Look around in the flow of traffic. What do you see? Correct, an endless line of gray, black, and white crossovers with the predatory squint of LED headlights. Welcome to the era of the Haval Jolion. It is no longer just a car; it is a social marker. If the phrase «I have a Jolion» used to sound like an excuse for a mortgage, now it sounds like, «I am a reasonable person who knows how to manage their finances.»

The new Jolion owner portrait features Dima, an IT specialist; Sveta, a marketplace manager; or a young couple who just moved into a one-bedroom apartment in a high-rise on the outskirts. Why do they want this car? The answer is ridiculously simple: to live normally right here, right now. They want an SUV (because the snowdrifts in the courtyard are higher than the knee in winter), they want keyless entry (so they don’t have to search for keys when their hands are full of groceries), and they want a 360-degree camera (parking nose-in against a curb is quite the quest). Jolion sells the dream of premium quality at an economy price.

This vehicle is shattering sales charts as if it were giving away a free subscription to GPT Chat. In the segment of new imported crossovers, it is simply unmatched. Why? Because five years ago, the market was divided between the mundane Creta and the utilitarian Duster. Then, Great Wall Motor arrived with its Tula plant and said, «Guys, let’s put everything that Europe and Korea charge three times as much for into a budget vehicle!» Russian engineers in Tula are fine-tuning the software to suit our frosts and potholes. Localization is performing miracles: proprietary oil, custom tires, and lightning-fast logistics.

The price isn’t really the main thing (seriously). That’s where the core quirk of our time lies. The base Jolion starts at two million rubles. That sounds astronomical. But the reality is that nobody buys the base model. Go to any classifieds website—try to find a functional car configured with the «Comfort» trim in manual transmission. They don’t exist! People flock to the «Optimum,» «Premium,» and «Techno+» versions. Consumers are collectively spending money on panoramic roofs, seat ventilation, and adaptive cruise control. We are willing to pay 2.7–2.9 million, but in return, we want to feel like we are driving a spaceship, not a tin can.

Feeling out the redesign: the front panel features two separate displays angled toward the driver. The center console now resembles a DJ mixer—it has a proper electronic joystick selector (finally, you can place your phone in front of it), two 50W wireless charging pads, and ambient lighting you can tune to match the color of your eyes. The upper plastic has become soft-touch, and the steering wheel is upholstered in pleasant microfiber. The trunk capacity remains the same numerically (around 337 liters in the base), but the devil is in the details. The rear door opens high, the curtain retracts smoothly, and the backrest folds in a 60/40 configuration.

The major change happened under the hood of the all-wheel-drive versions. A new 1.5-liter turbo engine was installed, producing an impressive 150 horsepower and 270 Nm of torque. It works in conjunction with a proven seven-speed wet robotic transmission. The combination is assertive: press the pedal—and you get a kick. Acceleration to 100 mph takes about 9 seconds, but the driving feel is more spirited than its Korean competitors of the same age. When you drive out of the neighborhood, you can assess the sound insulation and suspension. The first generations rattled terribly on the Moscow Ring Road joints—you could hear your teeth clenching. The 2026 restyling brought a newfound softness. The car silently swallows minor imperfections and handles speed bumps with resilience. You truly begin to believe that you bought a car of a higher class. On the highway, it holds its ground firmly, and its susceptibility to crosswinds is minimal.

Multimedia is a distinct form of meditation. A massive 12.3-inch screen delights with graphics, and it features full Яндекс Auto support plus wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto. Plus, there’s built-in GWM Connection telematics: you can start the engine from your smartphone using Алиса while clearing snow with a brush, or check if you closed all the windows. The 360-degree surround-view camera is so good that owners start parking everywhere using it—even in spots where a normal glance out the window would suffice. Habit is a powerful force.

Life with Jolion is full of memes. There’s a classic bug with all Chinese cars—electronic glitches. One guy told a story about how his crossover suddenly decided the end of the world had come: in the middle of the night, it activated the hazard lights, folded in the mirrors, and started flashing high beams at passing taxis. It turned out a buggy software update had been installed, which is fixed by rebooting the system with a long press of the volume button.
Or the story about the panoramic roof. Owners are so proud of their glass roof that they forget to close the shade in the summer. The result? A trip south turns into a fourth-degree solarium session. Girls hang clothes hangers on the hatch bar, turning the cabin into a mobile wardrobe, while guys install RGB strips and cruise through the night city, glowing from within like a Christmas tree.

So why is it so popular? People who are tired of compromise buy the Jolion. We’re tired of having to choose between «beautiful» and «practical.» This crossover delivers both. Yes, it creaks with plastic in some spots, yes, not everyone loves its design, and yes, the neighbor in the garage will say that «it’s better to get a used German car.» But while the German car is stuck in service waiting for parts at the price of a new Lada Vesta, the Jolion owner will drive to work with a functional heated seat, listen to their favorite playlist via seamless connect, and open the trunk with a wave of their foot. And there is definitely something appealing about this philosophy of triumphant comfort.