GWM Ora to launch in Australia as budget electric brand

Australians will have more budget-friendly electric vehicles (EVs) to choose from in 2022, with GWM Ora gearing up for a local launch.

GWM Ora is the company’s dedicated EV marque, launching alongside GWM Tank which will focus on four-wheel-drives, and the established SUV brand GWM Haval – with GWM remaining dedicated to utes in Australia.

“Under the overwhelming wave of electrification, as one of the important areas of Great Wall Motor's global strategic map, the Australian market has laid out the line-up of electrified products prospectively,” the company announced in a statement.

“In 2022, the first batch of electric models will be launched in Australia, including the pure-electric brand Ora.”

Both ‘GWM Ora’ and ‘Aure’ have been trademarked in Australia, with a number of models also patented in recent months.

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It’s expected the 2022 GWM Ora Cat 01 will be offered in a similar specification to the model launched in the UK recently, with a choice of 48kWh or 63kWh battery packs feeding a 126kW/250Nm electric motor driving the front axle.

Depending on the battery optioned, Ora claims a driving range of up to 336 kilometres and 420km respectively.

While the Ora Cat 01 is priced in the UK from around £25,000 – or roughly AU$46,000 – the model could be positioned to undercut the MG ZS EV, Australia’s cheapest zero-emissions car at $44,990 drive-away.

Along with the MG ZS EV, the GWM Ora Cat will be joined by the BYD EA1 – another cut-price Chinese electric car slated to launch in 2022.

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“Ora is a worldwide brand,” GWM Ora Europe CEO Xianghua Qiao told Wheels in September.

“Through the development of technology and also with [the] pressure of climate change, Ora will be successful in Australia because we focus more on green energy.”

Expect an official launch of the GWM Ora brand in the coming months.