Great Wall Motors at the 2010 Beijing Auto Show

Just the Facts:

• Great Wall showed a variety of new products at the Beijing auto show.
• Two new sub-brands—Haval and Voleex—were introduced.
• Trucks and SUVs are grouped under Haval, cars fall under the Voleex brand.

BEIJING — For the past decade, China's Great Wall Motors has been known mainly as a manufacturer of pickup trucks and utility vehicles, both at home and in such export markets as Russia. In recent years, it has also gained a reputation as a maker of derivative small cars with such quirky names as Florid and Coolbear. At the 2010 Beijing Auto Show, Great Wall flexed its design muscles a bit more, displaying a rapidly expanding portfolio of products, but still with that bent for wacky names.

Great Wall chose the Beijing event, now one of the world's top auto shows, to publicly introduce its new sub-brands — Haval (formerly Hover) and Voleex.

All the company's utility and crossover models are now clustered under the Haval brand, while its growing stable of sedans and hatchbacks, at least the larger and more expensive models, are being shown as part of the Voleex brand.

The Haval group (the name also shows up in some English translations as Harvard, Hafer and Hafu) is comprised of smaller crossovers that get an M designation and larger models that use an H designation.

The M-series lineup includes the tiny M1 hatchback, which is basically a reworked version of the Great Wall Peri and starts at $6,400; the 103-horsepower 1.5-liter M2, which is a more muscular take on the boxy Coolbear and is priced from $9,600, and the 1.5-liter M3, which is slated to go into production later this year.

The H-series family includes the 121-hp 2.0-liter H3, an update of the original Hover (which in turn was derived from the Isuzu Axiom) priced from $13,200; the H5, which will offer a choice of four-cylinder gas and diesel engines and a wide range of options when it goes on sale this summer, and the H6, which is slated for production in 2011.

Great Wall is also showing a Haval crossover model dubbed SC60, a larger, more luxurious crossover with a hybrid powertrain and six-speed automatic transmission, as well as such advanced tech features as adaptive cruise control and blind-spot monitoring. The SC60's hybrid powertrain is particularly impressive, bundling a six-speed automatic transmission with a 50-hp electric motor and a turbocharged 2.5-liter V6 gasoline direct-injection engine that makes 248 hp and 277 lb-ft of torque. Great Wall plans to launch a production version of the SC60, fitted with full-time all-wheel drive and possibly badged as the H7, in 2012.

Voleex is the new "Western" brand name given to the Tengyi series. The Voleex sedans come in three basic sizes, including the 1.5-liter C30, which goes on sale shortly at less than $18,000; the CVT-equipped, turbocharged 1.5-liter C50, which begins production in early 2011, priced at about $21,000, and the turbocharged 2.0-liter C70, which is due to reach the market in late 2011, priced from around $25,000.

In addition, Great Wall showed the Ling Ao hatchback, a revised version of the compact previously known as the i7 Phenom, with its massive waterfall grille still largely intact. Engine choices include 1.3- and 1.5-liter four-cylinder units. Prices start at $7,900.

Inside Line says: If you say Voleex three times really fast, we swear it sounds like it came from a Dr. Seuss book. — Paul Lienert, Correspondent