly, the out-of-sorts drivetrain saw the H2 register a fuel consumption of 8.6-litres/100km, improving on Haval’s claim by 0.4-litres/100km.
Verdict
The Haval H2 is by no means perfect, but still rates as a huge step forward from any Chinese vehicle I’ve driven thus far. At R279 900, the City AT does offer a lot of features and comes with a five year / 60 000km service plan as standard, in addition to a five year / 100 000km warranty.
