Haval’s Mystery Flagship SUV Caught in the Open — and It’s Bringing LiDAR to the Roofline
Spy shots of the C06 reveal a boxy, six-seat PHEV SUV that could be Great Wall Motor’s most ambitious Haval yet.
Great Wall Motor’s Haval brand has been quietly building toward a flagship SUV, and new spy photographs — surfaced by Chinese automotive outlet Autohome — suggest the wait is nearly over. The vehicle, known internally as the C06, has been caught testing with minimal camouflage, and what’s visible tells a fairly complete story about where Haval is headed with its top-of-range offering.
Box-Shaped and Proud of It
The C06’s silhouette won’t surprise anyone who has been watching the Chinese SUV market over the past two years. Boxy proportions are having a moment across virtually every domestic brand, blending rugged visual credibility with the kind of upright greenhouse that maximizes interior space. Haval is leaning into that trend fully here. Rectangular headlights anchor a semi-closed front fascia, and the lower bumper reads thick and upright — functional in appearance even if the underlying structure is anything but traditional.
That structure, notably, is unibody rather than body-on-frame. The C06 is styled for the trail but engineered for the school run, which puts it squarely in the growing category of SUVs that use off-road aesthetics to sell on-road comfort. Fixed side steps and conventional door handles are visible along the flanks, reinforcing the impression of a vehicle designed around daily usability at substantial scale — reportedly over five meters long and approximately two meters wide.
A Roof Worth Looking At
The most technically interesting detail sits on top of the vehicle. A roof-mounted LiDAR unit is clearly visible in the spy shots, accompanied by cameras positioned near the front fenders. That hardware configuration points toward a high-level driver assistance suite — the kind of setup that’s become table stakes for upper-segment Chinese SUVs competing on technology rather than brand heritage. Exactly which ADAS platform the C06 will run hasn’t been confirmed, but the sensor array suggests Haval isn’t content to play catch-up in that department.
Six Seats, Hi4-T Power
Inside the heavily disguised cabin, a two-spoke steering wheel and column-mounted gear selector are visible up front. The seating arrangement follows a 2+2+2 configuration — three rows, six occupants, which positions the C06 as a family hauler first and foremost. Seat cushions appear generously padded from what the photos reveal, though finer interior details remain under wraps.
For motivation, the C06 is expected to draw on Great Wall Motor’s Hi4-T plug-in hybrid system: a 2.0-liter turbocharged engine working alongside dual electric motors, with a rear-axle motor enabling electrified all-wheel drive. It’s a capable and proven architecture within GWM’s portfolio, and fitting it to a flagship SUV of this size makes obvious sense.
Where It Fits
The C06 slots above Haval’s existing electrified lineup, and its design language appears to be a natural evolution of the Raptor family — a connection that CarNewsChina noted when a larger, seven-seat Raptor variant was revealed last year. That same Raptor line drew attention in 2025 for introducing an “aquatic mode” on its PHEV variant, which speaks to the kind of feature-forward experimentation GWM is willing to greenlight in this segment.
The broader context matters too. Chinese automakers are converging on a formula — large dimensions, plug-in hybrid powertrains, boxy styling, and advanced driver assistance hardware — and executing it with increasing sophistication. The C06 appears to be Haval’s most complete expression of that formula yet.
Pricing, range figures, and performance specifications remain unannounced. A 2026 launch is expected, with more details likely to emerge as the reveal approaches.
Source: Autohome