Chinese checkers

China's Great Wall Motor Company is the first privately owned automobile venture to be listed on the Hong Kong stock market and is seen as a serious potential exporter to the rest of the world.

The organization started selling SUVs into the European market in 2006 and has a background as a supplier to many of the word's developing nations. Already around one third of its production goes to export markets.

So if the odd model aberration appears on its new-car portfolio, don't be misled: Great Wall (GWM) is tipped to be among the leaders of China's emerging carmakers with a strong chance its products will eventually be sold in Australia.

Among those that probably won't come here are the Gwkulla, a sub-smart fortwo that is purely electric and is able to propel two people 140km before being plugged in for a recharge. Resplendent in its cartoon colour scheme, the Gwkulla will do 65km/h and makes the two-seat smart look big: it is 2565mm long, 1440mm wide and 1524mm high.

Also unlikely is the Hover Pi limo -- a rather bigger vehicle than the Gwkulla with a wheelbase of 4950mm, an overall length of 6870mm, a width of 1800mm and a height of 1765mm.

The elongated Hover Pi can seat as many as nine passengers and weighs 2320kg, which could end up being a bit of a struggle for the 93kW 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine.

But with its exotic, pastel-hued interior and comforts that include a built-in bar, an L-shaped sofa and LCD TV entertainment, it's unlikely passengers will want to go anywhere in a hurry anyway.

Then there's the Wingle motor home, a bizarre-looking conveyance that sits a lumpy carapace on top of a pretty regular-looking crew-cab ute. The brochures show a luxuriously-trimmed living area with plenty of comforts including a wide-screen LCD TV and plenty of pink trim -- which presumably can be deleted for something a little less confronting.

More macho is the incredibly angular Coolbear MPV that looks suspiciously like something we've eyed incredulously at past Tokyo motor shows and is described as "typically suitable for men".

The 3951mm-long Coolbear weighs just 1128kg, so maybe the pint-size 1.5-litre engine's 72kW can manage okay.

That's the quirky stuff: more predominant among GWM's extensive model range are cars like the apparently Toyota Yaris-based offerings including the Florid mini-wagon that offers the choice of 1.3 and 1.5-litre engines with a power range from 65 to 80kW, and the conventional hatchback Phenom, with a massive chrome grille any Korean carmaker would be proud of. The Phenom offers two engines: a 66kW 1.3-litre and an 80kW 1.5-litre. Both Phenom and Florid meet Euro IV emissions regulations.

GWM also has vehicles like the Hover SUV, a Holden Captiva-style manual-transmission AWD wagon with a 2.5-litre common rail turbodiesel engine or a petrol-electric hybrid drivetrain, as well as the Wingle dual-cab ute and other MPVs -- such as the mid-size Gwfeelfine and the bigger Cowry with its forward-opening rear doors - less confronting than the super-boxy Coolbear.

Watch this space.

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