GWM ORA announces a new naming strategy for its products in the UK following a pan-European brand update from parent company, Great Wall Motor (GWM)
- GWM has announced a new strategic brand direction for its automotive subsidiaries in Europe, creating a ‘ONE GWM’ branded house architecture
- To align with this new strategy, GWM ORA UK will adopt a numerical naming convention for its current and future models
- The brands launch model currently known as ‘ORA Funky Cat’ will be renamed to ‘ORA 03’
- GWM ORA UK will launch its new naming convention in January 2024
Great Wall Motor (GWM) has today announced a new strategic brand direction for its automotive subsidiaries in Europe, evolving from a ‘house of brands’ to a ‘branded house’ architecture. The move forms part of GWM’s commitment to long term success in Europe, leveraging its automotive brands to create one cohesive brand platform that covers a wide range of customer segments and needs.
In the UK market, GWM will adopt a phased approach to the implementation of its new brand strategy, with a focus on introducing a new naming convention for GWM ORA products initially. This update also coincides with an amicable settlement of an opposition to the registration of the ‘Funky Cat’ trademark in the UK market. GWM ORA’s launch model, ORA Funky Cat, will soon adopt the model name ‘ORA 03’, with additional models to follow this same approach.
The ‘Next Cat’ as it is currently known in the UK is the second GWM ORA model that is planned to launch next year. This premium saloon was unveiled at Full Charged Live in April 2023 and will use the model name ‘ORA 07’ when it launches in 2024.
“After one year of operations in the UK market, the GWM ORA UK team has made exceptional progress. This latest band strategy update affirms GWM’s commitment to the European region and the UK market in particular, where ORA Funky Cat has made a real statement already. We now move forward into 2024 and beyond with a new global brand strategy and many exciting 20/11/2023 new products on the horizon. I look forward to sharing more news about our full ORA 03 line-up and our highly anticipated ORA 07 very soon.”
Toby Marshall, Managing Director, GWM ORA UK
The GWM ORA numerical naming convention is already used in markets like South Africa, Australia, Singapore and the Philippines, with all European markets to adopt this approach from January 2024. A vehicles allocated number will directly correlate with the size of the model, with lower numbers representing a smaller model within the GWM product line-up. This flexible and simplified naming strategy has been designed to transcend demographical bias, with scope to introduce many new and exciting GWM ORA products that will appeal to a wide ranging audience.
Physically, GWM ORA models will remain unchanged and the new naming convention will only be reflected in the brands Marketing and communications. Currently there are two models on sale in the UK, ORA Funky Cat First Edition and the newly launched First Edition+ which is limited to just fifty units. As the brands second ever model to go on sale in the UK, ORA Funky Cat First Edition+ is available with an MSRP of £33,795. This new variant features a very high standard specification offering fantastic value for money. Most notably, the First Edition+ variant hosts GWM ORA’s 63kWh battery, offering 260 miles of WLTP electric range. In addition, customers also benefit from features like heated, cooled and massage front seats, heated steering-wheel, panoramic sunroof, automatic tailgate and automatic parking assistance.
ORA Funky Cat First Edition+ also shares a lot of technology with the brands first launch model, including: wireless phone charging, facial recognition, electric front seats, app integration and ‘Hello ORA’ intelligent voice assistance. In addition, GWM ORA is currently testing wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which will be available across the full range once the update has gone live.
