During the Christmas holiday break, I visited my wife’s family in Colombia. I probably don’t need to say Colombians’ ineptitude and craziness behind the wheel is on a level we rarely see in the U.S. but I’ll do it because the things I witness always leave my jaw on the floor. Their automotive landscape is also quite different than ours, and that’s not very endearing to an enthusiast because interesting vehicles are few and far between.
But the upside to this is that I get to see several brand that we don’t have in North America. Renault has a good grip of the Colombian market, though several new models seem to be of earlier generations from the First World. Then there’s South Korea’s SsangYong, which appears to have produced some of the most awkwardly styled vehicles in (recent) memory.
So, as you can imagine, the Chinese have made inroads in the Colombian market. Indeed, this story says China has ramped up EV investments in Colombia, though I would guess that most Chinese brands I saw were conventional ICE or hybrid vehicles. As you could expect, the styling for most of them is derivative, if not lagging behind the state of the industry, but I also know from random social media videos that there are Chinese vehicles that have magnificent gee-whiz features in a vein that we often associate with Japan.
I think it’s difficult to grasp the Chinese brands because they often name themselves something that simply doesn’t mesh well with Western sensibilities and tongues (South Korea’s Daewoo seems to be a tangible example in the American market). Chery can fake “Cherry” but always reeks of a typo. Geely makes me think of the 1890s. Isn’t BYD the name for undies? Dongfeng is something I’ve eaten at a dim sum place, right?
At the airport in Bogota, I caught sight of the rear of this unusual vehicle. Looking a bit nondescript, there were few indicators what it was other than I was getting Nissan Leaf vibes. That’s not a good thing, but there was enough that was intriguing that I felt forced to walk around to the front, if not look up the name.
Interesting! I was getting Alfa Romeo Giulietta vibes, plus maybe a little bit of Porsche or Volkswagen Beetle, though I wouldn’t necessarily say it felt as derivative as many other Chinese chariots. So, what’s GWM? It stands for Great Wall Motor. The reference is obvious, though the abbreviation doesn’t necessarily roll off the tongue (par for the course, it seems). A sub-brand of GWM is Ora, as it’s the EV arm of the manufacturer. The name of this particular car is the Ora Good Cat, though it’s also marketed in other parts of the world as the Ora Funky Cat, GWM Ora 03, and GWM Ora.
Reading about this model online, the Ore Good Cat was revealed at the Chengdu Auto Show in July 2020 and, in fact, it was styled by former Porsche designer Emanuel Derta. The one I saw appears to be a GT (aka “Good Cat GT”) that features a 170-horsepower electric motor with a range of 190-250 miles. That’s 27 horses more than the base ‘Cat, though the added horsepower also means less range. A quick online search shows the Good Cat GT retailing for approximately $31,338. Looking at the GWM roster, most vehicles (SUVs and light-duty pickups, all with weird names) feature styling that would be at home on a Japanese car from 5-10 years ago.
It remains to be seen how the Chinese market will sort itself out, especially when giving the American market what consumers want and expect. It’s good the Chinese have been reaching out to Western industry experts to help with design and styling, but with whom will they consult with naming their vehicles?
