2026 GWM Haval Jolion Premium review

How much is the Haval Jolion?

GWM sells the Jolion on a mix of advertised drive-away prices and list prices, so check the basis next to each one:

• Premium (1.5 turbo petrol): $23,990 drive-away, advertised in VIC.
• Lux (1.5 turbo petrol): $26,990 drive-away, advertised in VIC.
• Premium Hybrid: $29,990 drive-away, advertised in VIC.
• Vanta (130kW petrol): $32,990, held as RRP.
• Lux Hybrid: $33,990, held as RRP.
• Vanta HEV: $35,990, held as RRP.

The three drive-away figures were GWM campaign prices with an end date, and GWM refreshes its offers often. Use them as a guide and get a written drive-away quote.

What each step up buys

The Premium is the entry point: cloth trim, a 10.25-inch touchscreen, a 3.5-inch driver display, four speakers, 17-inch wheels on 215/60 R17 tyres, keyless entry, push-button start, a power tailgate and a space-saver spare. The whole assist suite is standard, which is not a given at this price.

The Lux adds a 360-degree camera, synthetic leather, a 7-inch driver display, six speakers, built-in navigation and digital radio for $3,000 more on the drive-away figures. The Premium Hybrid keeps the Premium's cloth trim and four speakers but swaps in the 140kW hybrid for another $3,000.

The Vanta grades move to the wider body with a 12.3-inch screen, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a wireless phone charger, a panoramic sunroof, the 360-degree camera and 18-inch wheels. The Lux Hybrid sits between them with the 12.3-inch screen, the 360-degree camera, wireless charging, navigation and a power tailgate.

On the road and per week

On its advertised $23,990 drive-away, the Premium works out to about $152 a week in VIC and $151 in QLD on our weekly-cost model ($5,000 deposit, five years at an assumed 7.5%, plus fuel, rego and tyres). The Premium Hybrid is about $169 a week in VIC and $168 in QLD. For the RRP-priced Lux Hybrid, our drive-away estimate is about $36,880 in VIC and $36,050 in QLD, and about $187 a week in VIC. None of those include servicing or insurance, because we do not hold either for the Jolion.

How it compares at the same money

The MG ZS is the natural cross-shop. The ZS Vibe is $22,990 RRP, and the Excite Hybrid+ is $30,990 RRP with a claimed 4.7L/100km and a 10-year warranty, which carries a 250,000km figure on our row where GWM's has no cap. The ZS rows carry a 443-litre boot against the Jolion's 255 to 337 litres, but the ZS is rated to tow only 500kg braked.

The Chery Tiggo 4 Urban is $23,990 drive-away in VIC, the same as the Jolion Premium, with a 380-litre boot and a 7.4L/100km claim. The Toyota Yaris Cross GX Hybrid 2WD is $31,790 RRP with a 3.8L/100km claim and a 390-litre boot but only 400kg of braked towing. If you want a bigger car in the same showroom, the Haval H6 is the next size up.

See how it stacks up in our best small SUVs guide and the best Chinese cars roundup.

Petrol or hybrid?

Every Jolion runs on 91 RON regular unleaded from a 55-litre tank. The 105kW petrol in the Premium and Lux is rated at 6.7L/100km combined, which at $1.95 a litre and 15,000km a year is about $1,960 of fuel. The Vanta's 130kW petrol is rated slightly lower at 6.5L/100km, or about $1,900 a year.

The hybrid claims 4.8L/100km, which is about $1,400 a year on the same sums: a saving of roughly $560 a year over the 105kW petrol. On the drive-away prices, the Premium Hybrid costs $6,000 more than the Premium petrol, so the fuel saving alone takes around a decade at 15,000km a year to pay that back. Drive more, or mostly in town where a hybrid does its best work on the test cycle, and the payback shortens. Buy the hybrid for the extra 35kW and 165Nm and the lower fuel bill, not because it pays for itself quickly.

Range is a strength. The tank divided by the combined figure gives a calculated 821km for the 105kW petrol and about 1,146km for the hybrid.

Warranty, servicing and roadside

GWM's warranty is the Jolion's best ownership number: seven years with unlimited kilometres. For a high-kilometre driver or a rideshare buyer, the missing kilometre cap matters more than the headline year count. Roadside assistance also runs for seven years, renewed each time the car is serviced through GWM.

Services are due every 12 months or 15,000km. We do not hold GWM's capped-price service figures for the Jolion, so there is no per-visit cost or five-year total on this page; ask the dealer for the printed schedule for your grade, because the hybrid's schedule may differ from the petrol's. We do not hold a hybrid battery warranty figure or a resale figure for the Jolion either.

One practical cost to know about: the hybrid grades come with a tyre repair kit rather than a spare wheel on our rows, while the petrol grades carry a T135/90 R17 space-saver. If you drive country roads, that is worth weighing.

ANCAP and the assist list

The Haval Jolion holds a five-star ANCAP rating from 2022, with 90% for adult occupant protection, 84% for child occupants, 64% for vulnerable road users and 92% for safety assist. The rating carries an expiry date of 31 December 2028. That 64% is the weakest of the four scores and covers how the car protects pedestrians and cyclists.

Every grade on our rows lists autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, lane-keep assist, speed-sign recognition and fatigue detection as standard, with six airbags. The 360-degree camera is on every grade except the Premium and Premium Hybrid.

There are ISOFIX points on the two outer rear seats and top tethers on all three rear positions, so three child seats across the back are possible in principle if they fit the width.

Space, boot and garage fit

The Jolion is 4,470 to 4,472mm long on a 2,700mm wheelbase, with 185mm of ground clearance and a 12m turning circle. It is 1,581mm tall on the Premium, Lux and Premium Hybrid and 1,625mm on the wider grades, so it fits standard garages and most car parks without drama.

The boot is where you need to read closely. The Premium, Lux and Premium Hybrid are listed at 337 litres seats up and 1,133 litres folded. The Vanta petrol drops to 291 and 952 litres, and the Lux Hybrid and Vanta HEV to 255 and 916 litres. Against the rivals named above, every Jolion boot figure is smaller: 443 litres for the MG ZS, 390 for a 2WD Yaris Cross, 380 for the Tiggo 4 and 468 for the base Kia Seltos. A large pram may need the rear seats folded on the hybrid, so try your own in the boot-fit tool below.

Trim is cloth on the Premium and Premium Hybrid and synthetic leather on the Lux, Vanta and Lux Hybrid. Five seats throughout.

Screens, phones and sound

The Premium, Lux and Premium Hybrid use a 10.25-inch touchscreen, with a 3.5-inch driver display on the Premium and a 7-inch one on the others. The wider-body grades move to a 12.3-inch touchscreen. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard across the range; wireless versions are listed on the Vanta and Vanta HEV.

Audio runs to four speakers on the Premium and Premium Hybrid and six on the rest. Wireless phone charging is on the Vanta, Lux Hybrid and Vanta HEV. USB-A sockets are listed, and we hold single-zone climate control for every grade. Built-in navigation is listed on the Lux and Lux Hybrid rows.

The GWM Haval Jolion Premium has 74 kW for every tonne of kerb weight, 210Nm of torque. It weighs 1,410kg and turns in 12m. These are the figures that shape how quickly a car gets moving and how easily it parks.

Power, weight and towing

The Premium and Lux use a 1.5-litre turbo making 105kW and 210Nm through a 7-speed dual-clutch, at a 1,410kg kerb weight. The Vanta's tune lifts that to 130kW and 270Nm at 1,520kg. The hybrid pairs a 1.5-litre engine with an electric motor through GWM's dedicated hybrid transmission for 140kW and 375Nm combined, with a claimed 0-100km/h of 9.5 seconds at 1,575kg. All are front-wheel drive.

Towing is a strength for a small SUV. The petrol grades are rated at 1,500kg braked and the hybrids at 1,300kg, with 750kg unbraked and a 150kg towball download. Compare that with 500kg braked for the MG ZS, 400kg for a Yaris Cross and 1,100kg for a base Seltos. A small camper trailer or a loaded box trailer is within reach.

Payload is tighter. GWM does not print one, but gross vehicle mass minus kerb weight gives about 435kg for the Premium and Lux, 405kg for the Vanta and 450kg for the hybrids. Five adults and luggage can approach that, so check before a loaded road trip with a trailer on the back.

The verdict

The Haval Jolion is a value play, and the figures back it up: a $23,990 drive-away entry point, the full assist suite on every grade, 1,500kg of braked towing on the petrol grades and a seven-year warranty with no kilometre cap. The Premium Hybrid at $29,990 drive-away is the sweet spot for most buyers, with 140kW, a 4.8L/100km claim and a calculated range beyond 1,100km per tank.

Look elsewhere if boot space is high on your list. Every Jolion figure trails the MG ZS, Yaris Cross, Tiggo 4 and Seltos, and the hybrids drop to 255 litres. If fuel use comes first and you can live with a 400kg tow rating, the Yaris Cross Hybrid claims 3.8L/100km, a litre below the Jolion Hybrid. And if a 2022 ANCAP date matters to you, newer ratings are on several rivals.

Compare every grade on the Haval Jolion listing, or put it against the MG ZS in the compare tool.