Do these spy photos snapped recently of a disguise-clad Haval-branded SUV depict a ‘coupe’ version of the reworked H6 model revealed at the 2017 Auto Shanghai motor show in April?
Or is this car a test mule based on the Blue 03 SUV hybrid coupe also flaunted by the company at the Shanghai show?
Although spy photographers are suggesting it’s more likely the former, there are aspects showing some of the design signatures seen in the Blue 03 hybrid show car. Note the vertically-stacked lighting arrays set into the outer ends of the front bumper moulding, the narrow side windows, the slit-style head and tail lights and the flattened-radius wheel arches.
And while the grille seems to lack the threatening grimace of the Blue 03 show car, a different visual could emerge when the disguise wrapping is peeled off.
True, there are no flat-profile handles in the front doors, or hidden handles in the C-Pillars, and the roofline is less swoopy than the concept car, but these are the sorts of things which often get lost in the translation from concept to production reality.
Further questioning its relationship with the revised H6, the test mule, while following a now well-established design path with a chopped roofline tapering towards the rear, is quite different in many details, including the front and rear-end designs, the slightly higher location of the door handles and the different side window profiles.
With the new Haval H6 a likely prospect for Australia, at an as-yet unspecified date, the future of the car pictured - whatever it turns out to be – for our market isn’t so clear.
However there’s little doubt an edgy presence in the SUV segment could do much good work for the brand which is working to gain a foothold in Australia.