New Haval H9 pencilled in for South Africa

The new Haval H9 ladder-frame SUV is on the cards for South Africa, though the Chinese firm says it’s yet to nail down the “right powertrain” for the local market…

Remember the Haval H9? Well, the nameplate looks set to return to Mzansi, with GWM South Africa saying the 2nd-generation version of the ladder-frame SUV is “definitely planned” for the local market.

However, the Chinese firm’s local division hasn’t yet committed to a firm launch date for the new H9 – which would arrive as a belated successor to the original model that was discontinued locally around the middle of 2022 – since it’s still settling on what it terms the “right powertrain” for the South African market.

Desmond Els, Sales Director at GWM South Africa, made the comments during a wide-ranging interview conducted in Cars.co.za’s custom-built podcast booth at Naamsa’s recent South African Auto Week 2024 in Cape Town.

“There’s a reason I don’t want to divulge [all the details], but the car’s definitely planned – it’s coming … But there’s one reason [we haven’t officially announced it]: we need to find the right powertrain as a solution to this vehicle,” Els said when asked if the new H9 would come to South Africa.

“The vehicle’s already been developed for our market, but we need to tick certain boxes – [such as] powertrain and transmission – to make sure we launch the right car into this market,” he added.

At present, the new H9 – which was revealed in China towards the start of 2024 – is offered in its domestic market only with a turbocharged 2.0-litre, 4-cylinder petrol engine. Driving all 4 wheels via an 8-speed automatic transmission, this motor (seemingly closely related to the unit offered in the Tank 300) offers peak outputs of 160 kW and 380 Nm.

However, the 3-row H9 sold in Russia is furthermore available with GWM’s latest 2.4-litre, 4-cylinder turbodiesel engine, which debuted locally in the super-sized P500 bakkie and is also set to be rolled out to the facelifted P-Series (which will wear the P300 badge in SA) and the Tank 300 in the opening quarter of 2025.

As a reminder, in the SA-spec P500, this GW4D24 oil-burner generates maximum outputs of 135 kW and 480 Nm, with drive delivered to all 4 corners via a 9-speed automatic transmission. We’d speculate this would be the powertrain that GWM SA would most likely prefer for the new H9 as it would allow the ladder-frame SUV to compete head-on with the market’s many popular turbodiesel 4x4s.

In addition, opting for this motor could potentially allow GWM SA to position the new H9 – which adopts a far boxier exterior design than its predecessor – neatly between the smaller Tank 300 and the 7-seater Tank 500 (currently starting at R1 222 900), since the latter is currently exclusively available in South Africa with the (pricier) petrol-hybrid powertrain.

Excluding the spare wheel that stands proud of the tailgate, the new Haval H9 measures 4 950 mm from nose to tail – for context, that’s 10 mm longer than the Ford Everest and 25 mm longer than the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado – with a wheelbase of 2 850 mm and a minimum ground clearance of 224 mm.

As an aside, Els also confirmed to Cars.co.za that the “H7 is on its way and will be introduced in Q1 [2025],” the same period in which GWM SA plans to launch the aforementioned facelifted P-Series and the diesel-powered version of the Tank 300. The H7, which is known as the “Big Dog” or “Dargo” in some markets, will likely slot in between the Haval H6 and the Tank 300.