Haval drops controversial H8 article

CHINESE SUV specialist Haval has removed a Chinese website article purportedly showing a glowing Australian review of its H8 large SUV in a comparison test against Jeep’s Grand Cherokee.

The article – on Haval’s global English language website under the news banner – bore little resemblance to the original CarsGuide review, which was critical of some aspects of the H8.

The negativity had been removed and replaced with positive comments, despite being attributed to “CarsGuide, an Australian media outlet”.

The distorted article was spotted by GoAuto which alerted both Haval Australia and CarsGuide on Wednesday afternoon, but it wasn’t until Thursday about 12.30pm that the article was dumped by the company’s Chinese web masters.

The original comparison test, published by Melbourne journalist Craig Duff in January, gave the Chinese-built Haval H8 Premium 15 points out of 25, compared with the Jeep’s 17 points out of 25.

Haval was by no means disgraced in the test, with positives such as high equipment levels, competitive interior space, seat comfort and five-year warranty noted.

However, negative comments such as being “off the pace for tech”, engine turbo lag and high fuel consumption hit the cutting room floor when re-written in China for Haval’s public website. The final score was also removed, along with comments about the Jeep.

GoAuto understands that Haval Australia took the matter up with its Chinese parent company, resulting in the article being deleted.

Haval is a wholly owned subsidiary of Great Wall Motors and the producer of China’s top-selling SUV, the H6.