GWM to triple EV lineup in Australia
GWM Australia has confirmed its Ora electric hatch will be joined in Australia by two more electric vehicles (EVs), meaning the brand will have three EVs in showrooms by the end of 2026.
Speaking at the launch of the 2025 GWM Haval H6 SUV in Melbourne, GWM Australia chief operating officer John Kett outlined the brand’s plans.
“We certainly have an EV story to share next year,” Mr Kett told media, including CarExpert. “Fast-paced portfolio change is important, and segment expansion of that portfolio, which we’ve demonstrated.”
“We’ve got one EV today, [but] I would say by the third quarter next year, [we’ll have] three.”
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Mr Kett wouldn’t elaborate on which EVs would be introduced here, but the brand has confirmed it’s testing an electric dual-cab ute in China.
There may also be a mid-size SUV – slightly smaller than the recently refreshed Haval H6 – in the works, after the automaker showed a pre-production ‘Haval New SUV’ battery-electric test car in China earlier this year.
Another possibility is the Ora Sport sedan, a rival to the Tesla Model 3 and BYD Seal, which was shown to local media in 2024.
The only other EV that GWM currently offers in China is the rather twee Ora Ballet Cat, heavily inspired by the original Volkswagen Beetle and featuring unusual features such as Warm Man Mode.
In contrast with rival Chinese brands like MG that have offered multiple electric SUVs, GWM hasn’t offered any and instead its EV efforts have traditionally been focused on small hatchbacks.
In 2023, GWM introduced its first and currently only EV in Australia, the Ora.
Known as the GWM Ora 03 or Ora Good Cat overseas, the MG 4 and BYD Dolphin rival is currently priced at $33,990 drive-away for the Standard Range model grade. That makes it among the cheapest EVs on sale in Australia.
The Ora alone was enough to see GWM the tenth-best-selling EV brand in Australia in 2024, with its total sales including hybrid and diesel models seeing it ranked tenth overall, too.
Year-to-date, GWM has improved to seventh – knocking off MG as the most popular Chinese brand, with BYD snapping at GWM’s heels in eighth, fewer than 2000 sales behind.
Sales of the Ora are down, however, with 331 sales to the end of June 2025 seeing GWM ranked 17th in EV sales, behind Toyota (427 sales) but barely ahead of Ford (315).
While GWM is among market leaders in terms of hybrids, with plug-in versions of its Cannon Alpha ute as well as its Haval H6 GT SUV.
In currently has two PHEVs on sale here – with its Toyota LandCruiser Prado and Ford Everest rival, the Tank 500 PHEV due later by the end of 2025 – alongside four conventional hybrids in local showrooms.
The introduction of the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) this year – which includes fines for automakers whose lineup exceeds carbon-dioxide emission limits – makes the case for hybrids yet stronger.
“The only way to comply is to start bringing in technology that transitions people from petrol-diesel into EVs, and we think plug and hybrid is the way to go as a transition,” said Mr Kett.
“We have to resolve EV, but not to the degree that people would think,” Mr Kett said. “Certainly by 2030, we’ve got to be 80 per cent PHEV and EV, and 20 per cent diesel. That’s what we’ve been saying … we’ve got the best pathway to get there.”
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