Meet the new Haval Cool Dog, an offroad-biased SUV with rugged styling.

Remember the mega-cool Haval Big Dog, a rival to the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado? Well, Haval has made a smaller version, positioned below and it too features rugged offroad styling.

This is the Haval Cool Dog and with dimensions of 4 520 mm, 1 875 mm, 1 745 mm and a wheelbase of 2 710, you can think of it as similarly sized to the Kia Seltos and Toyota Corolla Cross. It could also be seen as a rival to the offroad lifestyle crew of the Jeep Renegade and Suzuki Jimny.

It just looks so damn cool, with design elements that really look the part. There are round LED headlights, a bold box-shaped grille, and aluminium-style skidplates. The ground clearance and box-shaped wheel arches really give it that old-school go-anywhere stance.

Styling-wise, the Cool Dog integrates a few styling features from the popular Big Dog although the two SUVs are not sharing any body panels. At the front, the round LED headlights are enclosed within the boxy-shaped grille, for a rugged and aggressive look in combination with the unpainted bumpers and the aluminum-style skidplates.

The cabin is far from old-school however, and while it doesn’t look as advanced as some of the other Haval products we’ve seen of late (check out the epic Haval H6 interior), it still feels like a fairly modern place to hang out. There’s a digital instrument cluster, 12.3-inch infotainment screen, upmarket steering wheel and an 18-speaker audio system powered by JVC. Haval says the higher trim levels get 2-tone leather seats as well as some piano black and carbon fibre interior accents.

Lurking inside that muscular bonnet is a 1.5-litre turbocharged 4-cylinder petrol engine with 135 kW and 275 Nm. Haval says customers can choose from either front-wheel drive or four-wheel drive. A 7-speed dual-clutch transmission is standard.

The Haval Cool Dog will be hitting the Chinese showrooms before the end of the year. We understand that Haval South Africa has been studying the Big Dog for a possible market introduction at some point. We also know that hybrid versions of the Jolion and H6 are due to be launched before the end of the year, along with the striking Haval H6 GT.

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