Haval H6C 2.0T Luxury Auto Test Review

Like any newcomer to the market, it takes time to prove your product and this has never been more relevant than with motor vehicles. In typical South African fashion, this has particularly applied to vehicles sourced from China.
To be fair, there have been a number of false starts and dismal failures. Whether the vehicles concerned were simply sub-standard or the victims of poor marketing strategy can be debated. BUT....there have been a very few notable exceptions!
GWM bakkies have been successfully marketed in SA for over 10 years now and have proven themselves for their basic toughness and reliability with the added bonus of a large price advantage over the usual competitors.
About 2 years ago, GWM then stepped up into the SUV arena with their upmarket offering Haval ( it means Have It All). With sales of over 1 million vehicles a year recently, mainly in China, they are certainly not bit-players by international standards.
So what does Haval offer a prospective buyer? They have a range of vehicles all in the SUV category. From the small, crossover H1, through the small SUV H2 and then the H6C which was the subject of this test. (MotorMatters has previously tested the H2 in both manual and automatic variants. You will find video reviews on this channel).
The H6C is a medium sized family SUV, competing in one of the largest and most hotly contested market segments world-wide. It certainly has its work cut out if they want to succeed in the SA market. Interestingly, until recently, Haval did not disclose sales numbers but simply judging by the numbers seen on our roads its obvious that they are making inroads.
The H6C is powered by a 2L 4 cylinder petrol engine with figures of 140kW and 310Nm. These figures are very competitive although there is a minor amount of turbo lag experienced on occasion. It's not serious but must be taken into account when overtaking or similar.
The 6 speed automatic transmission on the test car performed faultlessly, although again, you must never forget that this is a family wagon and far more suited to a relaxed driving style rather than pretending to be a sports wagon.
Where Haval really come to the party is with the generous specification levels that are standard on the vehicles. Luxury spec provides 6 airbags, leather trim, sunroof, powered adjustment on both front seats and a full touchscreen infotainment system as standard, plus many more.
If I have to find any fault with this vehicle, and this seems to apply to most of the Haval range, then it must be fuel consumption. During our test period which included a weekend trip to the Golden Gate area, I could not get the consumption below 8.9 L /100km overall. Whilst the vehicle proved faultless, cruised extremely comfortably and was generally a pleasure on the open road, this somehow spoilt the party for me.
BUT.......one has to look at the bigger picture!
The range topping test vehicle is currently priced at R399 900. This is an average of at least R100 000 less then all competitors. It will certainly take many years of ownership and driving to catch up, even with slightly higher fuel costs.
Add in the 5 year/ 60 000km service plan that is included in the price and the Haval H6c deserves to be on the test list of anybody looking to buy a new medium sized SUV.
#Haval
#HavalH6C
#MediumSUV

[@samy8897]

Waiting for GWM Ute review

[@edwardbaloyi155]

To noise while driving

[@louisminnaar8418]

High Cabin noise. Not even any real leather?😂 where is the Apple Car Play or Android Auto?

[@MotorMatters]

This was the previous model and not the version launched last year

[@louisminnaar8418]

@@MotorMatters but there are manufacturers like Subaru that had all that back in 2017 already? Car Play, real leather and soft cabins. And you get AWD on top of that.