Haval Motors South Africa (HMSA) has announced that the GWM P Series bakkie will make its local debut in late November.

HMSA says the P Series will be available in 16 derivatives in South Africa and other countries in the Southern African Development Community region, including single and double cabs, manual and automatic transmissions, and 4 × 2 and 4 × 4 variants.

All variants will make use of a 2 ℓ turbo diesel engine.

Pricing has not yet been disclosed.

HMSA has in recent years made strong inroads into the South African sports-utility vehicle (SUV) market, while Great Wall Motors (GWM) bakkies have largely gained a reputation as value-for-money workhorses.

This new bakkie will, however, take aim at the higher end of the market.

GWM owns the Haval SUV brand on the global stage, but HMSA is the parent company for all GWM brands in South Africa.

The new GWM bakkie was showcased at the 2019 Auto Shanghai show, followed by a launch into the Chinese market with reported sales of 5 020 units in the first month.

The export model was unveiled at the Beijing Auto show with the name ‘Poer’ (pronounced ‘Power’). This was also an acronym for ‘Powerful, Off-road, Enjoyable and Reliable’, said GWM at the time.

However, this name will be used in all international markets, except South Africa, where it was received less favourably.

GWM says the P Series offers creature comforts such as a hidden step ladder in the tailgate; full leather interiors; personalised intelligent interconnectivity; a voice-controlled entertainment system; self-adaptive cruise control and smart cruise control support; multifunction seats; and rear self-tensioning seatbelts in the double-cab model.

Safety features include lane-keeping assistance; traffic sign recognition; blind spot monitoring; front steel beams for strength and rigidity; front and rear park distance control with a rear camera on the double-cab derivatives; and up to seven airbags.

The transmission on the high-end models is an eight-speed ZF auto gearbox.

Keyless entry comes as standard.