Is this the next-generation GWM Haval H6?

A new Haval SUV has been spied testing, although just what it is is unclear.

Photos of the apparently medium-to-large SUV have been published by Car News China and on social media network Weibo, with some Chinese media outlets reporting it as a new-generation H6.

That’s despite the current H6 only having entered production in 2020.

There’s a distinctive, wide grille bookended by what appear to be plunging LED daytime running lights, while down back there are tail lights rather like those of the 2018-20 Hyundai Santa Fe.

Inside, there are screens running across the entire length of the dashboard – a design element that is becoming increasingly popular in China – and an unusual angled centre console with two large wireless charging pads.

There are four rocker switches and what appear to be a row of buttons, but no conventional shifter – gear selection could, therefore, be achieved by pushing buttons, or via a column-mounted shifter.

While there are some exterior design elements shared with the current H6, like the glasshouse reaching a point at the D-pillar and a sharp crease running down the side, this isn’t the type of subtle mid-life update we typically see from, for example, European and Japanese brands.

Chinese automakers are also known to launch updated or new versions of vehicles and keep previous generations in production concurrently. Haval itself still sells a previous generation of H6 in China.

Car News China reports the new SUV shares its architecture with the likes of the GWM Haval H6 and Jolion, and will be offered with a choice of a turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine or a 1.5-litre turbo plug-in hybrid.

The mystery SUV will join an already cluttered line-up of Haval-branded SUVs in China.

While just two are sold here – the Jolion and H6, both with GWM Haval badging – the mass-market Great Wall Motor SUV brand has 10 model lines.

These include the Lemon-based Big Dog/Dagou/Dargo, Kagou/Cool Dog, Chitu and Shenshou, as well as the ageing H9 off-roader and M6 Plus crossover.

H9 off-roader aside, the Shenshou is currently Haval’s largest SUV, measuring 4.78m-long. That’s only fractionally shorter than the defunct H8.

Great Wall Motor doesn’t just sell SUVs under its Haval nameplate. It has also established the Wey brand, which predominantly sells more premium crossovers, and the Tank brand, which sells rugged, body-on-frame off-roaders.

The first Tank product, the 300, is now on sale in Australia as the GWM Tank 300.