Earlier this week, I was invited to the IM Group HQ (IM Group is the company in the UK who imports GWM into the UK, along with Subaru, Isuzu and soon, XPeng) in Solihull to find out more about what the brand strategy is for GWM in the UK market. Also, I had the chance to spend a few hours with the brand new sporty Ora 03 GT. Now, this isn't a brand new model for the brand, as it has been available in various other countries for a while and the car was even shown off during the initial GWM Ora launch at the end of 2021, and it has taken up until now for it to materialise.
GWM Branding, what's going on?
The first question is, what is going on with the GWM brand as a whole? Well to understand this, we have to look at how GWM is structured. Great Wall Motors has, like most big car companies - some subsidiaries and these consist of Ora, Tank, Wey and Haval. Ora has always been a sub-brand of GWM and the main reason the company is now rebranding from GWM Ora to simply GWM in the UK, is due to the first intentions they had for the UK market.
Back when GWM was planning to launch in the UK, Ora was going to be the only brand that the company would ever bring here. To this end, calling the company GWM Ora made lots of sense. However, since then the plans have changed from what we were told by GWM UK Managing Director, Toby Marshall. The company is now looking to bring other GWM sub-brands to the UK and starting in March, the new hybrid Haval Jolion Pro SUV will go on sale in the UK, for £23,995.
What's the GWM Ora 03 GT then?
This sporty looking hatchback is pretty much the same thing as the standard Ora 03 models we're used to. There are no major mechanical changes between the 03 GT and the other 03 models. The only change is the addition of a heat pump, something the other 03 models should have had from day one really. The other changes are purely cosmetic, so we have a new aggressive sports body kit, large spoiler, GT branding, red and black interior, different alloy wheels and red brake calipers.
The car has the same electric motor as previous, making 171 PS (169bhp), 250 Nm of torque and driving the front wheels only. However, one area where the new GT model has had some improvements is the addition of launch control, which in our testing, severely reduced the amount of wheelspin issues.
Infotainment and Interior
GWM has also included its latest 'Coffee' software version for the new Ora 03 GT, which we're led to understand will also be coming to existing Funky Cat and 03 models that customers currently have. This has had various major enhancements, including reducing the driver alerts and bings down to a minimum, which is really good to see. Elsewhere, font for the driver's display is slightly larger and it also, humorously now has a digital clock. However, Apple CarPlay still had the same location bug as previous.
Other than that, the interior quality is really impressive, the seats are comfortable, the plastics are good quality and the overall fit and finish rivals many cars in price tags way above it. There is just enough physical controls to get by and while the buttons on the steering wheel might look like haptics, they are thankfully separate buttons. The climate control, as much as it saddens me is still on the touchscreen, with some shortcut buttons on the dash for directing air to the windscreen or back window.
Range and Charging
I only had around 2 hours with the Ora 03 GT unfortunately and around 30 minutes of that was driving the car. So it is hard to comment on how efficient the Ora 03 GT can be. However, the addition of the heat pump on the GT model should help improve the range. When I was testing the 03 Pro+ version from October 2024 to January 2025, the range could swing from 225 to 170 miles, depending on temperature. So I would hope - and this will need some longer term testing, that the 03 GT should have more consistant range.
The GT has the larger 63kWh battery from the Pro and previous Pro+ model, and like those which are rated at 260 miles WLTP, in the GT, it is rated at 248 miles WLTP.
The charging speed is sadly the same as before, so this means a max of 64kW DC and 11kW AC using the CCS2 socket.
Equipment
The new GT model essentially builds on what the previous Pro+ model had, which means it comes with a panoramic roof, ventilated seats and massaging seats, on top of the standard fit heated seats, auto reversing, powered tailgate and front/rear parking sensors from the Pro model. All Ora 03 models come with a 360-degree camera system, wireless Apple CarPlay, internet radio, support for the GWM mobile app plus much more.
Driving
As mentioned above, the bings and bongs while driving have been almost completely reduced. In my test run, I had everything turned on, the driver monitoring system, emergency steering assist and more and it wasn't an issue. Previously, the Ora 03 really did not like unmarked, back roads - which are all too common in rural areas in the UK. It would get very confused and enable the 'Emergency Steering Assist' every few seconds, complete with an irritating beep and nudge of the wheel. However, with the new software, there are no such issues.
One pedal driving has also been strengthened up quite a bit on the Ora 03, which has coincidentally been renamed from E-Pedal to One Pedal Driving. Its much stronger to slow you down to a stop, which is much more in tune to how this feature should actually work.
In terms of comfort and driving ability, the Ora 03 GT is pretty identical to other Ora models. The ride is comfortable, compliant and feels grown up along the road. There is a slight bit of noticeable tire noise at motorway speeds, which is to be expected - but for everything else, it is pretty good.
That wheel-spin issue mentioned above has also all been eradicated by the 03 GT, thanks (probably) to the addition of launch control. I'm yet to test the new Pure and Pro models to see if they have been improved in the same way, as those will have the latest software too.
Performance is also exactly the same as the other Ora 03 versions, its still front wheel drive, making the same amount of power and it has the same 0-60mph times too.
Pricing
As we reported on the day it was announced, the model lineup for the Ora 03 has also changed, as has the pricing too. The previous starting price of the Pure+ was £31,995 and this has been dropped to £24,995. This GT model is £32,995.
Conclusion
I'm in a unique position when it comes to reviewing the Ora 03 GT. As I alluded to earlier, I have just spent a solid three months with the Ora 03 Pro+ and did 4,000 miles, so it is easy for me to see where the improvements have been made. For example, the software is mostly better, the alerts have been reduced dramatically and the wheel spin issues on this GT model have at least, been reduced to a minimum.
However, the Ora 03 GT is not perfect. The infotainment still has the same issues relating to Apple CarPlay where the location can be hundreds of miles off and takes 5-10 minutes for it to sort itself out. I spoke to GWM UK about this and they said this is an issue on their end and is being worked on.
Other than that issue, the Ora 03 GT looks fantastic with the sporty styling, it drives better than the other older versions and finally has a heat pump. Pricing is better too across the board and this GT model is actually cheaper than the previous Pro+ version. Well worth a test drive.
Verdict
Good
- Great sporty styling
- Comfortable to drive
- Wireless Apple CarPlay as standard
- Heat pump added to this GT model
- Wheel spin issues eradicated from previous versions
Bad
- Infotainment issues still present on the latest version
- No increase in power on this GT model
- DC charging speed still capped at 64kW
Rating - 3.5/5
