THE HAVAL M4 IS NOW CALLED THE HAVAL H1

(Left to Right) Ahmad Azam Dato' Sulaiman, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Go Auto & Dato' SM Azli Tan Sri SM Nasimuddin Kamil, Executive Director of Go Auto

The Haval M4 Compact Crossover SUV has been given a name change. The little EEV (energy efficient vehicle) certified SUV is now called the Haval H1. The only obvious changes to the car is that the H1 now has a differently styled chrome grille and the Haval logo is embedded on the steering wheel, car boot and seatbacks. It basically is the same car.

HAVAL MALAYSIA LAUNCHES THE HAVAL H2 SUV - 1.5L Turbocharged SUV from RM89,950 onwards

Go Auto, the distributor for Haval cars in Malaysia has launched the Haval H2 SUV. The larger, C segment sized H2 now complements the surprisingly popular B segment sized M4 crossover SUV in the Haval line-up here in Malaysia. Haval now have a better two car lineup and now caters to a slightly wider audience than the single vehicle in its lineup. Prior to this, the Haval brand was called Great Wall Motors and they also sold the Wingle pick-up truck as well as a turbo diesel power SUV. 

Great Wall Malaysia is now HAVAL Malaysia and HAVAL launches the full spec M4 ELITE AMT too!

Some quick bits. Great Wall Motors (GWM) Malaysia is now called HAVAL Malaysia. HAVAL is the name which the Great Wall Motors company wishes to market all of its products globally. HAVAL is short for 'Have All'. Makes sense doesn't it?

What handles decently well and is under RM50,000? The Proton Iriz these days.

I was at the Giant Mall in Kelana Jaya and the Proton dealership there is offering the Proton Iriz with a discount of up to RM9,268 (T&C applies obviously). This has to be the fully loaded 1.6 CVT Automatic or the 1.6 Manual. I checked the online adverts for the car and yes, you can get a full monty Iriz for under RM50,000. Compare this with the retail price of RM61,691.31 / Solid CVT or RM58,815.04 / Solid Manual. 

Now the 1.6 Iriz is the ONLY Iriz worth to buy simply because of the performance it gives you. It's engine works better with the CVT and the extra power helps make it so much better to drive. The wider tyres also help the car alot. I have driven both the 1.3 and the 1.6, so I can safely say that until the 1.3 turbo version that supposedly will come with an upgraded manual gear shift, this 1.6 is the one to get. Manual or Automatic. The link to the Iriz 1.6 CVT is here and in there is a link to the Iriz 1.3 Manual.

The Go Auto factory visit - The GWM Haval M4 local assembly and how contract assembly is done properly

A while ago I had a chance to visit the Go Auto assembly plant in Gurun, Kedah. Go Auto is currently distributors and assemblers for the Great Wall Motors (GWM) brand of vehicles here in Malaysia. It isn't just the Great Wall Haval M4 being assembled here actually. But there is more to them than meets the eye. 

The Go Automobile Manufacturing Sdn Bhd plant began operations sometime in 2011 and started out assembling vehicles and 4x4 pickup trucks belonging to Great Wall Motors. These days the plant can assemble slightly more than 300 units of vehicles per month and there are plans to expand the size of the factory so that it may eventually produce over a thousand vehicles per month. At the moment operations are on a smallish scale compared to the NAZA plant located in front of it. The Go Auto plant may be small but what I could see is an efficient system implemented. And they do not only assemble Great Wall Motor vehicles, they also contract assemble for other automotive brands from China too.