Chinese media is speculating that this is the mass production version of this new luxury performance EV, sold under a new Great Wall subsidiary, Saloon. This particular car wears a name which translates to “Mecha Dragon”. The model seen at the 2021 Guangzhou auto show was offered in a 100-unit limited run, priced at just over the equivalent of AU$ 100,000.
The Saloon
Mecha Dragon offered over 800km of driving range on a single charge from its
115 kWh battery pack. Max power from the current all-wheel-drive-only model is
rated at 400 kW/750 Nm, for a claimed 0-100km/h sprint time of just 3.7 seconds. The
Ioniq 6 AWD produces 239 kW/605 Nm for reference, although an N version based on
the RN22e concept could produce up to 440 kW/740 Nm.
The Mecha Dragon also claims to offer a
high level of autonomous driving capability, thanks to the presence of 38
sensors including four lidar arrays. The four-door, long-wheelbase liftback
silhouette is remarkably reminiscent of Hyundai’s recently revealed Ioniq 6,
complete with the smooth, squared-off headlight fittings, small spoiler, and
curvy light bar cutting across the rear. It is unclear whether the mass
production version of the Mecha Dragon will adopt the more over-the-top body
panel elements which adorn the car seen at the Guangzhou show.
The Mecha Dragon is intended to be the
flagship sports luxury offering in GWM’s line-up, and will launch into a market
of other similarly-shaped electrified GT vehicles like the Ioniq 6 and incoming
Polestar 5 which is also to be built in China but yet to be fully revealed. Whether
or not GWM adds its flagship Saloon brand to its Australian line-up is another
story. The Chinese juggernaut currently offers the GWM Cannon ute under its
primary name, but also markets SUVs under the Haval brand.
