Great Wall declared in mid 2006 that they were planning on expanding away from their usual safety zone of pick up trucks, and SUV’s and get themselves into the hatchback business. Many remarked that such a massive change in vehicle line up would be impossible, especially with the Great Wall brand being synonymous with being a truck/SUV manufacturer. Greatwall were clearly undeterred and went ahead with their plans anyway. First off the GWM production line was the ill fated Pery, which brought GWM a plate load of trouble from the Italians, then it was the Scion based Coolbear and the Florid which made it to GWM dealerships.

Now GWM have moved onto a new hatchback, one that was first unveiled at the Shanghai Auto show in in 2007. The i7 concept was an odd little car, but certainly memorable, possibly thanks to its Gillette razor style front grill. We’ve seen this car on CCT previously, although then it was being towed.

Powerplants for the above i7 hatch have not yet been revealed, perhaps the same 1.5 that found its way into the Florid. But now that GWM have entered the hatchback market, arent they just going to flood the market with odd little hatchbacks? The above i7 looks very similar to the Florid, except it has an odd grill.