The first day of the 2019 Wesbank Festival of Motoring started with much fanfare and excitement as Haval Motors Southern Africa started the week long trade show with a press conference on their world class purpose built exhibition stand in the main pit building of the infamous Kyalami Grand Prix circuit just outside Johannesburg. The first day of the 2019 Wesbank Festival of Motoring started with much fanfare and excitement as Haval Motors Southern Africa started the week long trade show with a press conference on their world class purpose built exhibition stand in the main pit building of the infamous Kyalami Grand Prix circuit just outside Johannesburg.

In a world of Sports Utility noise, with many brands and many variations of small to medium SUVs on offer to the South African motorist, the Haval H2 injects a breath of fresh air into this genre of motor vehicles that is somewhat over populated and has done so since its first introduction to the South African market in May 2017. Since the model's SA launch, the Haval H2 sales have dramatically increased earning it the second best sales volume in the small SUV category from the third quarter of this year.

The current incarnation of Haval H2 has gained great traction in the market and this through some A- list features and accolades. Being a true ANCAP 5 star achiever and being packed with features at a great value proposition price point, it's no surprise that many have opted for the Haval H2 as their SUV of choice.

Haval South Africa will exhibit at the 2019 Wesbank Festival of motoring for the third time in as many years after a year filled with huge milestones and accomplishments being reached and achieved by the leading Chinese Motor Vehicle manufacturer in South Africa.

The 2019 exhibition promises to be another turn out for the books for China's favourite SUV and bakkie brand as Haval Motor Southern Africa will have no less than 34 vehicles on display, to test drive on the self-drive track or to be chauffer driven on the main circuit and the 4X4 track.

"Be the change that you wish to see in the world." Mahatma Gandhi. These words rang true when Haval Motor Southern Africa commenced their second leg of the 2019 Haval Outreach expedition. The first week was about the cars and the scenery that is the Panorama Route in Mpumalanga but the second leg will forever be remembered as the time Haval Motors SA sought to be the change they wanted to see in the world.

The team of Haval staffers and their trusted fleet of Haval SUVs and the GWM Steed 5E Double Cab met the group of Lifestyle Magazine scribes and social media influencers for the second leg at the Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport for what promised to be a week filled with sights, sounds and great memories in the making. After a stop in Hazyview to refresh and replenish, the convoy headed towards the other end of the Blyde River Canyon for their stop over at the Swadini Resort. The evening was the opportunity for Rhino conservationists to brief the group on what was going to happen the following day. Haval Motors SA made a contribution in the form of monetary support to Rhino conservation in the Klaserie Game Reserve. These funds went directly towards assistance in the dehorning program that is currently ongoing in the area in and around South Africa's primary game reserve, The Kruger National Park.

Haval explores "The place of the Rising Sun"

No, the Chinese SUV giant didn't make a trip to Japan; "The place of the Rising Sun" is the name of one of South Africa's most beautiful provinces, Mpumalanga, the setting for the 2019 Haval Outreach Expedition. The name means just that in Swazi, Zulu, Tsonga and Southern Ndebele, the place where the sun rises.

The 2019 expedition started off in Johannesburg where two Haval H9's, two Haval H6C's, the all new Haval H6 1.5 Turbo Luxury and a GWM Steed 5E Double Cab bakkie made the trip up to Nelspruit to meet up with Sa motoring journalists from around the country to start the first leg of the expedition. Meeting media at the quant and bush lodge like terminal building that is the Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport were the team of Havals and GWM ready to accept the eager press into their luxurious interiors for a few days of glorious driving and amazing scenery.

On The evening of Thursday 6 June, the top brass of the South African Motor Industry congregated at the glass cathedral of vehicle asset finance that is the home of Wesbank for the annual NADA DSI awards. In layman's terms, the National Automobile Dealers Association, dealer satisfaction index awards. The National Automobile Dealers' Association (NADA) is a professional body representing the interests of business persons who own, operate and manage new passenger and commercial vehicle franchise motor dealerships and qualifying used vehicle only outlets in South Africa. With dealer members representing the various motor vehicle brands countrywide, NADA operates through a structure of member-elected regional and national committees. In all forums, NADA is the fully representative and respected voice of the retail motor industry in South Africa.

Saturday 1 June was somewhat of a special day for Haval Motors South Africa. May marked the brand's second anniversary since they started trading in South Africa as a wholly owned subsidiary to founding company, Great Wall Motor Corporation. To celebrate this auspicious occasion, Haval/GWM invited their customers to a family day dubbed "The Haval-GWM Harvest Day" hosted at the venue Africa Land just outside Hartbeespoort and west of Pretoria.

When Haval started trading in May 2017 as a wholly owned subsidiary in South Africa, the brand had three dealers and started with a clean slate in terms of sales figures. Since then more than 14 000 have been sold in South Africa. In May of 2018, Haval and GWM sold roughly 600 cars into the domestic market. In May 2019 Haval GWM sold over 900 units to South Africans. Haval and GWM currently have 46 South African dealers and 4 in Neighbouring countries namely Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mauritius. The Brand is aiming to have 57 dealers by the end of the year in South Africa alone. This growth and accelerated expansion is nothing short of miraculous and the pride in the brand was quite clear on every Harvest day goers face.

This past weekend saw the area of Pelindaba known more for the nuclear power plant and the exquisite rocky outcrops as well as its picturesque beauty come alive with amateur athletes from all ages taking on the The LEGENDRUNNER event. Legend Runner is a spectacular and legendary obstacle Race catering for everyone of all ages and walks of life with 3 amazing distances to choose from and what's more it is absolutely family friendly.

Depending on skill and fitness level, entrants had the choice of entering 5km, 8km or the ultimate, 16km obstacle course which took the entrants over obstacles, through mud holes and various other muscle stretching and body tingling challenges. Haval Southern Africa is a proud sponsor of the Legend Runner series and National Sales Manager Jay Jay Botes had this to say about the event "Haval and GWM are built tough and robust as well as agile and that's why we thought it was an obvious synergy for us to sponsor this event. What's more is it's family orientated which is what we believe in namely family values and showcasing our range of bakkies and SUVs at the events all over SA was an easy decision to make."

The Belt and Road Initiative is an initiative between the Government of the People's Republic of China and the dominant transnational economic belt created in 2013. It covers countries and areas along the Silk Road and the Maritime Silk Road historically passing through mainland China, Central Asia, North and West Asia, the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean coast.

On April 24 the 4th "Belt and Road" International Forum hosted by Phoenix TV was held in Beijing. The theme of this forum was "SDGs on Belt & Road". Hundreds of representatives of international organizations, senior executives of enterprises and the government participated in the event to discuss the development and overseas expansion of Chinese enterprises in the process of practicing the "Belt and Road" Initiatives. During the event, Wei Jianjun, Chairman of Great Wall Motor Company Limited, together with Liang Guining, Director of the Institute of Foreign Investment and Cooperation of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce, Fang Qiuchen, President of China International Contractors Association (CHINCA), Wu Zhong, Secretary-General of the Finance Center for South-South Cooperation and other leaders and guests attended the event and discussed the way forward for Chinese enterprises to promote sustainable development through globalization.

Following the release of the off-road version with three differential locks, snorkel, winch and other professional off-road configurations, Great Wall Pickup released the interior pictures of the passenger version of its all new product series on April 8. It also revealed that this pickup is positioned as an international passenger pickup. It is China's first pickup model equipped with an 8-speed automatic transmission and multi-link rear suspension, starting a new era of Chinese passenger pickup.

On April the 2^nd, Great Wall Pickup officially revealed that their all new pickup series would be launched at the Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition on April 16^th 2019. Great Wall Pickup also released two official pictures of the off-road version and said that this all new off-road pickup will be equipped as standard equipment with off-road specific configurations such as a front winch, three differential locks (front, middle, and back) as well as a snorkel, parts and features that are normally aftermarket accessories with most brands.