2026 GWM Haval Jolion review

GWM had a strong 2025, posting a more than 10,000-unit increase in annual sales, thanks to models like the Jolion.

That’s not a bad effort for any auto brand, but with a never-ending influx of new Chinese automakers in the Australian market, GWM has done well to continue selling its vehicles in such high numbers.

Two SUVs have dominated those sales. One is among the newest models in GWM’s local lineup, the Haval H6 mid-size SUV, and the other has been around for some time: the Haval Jolion small SUV.

With nearly 20,000 units sold for the year, the Jolion remains one of Australia’s most popular small SUVs. It’s been locked in a close battle with two compatriots – the Chery Tiggo 4 and MG ZS – and all three have been putting the pressure on the segment-leading Hyundai Kona.

Given they’re all cheap and offer hybrid tech, it’s no surprise that the trio has been resonating with buyers. In the case of the Jolion, it also has the advantage of relatively strong brand recognition, as GWM was the first Chinese brand to set up shop Down Under more than 15 years ago.

Despite the increasingly fierce competition, the Jolion is entering 2026 largely unchanged. It received a major update for 2025, which brought the ‘new shape’ model with hybrid powertrains, and so most of that has been carried over – most, but not all.

For one, Ultra trim levels have been discontinued and replaced by new, blacked-out Vanta variants. These retain most of the same gear as the Ultra grades – which are now in run-out – including the choice of both petrol-only and hybrid propulsion.

The result is the car on test here: the 2026 GWM Haval Jolion Vanta Hybrid. It occupies the pinnacle of the Jolion range, and is characterised by its sportier-looking ‘new shape’ body with blacked-out exterior elements.

With competition heating up and newer brands like BYD racing up the sales charts, is the Jolion doing enough to keep its rivals at bay?

How much does the GWM Haval Jolion cost?

The Vanta is the newest addition to the Jolion range, and the Hybrid version is currently priced at $38,990 drive-away.

GWM is currently running a drive-away price offer, active until December 31, 2025. Applicable discounts are indicated in the table above, including a $1000 discount for the vehicle on test here.

The Jolion Vanta Hybrid’s most direct rival is the top-spec MG ZS Essence Hybrid+, which is priced from $36,990 drive-away. There’s also the range-topping Chery Tiggo 4 Hybrid Ultimate at $34,990 drive-away.

Other competitors include the Honda HR-V e:HEV, which tops out at $42,900 drive-away, and the Hyundai Kona Hybrid, which costs as much as $45,590 before on-roads for a less sporty, non-N Line variant.

It’s also comparable to the Toyota Corolla Cross in size but the smaller Yaris Cross in price, the latter of which costs $39,930 before on-roads at the top of its range.

To see how the GWM Haval Jolion stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

What is the GWM Haval Jolion like on the inside?

As has always been the case, the Jolion’s interior is annoyingly clumsy.

Ergonomically and technologically, there’s a lot inside the Jolion that could use some polish. While we know there’s been no vehicle-wide update to the car since we last published a review, it’s still disappointing to find much of the same.

For a start, the driver’s seat is surprisingly firm and doesn’t feel very supportive. Power adjustment at least helps to get it into a decent position, but it’s compromised by the lack of range in the steering wheel’s adjustment.

It doesn’t tilt down far enough for those who like to have their seat lower, nor does it pull out far enough towards the driver. The result is an awkward position where your legs are more cramped than in most other cars, while your hands are uncomfortable on the strangely proportioned steering wheel.

As we’ve said before, the tiller has a relatively deep dish, which means the insides of your palms feel like they float above the rim, while the large spokes make it impossible to wrap your fingers around them.

That means it’s a weird feeling when you first hop behind the wheel, as you’re forced to hold it at 10 and 2 o’clock instead of the safer nine-and-three norm.

Further, the horizontal spokes are positioned high and they almost completely hide the stalks behind. This isn’t great, as the indicator is on the left, which can blindly lead to accidental windscreen wipes if you’re coming from a Japanese car.

While you’ll be able to get used to the positions of the stalks and physical buttons, the awkward hand placement is difficult to get around. On top of that, there are very few real buttons in the Jolion cabin.

It’s confusing to navigate the 7.0-inch instrument display, for instance, as you first have to input something of a video game cheat code to get the navigational steering wheel buttons to do anything. The icons for the screen’s various menus almost stare at you mockingly, waiting to see if you’ll figure it out.

Turns out you need to hold the ‘OK’ button, which lets you use the ‘return’ and arrow buttons to flick through the menus. Why these buttons are completely inoperable all other times is beyond us.

As for the infotainment display, there’s been a welcome graphic update. No longer is it an empty-looking system; it’s now populated by large, vibrant app icons and shortcut buttons, making it look much more intentional.

Climate control is still screen-only, and the swiping gesture to open it seems to have been removed. That means you’ll have to press one of the few buttons below instead, which is cumbersome, but at least they’re not inhibited by the generally reliable wireless smartphone mirroring.

As a bonus, this update seems to have amended the poorly translated settings I complained about in my last review. For instance, the ‘Front Washer Scraper Interval’ is now sensibly labelled as the ‘Front Wiper Interval’. Lovely.

Otherwise, nothing has changed. There’s still the hodgepodge of finishes, which border on being too busy. However, the Vanta swaps out some of the silver-look plastic for a stealthier gunmetal finish, which works well visually.

There’s still a sparse centre console with an obnoxious, infinitely spinning rotary gear selector, three oddly sized slots, a wireless phone charger that generates some heat when in use, and a pair of lidded cupholders. Underneath is a sizeable tray with USB-A and USB-C ports and a 12V outlet.

The centre armrest is nicely padded, as are the door cards. We like that all the touchpoints feel of good quality, and especially that there’s no glossy piano-black plastic anywhere.

It is also fairly disconcerting to have a driver-monitoring lens pointed directly at you as you drive. Funnily enough, this ‘growth’ on the A-pillar was already covered by a piece of tape when we took custody of our Jolion from GWM – perhaps a hint at what’s to come.

The second row isn’t flashy, but it’s appointed well enough to keep passengers comfortable. Fitted as standard are two air vents and USB-A and -C ports on the back of the centre console, albeit with a lot of scratchy black plastic.

The upright portion of the bench seat is slightly too far reclined, a common trait among Chinese SUVs, though the base is nicely sculpted. There’s a good amount of space all around, and the floor is completely flat – middle-seat passengers can rejoice at the lack of a driveline hump.

With a minimum capacity of 255 litres, the Jolion Hybrid’s boot is comparatively small. It’s much smaller than the 443L offered by the MG ZS Hybrid+, the 360L of the Chery Omoda 5, and it’s even beaten by the 264L in the smaller Mazda CX-3. Folding the rear seats flat also creates a substantial floor lip.

Unfortunately, all hybrid Jolions only get a tyre repair kit, a downgrade from the space-saver spares in petrol variants. There’s no extra space under the floor either; instead, there’s a large block of polystyrene holding various recovery gear in place.

To see how the GWM Haval Jolion stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

What’s under the bonnet?

Jolion Hybrids are still powered by a 1.5-litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder petrol engine and a 115kW/250Nm electric motor. A ‘Dedicated Hybrid Transmission’ – a two-speed continuously variable transmission (CVT) – sends drive to the front wheels only.

Our week with the car primarily involved peak-hour commuting, albeit in a mix of suburban and highway environments. Our recorded fuel consumption was better than GWM’s claim, even with little thought given to driving economically.

To see how the GWM Haval Jolion stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

How does the GWM Haval Jolion drive?

Not much has changed for the Jolion on-road, which is unfortunate.

As before, the Jolion isn’t immediately unbearable. It usually starts up in electric mode, allowing it to quietly whirr away as you get moving, and the steering is light enough to make it feel nimble in urban environments, if not a little dead.

That remains true around town, where the powertrain relies more on electric power, with the petrol engine kicking in occasionally. It’s capable of driving purely on electric power at up to 80km/h, and there’s a one-pedal regen mode, too.

Some flaws start to show once the speed picks up, but there have been slight improvements. For one, the transition from electric to petrol power seems to have been smoothed out, now with a much less noticeable shift between the two.

The engine still sounds poorly, though. Its CVT drone is real, and has the engine screaming its guts out at even the slightest throttle inputs – not to mention transmitting an odd vibration through the throttle pedal in the process.

It creates the illusion of struggle, even if the Jolion is typically quite spritely. We can appreciate that the car has no issues managing both electric and petrol power to provide that necessary kick, and, again, its power delivery now seems to be more predictable.

Handling, meanwhile, is just about as you’d expect. The steering offers a direct enough feel with reasonable feedback, while the weighting is appropriate and helps to keep the car from feeling dead.

Its ride is also on the sportier side, with firm-ish suspension to match the boy-racer exterior styling. It’s still capable of ironing out minor imperfections like tram tracks, and the combination of a reasonable chassis tune, intuitive electric driving, and manoeuvrable steering creates a capable city commuter.

The brake pedal isn’t fantastic, though. It combines regenerative and friction braking, but it’s inconsistent – sometimes you’ll get the doughy, wooden regenerative feel that weakly slows the car, and other times you get unexpectedly strong braking that will catch you off guard.

The Jolion still feels less comfortable on the highway. That isn’t because it feels unstable or underpowered, but instead because its safety systems still need work.

We’ll preface that by saying there have been some minor improvements. For one, the driver monitoring system seems much less sensitive now, as wearing sunglasses, for example, doesn’t set it off nearly as much as it used to.

Looking at your mirrors for too long or gazing at anything that isn’t directly in front of you will still get you pinged. The driver monitor’s warning is humorously inconvenient too, if not borderline unsafe.

It’ll still beep as usual, but a warning will simultaneously appear on the infotainment screen telling you to pay attention to driving. To lay that out plainly: the driver monitor will take your eyes away from the road to read and dismiss an on-screen warning. That’s dangerously counterintuitive.

Perhaps that’s why someone taped over the monitoring camera’s lens. Some of the other pesky systems require more of a process to get around though, such as the lane-keep assist.

It’s still overreactive and will pitch in if it thinks you’re going to stray into the next lane – even on a straight road. It also seems to steer further towards the inside of a bend if you get too close to the line, which is all sorts of wrong, and not particularly subtle either.

The car will also try to stop you from changing lanes, even if you’re indicating and there’s no one alongside. We only really noticed this when changing lanes to the right, and it catches you off guard because it happens so inconsistently.

Finally, the ‘tailgating’ warning is very loud and obnoxious. If the car thinks you’re too close to the vehicle in front (which you often aren’t), it’ll sound an incredibly grating beeping until you back off, which is frankly excessive.

So, some work still needs to be done, even if all that can be temporarily disabled in the vehicle’s settings. Most of that is more forgivable in the $30,000-ish Jolions, but you also need to keep in mind that the Vanta Hybrid is a little too close to $40,000 for comfort.

To see how the GWM Haval Jolion stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

What do you get?

There are six variants in the Jolion range: two ‘old-look’ petrol grades (Premium, Lux), one ‘new look’ petrol (Vanta), and three ‘new look’ hybrids.

2026 GWM Haval Jolion Premium equipment highlights:

• 17-inch alloy wheels
• Space saver spare wheel (petrol only)
• Tyre repair kit (Hybrid only)
• Halogen headlights
• Torsion beam rear suspension
• Rain-sensing wipers
• 4-way manual steering wheel adjustment
• Cloth upholstery
• 3.5-inch instrument cluster screen
• 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system
• Wireless Apple CarPlay
• Wireless Android Auto
• 4-speaker sound system
• Air-conditioning
• Rear air vents
• Paddle shifters
• Electric park brake
• Proximity entry with push-button start
• Launch control (Hybrid only)

Jolion Lux adds:

• 18-inch chrome alloy wheels (Hybrid only)
• LED headlights
• Rear privacy glass
• Heated side mirrors
• Auto-dimming rear-view mirror
• 7.0-inch digital instrument cluster
• 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen (Hybrid only)
• 6-speaker sound system
• Dual-zone climate control
• Luggage cover
• 6-way power driver’s seat
• Leatherette upholstery
• Heated front seats
• Leatherette-wrapped steering wheel
• Illuminated vanity mirror

Jolion Vanta adds:

• 18-inch black alloy wheels
• Roof rails
• Panoramic sunroof
• 4-way power passenger seat
• Ventilated driver’s seat
• Head-up display
• Wireless phone charger
• Interior ambient lighting
• Launch control (petrol)

To see how the GWM Haval Jolion stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

Is the GWM Haval Jolion safe?

The GWM Haval Jolion boasts a five-star ANCAP safety rating, based on testing conducted in 2022.

Standard safety equipment includes:

• 7 airbags
• Adaptive cruise control
• Autonomous emergency braking
  • Pedestrian detection
  • Cyclist detection
• Auto parking assist
• Blind-spot monitoring
• Driver attention monitor
• Emergency lane-keep assist
• Hill descent control
• Lane-keep assist
• Lane centring
• Rear cross-traffic assist
• Rear parking sensors
• Reversing camera
• Safe exit warning
• Traffic sign recognition

Lux variants and upwards gain a surround-view camera, while the Vanta Hybrid also has front parking sensors.

To see how the GWM Haval Jolion stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

How much does the GWM Haval Jolion cost to run?

GWM Australia backs its range with a seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty. The first service for the Jolion is required after 12 months or 10,000km, whichever comes first, with subsequent services extending the interval to 15,000km.

GWM’s capped-price servicing for the Jolion is detailed below:

For context, five years of servicing for the ZS Hybrid+ will total $2658 at an average annual cost of $531.60.

Honda, meanwhile, offers five years of capped-price servicing for the HR-V at an appetising $199 per service. It’s a similar story for Chery, which caps the first five services for the Tiggo 4 Hybrid at $299 each.

To see how the GWM Haval Jolion stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

CarExpert’s Take on the GWM Haval Jolion Vanta Hybrid

The Jolion has long been a mixed bag, and the addition of the Vanta has arguably strengthened that sentiment.

It’s still the same sharp-looking small SUV as before, and we appreciate that its powertrain has remained livable and unintimidating. An efficient hybrid option is essential in today’s market, and the fact you get it in a package as versatile as the Jolion is a big plus.

The minor upgrades to interior tech haven’t gone unnoticed either, making the car feel all the more polished. Those translation errors in the infotainment were certainly amusing, but the vehicle is more mature without them.

Unfortunately, some ergonomic quirks remain, and we still dislike the proportions of the steering wheel and its spokes. All the key touchpoints at least feel high-quality.

But regardless of its quirks and our subjective criticisms, the Jolion has always stood for good value. That’s where model variants we’ve reviewed previously have earned their brownie points, but it’s impossible to say the same for the Vanta Hybrid.

And those safety issues remain the Achilles’ heel of the Jolion. You’d expect some rough edges if you paid less than $30,000 for a car like this, but these problems are indefensible when you’re spending nearly $40,000 – even with the extra black bits.

They aren’t new either, and it’s disappointing that we had the same complaints when we last drove a Jolion Hybrid. It simply makes for a car that’s annoying to live with, and any novelty value of the plethora of beeps and chimes wears off quickly.

That leads us to point prospective buyers toward cheaper grades like the Premium Hybrid, or the Lux Hybrid, if you need niceties like a larger screen and more premium upholstery. We maintain that hybrid Jolions are still worth the premium over their petrol equivalents for their improved drivability and efficiency.

As it stands, the Vanta Hybrid equation doesn’t add up. Until those safety errors are fixed, save a penny and go for a cheaper Jolion Hybrid, or even the top-spec MG ZS Essence Hybrid+ instead.

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MORE: Explore the GWM Haval Jolion showroom