Photo: Great Wall
Great Wall has aggressive expansion plans. After buying a Mercedes-Benz factory in Iracemápolis, Brazil, it is now preparing to sell in Europe again. The first attempt came with a factory in Bulgaria in 2012 that was closed in 2017. With the push for electric vehicles in the Old Continent, Great Wall saw a new opportunity to win European tastes. The IAA 2021 announced that two cars would start that new endeavor: a plug-in hybrid SUV and a compact EV.
The first one is called Mocca in China. With the Opel Mokka in Europe, it had to become something else: Coffee 01. According to Automotive News, Great Wall may still change the name despite liking it very much. The final goal is that customers like it as much as they enjoy the most popular beverage in the world.
The Mocca/Coffee 01 seems to be closely related to the VV7 PHEV in terms of style, but it is much bigger. While the VV7 is 4.75 meters (187 inches) long, the Coffee 01 is 4.88 m long. Ironically, the VV7 has a larger wheelbase: 2.95 m (116.1 in) against 2.92 m (115 in). Great Wall presented the VV7 at the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show.
What really makes the Coffee 01 stand out from the competition is its 41.8 kWh battery pack. It is much larger than those many pure electric vehicles present, such as the Mazda MX-30, the Honda e, and other subcompacts EVs. Due to the extra weight such a large vehicle carries, it has a range of 150 km (93 miles). If that is not much for an electric car, it is by far the most range any PHEV ever presented.
The Ora Cat is nothing more than an Ora Good Cat. Although it looks tiny, it is about the size of a Volkswagen Golf at 4.24 m (167 in). There will be different battery pack options, and the largest one – with 59.1 kWh – would offer a 501 NEDC range. Great Wall expects to sell it in Germany for €30,000. In China, the most expensive version costs RMB160,900, the equivalent to $24,914 or €20,990 at the current exchange rate.
If it were sold in Europe for a slightly higher price, it would beat the competition by a large margin. At €30,000, it will still be cheaper than a Volkswagen ID.3, which starts at €31,960 without government incentives. Great Wall probably expects a small price difference to be enough to attract buyers to an entirely new brand for them and still make a considerable profit.
What we don’t understand is the company using multiple different brands such as Ora or Wei. Will they have different dealers? Does it make sense to have this brand differentiation for a market that barely knows Great Wall? Hopefully, the Chinese brand will clarify that when it puts these vehicles for sale. According to Automotive News, it will open reservations for both cars by the end of 2021, with deliveries starting in early 2022.
The Mocca/Coffee 01 seems to be closely related to the VV7 PHEV in terms of style, but it is much bigger. While the VV7 is 4.75 meters (187 inches) long, the Coffee 01 is 4.88 m long. Ironically, the VV7 has a larger wheelbase: 2.95 m (116.1 in) against 2.92 m (115 in). Great Wall presented the VV7 at the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show.
What really makes the Coffee 01 stand out from the competition is its 41.8 kWh battery pack. It is much larger than those many pure electric vehicles present, such as the Mazda MX-30, the Honda e, and other subcompacts EVs. Due to the extra weight such a large vehicle carries, it has a range of 150 km (93 miles). If that is not much for an electric car, it is by far the most range any PHEV ever presented.
The Ora Cat is nothing more than an Ora Good Cat. Although it looks tiny, it is about the size of a Volkswagen Golf at 4.24 m (167 in). There will be different battery pack options, and the largest one – with 59.1 kWh – would offer a 501 NEDC range. Great Wall expects to sell it in Germany for €30,000. In China, the most expensive version costs RMB160,900, the equivalent to $24,914 or €20,990 at the current exchange rate.
If it were sold in Europe for a slightly higher price, it would beat the competition by a large margin. At €30,000, it will still be cheaper than a Volkswagen ID.3, which starts at €31,960 without government incentives. Great Wall probably expects a small price difference to be enough to attract buyers to an entirely new brand for them and still make a considerable profit.
What we don’t understand is the company using multiple different brands such as Ora or Wei. Will they have different dealers? Does it make sense to have this brand differentiation for a market that barely knows Great Wall? Hopefully, the Chinese brand will clarify that when it puts these vehicles for sale. According to Automotive News, it will open reservations for both cars by the end of 2021, with deliveries starting in early 2022.
Google News