GWM is finally launching an electric SUV as Ora Cat breaks cover

GWM has plenty of hybrid and plug-in hybrid SUVs and also its electric Ora hatchback, but it has yet to launch an electric SUV.

Now, an upcoming SUV from GWM’s Ora brand has been revealed in a Chinese government filing shared by Car News China.

The Ora brand specialises in electric hatchbacks, with its Funky Cat – aka 03 – sold here as the GWM Ora.

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The new SUV looks, for all intents and purposes, like a higher-riding version of the small hatch, and it could wear the Ora 5 nameplate in global markets.

From some angles you could easily mistake it for the GWM Ora hatch, thanks to its almost identical round headlights, high-mounted horizontal tail-lights, and curvaceous body lines.

It measures 4471mm long, 1883mm wide and 1641mm tall on a 2720mm wheelbase. That makes it 236mm longer, 58mm wider and 11mm taller than the Ora hatch, and almost identical in length to the MG S5 EV small electric SUV.

Per the filing, the Ora Cat SUV incorporates a 150kW electric motor and a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery of an unspecified capacity from GWM subsidiary SVOLT.

As Car News China reports, the new SUV is one of four new models planned for the Ora brand in the short term.

GWM Australia has confirmed it plans to have three electric vehicles (EVs) in local showrooms by the end of 2026, though it hasn’t confirmed which models will join the GWM Ora hatchback.

ABOVE (clockwise from left): Ora Lightning Cat Touring, Ora Ballet Cat, GWM Ora/Ora Funky Cat, GWM Ora Sport/Lightning Cat

A new Haval-badged electric mid-size SUV was recently displayed in China, marking the first electric GWM product without Ora badging.

Ora was established in 2018 as an EV brand, and almost all of its models have been hatchbacks bar the Lightning Cat mid-size sedan, which GWM previously brought here to show motoring media, and its recently revealed Touring wagon counterpart.

In addition to the Lightning Cat and Funky Cat, Ora currently offers the Ballet Cat in China, another small electric hatchback albeit with styling that’s even more heavily inspired by the classic Volkswagen Beetle.

MORE: Explore the GWM Ora showroom