HAVAL design chief Pierre Leclercq unveiled two exciting concept vehicles at the Auto China Exhibition in Beijing last week.
"The HB-02 and HR-02 represent a new design watermark for the company," he said.
"It also continues the evolution of the HAVAL Blue and HAVAL Red strategy and the expansion of our product line-up for our overseas markets, such as Australia."
Leclercq said the concept vehicles unveiled at Beijing demonstrated the HAVAL expansion strategy.
"Through design we want to offer SUVs of different characters, leading to the development of SUVs of various sizes."
HAVAL HR-02
The HR-02 is a compact SUV, with an athletic design dominated by a large front grille.
"We're very proud of this vehicle," said Leclercq. "It's a compact SUV that's super dynamic in the silhouette and the window graphic.
"It's very simple design, but very strong. There's a lot of muscle that should please younger customers in Australia.
"It's very agile, but sits well with a great presence, particularly with the larger grille and smaller headlamps.
"It's very clean look, but there's also lots of muscle and lots of jewellery. This is a vehicle that offers real quality and beautiful fit and finish," he said.
HAVAL HB-02
The mid-size HAVAL HB-02 combines outstanding design with modern technology, powered by an advanced hybrid engine.
"This is a vehicle that we think is going to be great for Australian customers. We worked a lot on proportions so the car always has a lot of muscle.
"It is long, it is wide and it is low with a very long bonnet and we have enlarged the hexagonal grille to provide a front end that is unique and very aggressive. The headlamps are the diamond on the ring with this concept."
Leclercq said the profile personified his philosophy of simple, but strong.
"The surfaces are big with lots of sculpture. Importance is given to the wheel arches to provide lots of muscle. The side window graphics come from our DNA, which we continue to develop.
"We have pushed the functionality on HB-02 with a unique design on the side windows, but one that also offers fantastic visibility."
Leclercq has been Vice President of Design for the company for three years now and his design philosophy is clearly showing in the HAVAL model line-up.
"We start with good proportions, ensuring the vehicle looks wide enough and that we maintain enough delta between the wheels and glass to add muscle.
"We make sure we continue to improve the quality of everything we do. We work every day with our engineers to improve fit and finish down to the tiniest millimeter to produce the best possible SUVs we can for our Australian customers."
"We add to the vehicle with jewellery that is very innovative. Our details are numerous – the wheels, the headlights, the touches inside. To me they are the diamond on the ring.
"While they must be beautiful to look at, they must also be functional. Form must always follow function."