The growth in sales of Chinese vehicles continues to gain momentum. While the SAIC
subsidiary, MG Motor, is leading the way with its big-selling SUVs the original
breakthrough was made a decade ago with the Great Wall company targeting the tradie
market with cheap workhorse utilities of questionable safety quality.
Great Wall, now be re-branded as GWM, continues in the ute market with improved
quality, but has now entered the booming SUV market with a three-vehicle range: the
large H9, mid-sized H6 and the small-medium Jolion.
Jolion comes with four variants: Premium, Lux, Ultra and Vanta competitively priced
between $27,490 and $34,485, driveaway. Our test vehicle was the Ultra.
STYLING
The shape of the Jolion is fairly conservative with the dominant feature being a large
chrome grille, a bit too large and glitzy for our taste but which others love.
The grille is flanked by LED headlamps, foglamps and attractive daytime running lights.
The car’s profile is standard SUV lines, while the back, is plain and square.
The Vanta, which was added to the Jolion range in February 2022, and is a limited edition
of 500 units with a number of black exterior highlights including 18-inch alloy wheels, roof
rails, lower rear bumper trim, door trim and fog lamp trims.
INTERIOR
Our first impression was that Jolion is larger than we expected, most noticeably on the
inside. A comparison of its exterior dimension with other vehicles in its class confirms that
it is around the longest (4472 mm) but clearly the widest (1841 mm) making for excellent
all-round interior space.
A blend of soft touch surfaces, aluminium-style accents and leather wrapped steering
wheel give a premium look to the cabin.
There are plenty of sensible storage options on and below the centre console with USB
ports at both the front and rear. There’s a large central bin and a pair of cupholders in two
sizes in the centre console, while door pockets can fit bottles.
The Ultra that we tested comes with a wireless smartphone charging pad at the bottom of
the front console.
Boot space with the rear seatbacks in place is 430 litres, expanding to 1133 litres with the
60:40 second row stowed. There’s a space-saver spare beneath the boot floor.
ENGINE / TRANSMISSION
Power comes from a 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine with 110 kW of power at 5600 rpm and
210 Nm of torque from 2000 revs. There is no all-wheel drive option, all models are front
wheel drive through a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.
Drive modes are Standard, Eco, Sport and Snow.
INFOTAINMENT
The best that can be said about the Jolion Ultra’s infotainment system is that it looks great
with its 12.3-inch high-resolution colour multimedia touchscreen in the centre of the
dashboard.
Unfortunately, as we’re seeing far too often nowadays too many features are accessed
through the screen instead of the more convenient, and safer, physical rotary dials. In
Jolion’s case the air conditioning controls sit in a glass touch control horizontal bar below
the touchscreen which difficult to use as well as being are all but invisible in broad
sunlight.
Wired access to Apple CarPlay and Android Auto is standard.
A 7-inch LCD digital instrument cluster sits behind the steering wheel with a range of
system information.
SAFETY
All Jolion variants get an outstanding list of safety features including seven airbags;
advanced ABS brakes with brake override; electronic stability control; intelligent adaptive
cruise control with stop and go; secondary collision mitigation; roll movement intervention;
hill descent control; hill-start assist control; tyre pressure warning; rear parking assist and
rear view camera; intelligent cornering control; intelligent crossing; emergency lane keep;
rear cross traffic alert and braking; forward collision warning; lane departure warning; lane
keeping assist; lane centre keeping; automatic emergency braking; traffic sign recognition;
blind spot detection with lane change assist; rear collision warning; door open warning;
traffic jam assist; and ISOFIX child seat anchors.
There’s also a driver inattention alert system in the form of a camera located at the bottom
of the A-pillar. Great feature of course and a potential life-saver but, because so many
features require multiple taps on the touchscreen or the air-con bar, it gets activated far
too often.
Even sillier, as well as the audible alert, a warning comes up on the screen that reads
“Hey, Don’t Stray” and prompts a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ response which – guess what? – extends
the driver’s distraction time.
Variants above the entry-level Premium add a 360-degree camera.
All Jolion models get the same six-speaker audio system.
DRIVING
Despite its modest power (110 kW) and torque (220 Nm) outputs Jolion moves along
nicely enough thanks partly to Haval’s new global lightweight modular platform.
On the downside there is noticeable turbo lag on take-off and some jerkiness at low
speeds from the seven-speed dual clutch transmission.
Overall Jolion doesn’t have any performance credentials but that’s not going to be an
issue for potential buyers.
Fuel consumption is listed at 8.1 litres per 100 kilometres. We averaged 9.8 L/100 km
during our week of testing.
SUMMING UP
With the credibility of Chinese vehicles steadily improving, thanks in no small part, to its
MG rivals the Haval Jolion is certainly worth considering.
While it does have a number of annoying features there’s plenty in the Haval Jolion that
will appeal. There’s plenty of up-to-date technology and a high level of safety features.
Add very competitive pricing, a seven-year unlimited kilometre warranty, five years
roadside assist and an attractive capped price servicing program.
AT A GLANCE
MODEL RANGE
Jolion 1.5 Premium: $27,490
Jolion 1.5 Lux: $29,990
Jolion 1.5 Ultra: $32,990
Jolion 1.5 Vanta: $34,485
Note: These are driveaway prices.
SPECIFICATIONS (Haval Jolion Ultra 1.5-litre turbo-petrol five-door wagon)
ENGINE:
Capacity: 1.497 litres
Configuration: Four cylinders in line
Maximum Power: 105 kW @ 5600 rpm
Maximum Torque: 220 Nm @ 2000 rpm
Fuel Type: Premium unleaded petrol
Combined Fuel Cycle (ADR 81/02): 8.1 L/100km
CO2 Emissions: 186 g/km
DRIVELINE: Seven-speed dual clutch automatic
DIMENSIONS, WEIGHT AND CAPACITIES:
Length: 4472 mm
Wheelbase: 2700 mm
Width: 1841 mm
Height: 1574 mm
Turning Circle: Not supplied
Kerb Mass: 1400 kg
Fuel Tank Capacity: Not supplied
BRAKES:
Front: Ventilated disc
Rear: Solid disc
STANDARD WARRANTY:
Seven years / unlimited kilometres
RATINGS
Looks: 7/10
Performance: 7/10
Safety: 8/10
Thirst: 7/10
Practicality: 8/10
Comfort: 7/10
Tech: 6/10
Value: 8/10
