My kar se wat!? China’s Sehol X8 Plus would need a name change before selling in South Africa

Due to go on sale later this year in China, the country’s latest SUV would have been the butt of many a joke if it ever made its way to South Africa, but not for its styling or practicality.

The newly launched X8 Plus serves as the latest model from the unfortunately named Sehol brand, which originated in 2018 as a partnership between Volkswagen’s Seat division and Wolfsburg’s Chinese partner, JAC-Volkswagen, under the Sol nameplate.

Meant to pay homage to Seat’s Spanish origins, as well as the word sol meaning sun, the marque was rebranded Sehol, reportedly last year, in another ill-advised move, likely to elicit laughter from South Africans.

Even more crudely is the “Plus” suffix that denotes the X8 has been spun off from an already available model that debuted two years ago.

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In the case of Plus, innuendos continue in its seating arrangement, which comes to six or seven instead of the five provided by the standard model. No further details regarding specification or better images of the inside were disclosed.

According to CarNewsChina, the Sehol X8 Plus rides on 19-inch alloy wheels and features LED headlights, cladding around the wheel arches, and a full length LED rear light bar.

Sporting a rear facia seemingly inspired by that of the Mercedes-Benz EQB, the X8 Plus is powered by a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine that sends 135kW/300Nm to the front wheels through a six-speed dual-clutch gearbox.

As mentioned, the Sehol X8 Plus is not earmarked for South Africa, where it most certainly would have required a name change similar to Great Wall Motors (GWM) having had to drop the Poer name for its Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger rivalling for P-Series.