I’m sure I’m not the only one confused with all the branding happening with GWM. Here in the Philippines, we’re used to having ‘brand – car name – variant’ on most models. Even if Toyota owns Lexus, the luxury cars aren’t called Toyota Lexus LBX.
That’s why a lot of us were confused when GWM arrived in the Philippines last year. They had the GWM Haval H6 Max but at the same time, there’s a simple moniker in the GWM Cannon. So what gives? Today I’ll explain the meaning behind the names of Great Wall Motors’ brands.
GWM
Great Wall Motors started in 1984 with the production of light trucks and sedans. It wasn’t until 1996 that they started to focus on pickups and started rising up the ranks in that category. Today GWM is the undisputed leader of pickups in China having sold 202,330 in 2023 while the second place only had around 55,000.
GWM as the mother company has a different logo from Great Wall’s line of pickups. The pickups have a logo reminiscent of the pin in Google maps.
In the Philippines, they introduced the GWM Cannon but in China they have the more robust Poer (pronounced as power), full-size King Kong Cannon, and Wingle.
Haval
Haval is originally a nameplate used in an SUV under the GWM brand in the early 2000s. They continued having SUVs under GWM until the Haval H6 achieved immediate success around 2011. Then in 2013, Haval officially became a sub-brand of Great Wall Motors focused on SUVs and later on, also New Energy Vehicles.
Today Haval continues to grow, having sold 715,188 units in 2023. They’re present in three categories – city SUV, light off-road SUV, and off-road SUV with differing implementations of hybrid technology.
Ora
Haval stops at hybrid technology because for full-electric offerings, they have Ora. Cars under Ora take a 180-turn from Haval in both styling and purpose. Whereas Haval have the muscle and gnarly capability, Ora is all about softer curves, powerful all-electric powertrain, and bright theme in the cabin. In fact, they’re really marketing the brand towards female owners. Every Ora car is supposed to “Match her abilities,” “Demonstrate her charm,” and “Symbolize her status.”
The Philippines already saw the Ora 03, and soon the Ora 03 GT and the longer Ora 07 sedan will arrive.
Wey
As if their top of the line offerings aren’t upmarket enough, Great Wall Motors launched the Wey brand in 2016. It’s positioned to be the high-end of the Haval brand but with higher standards of advanced safety.
Wey is also branching out to luxury MPVs (or minivans) with the Wey Gaoshan that also had its 2024 MIAS preview in the Philippines.
Tank
Originally a nameplate under Wey, Tank is the newest break-away brand under the Great Wall Motors family. What differentiates Tank from the Haval line is their off-road capability straight out of the showroom. It also helps that none of the Tank cars can be called ‘sleek’ and instead, feature a boxy shape that is distinct even in the Great Wall Motors family of cars.
Some of you have probably seen the Tank 300 during the 2024 MIAS. Keep your eyes on the road because soon, the Tank 700 will also arrive in the Philippines.