GWM Teases First Supercar Model to Rival BYD’s Yangwang U9

GWM has just published a teaser image of its first-ever supercar model, set to rival BYD’s Yangwang U9 in China.

Not content with 4x4 SUVs, urban crossovers, and quirky EVs, Chinese automaker GWM is now delving into the supercar realm, as it just published a teaser image of its first-ever supercar model in China. Published via its official Weibo page, the unnamed supercar by GWM is said to rival the ever-popular Yangwang U9 from China’s NEV giant, BYD.

From the teaser image, we can see that the supercar is hidden beneath a shadowy drape, with several GWM top execs, including its chairman Wei Jianjun, posing around the mysterious model.

Upon closer inspection, we can see that the new supercar will boast some design similarities with its quirky Ora EV lineup, which in itself draws inspiration from some Porsche models. Here, you can clearly see the supercar’s rounded headlight design and its sculpted front hood, as well as the overall shape, featuring what seems to be a typical sleek mid-engined supercar bodystyle with a low beltline and wide fenders.

Besides the bodystyle, the presence of the large air vents on the rear fenders also hinted at its mid-engined layout, which is the most common setup you’ll see in modern supercars of late.

Unlike the U9, GWM’s first supercar will boast a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) powertrain setup, featuring the marque’s new, self-developed V8 engine, CarNewsChina reports. The V8 engine in question, featuring a 4.0-litre displacement, was first shown earlier in April this year at the Auto Shanghai motor show, and GWM has kept many of its details close to their chest, at least for now.

Talks on GWM’s first supercar were long established before this teaser was published, with the automaker reportedly working on this supercar project since 2021, and this was then confirmed by its CTO Wu Huixiao back in April this year. The CTO also highlighted that the long development time was due to GWM going back and forth on cost control.

Should GWM use the Yangwang U9 as the benchmark for its first supercar, then we can expect some crazy output numbers and, more importantly, a relatively affordable price tag.

BYD's Yangwang U9 electric supercar displayed at the Auto China 2024 motor show.

For reference, the U9, which currently retails for CNY 1.68 million (RM989,764) in China, is powered by a quad-motor setup that delivers a total system output of 1,287 HP and 1,680 Nm, allowing for a rapid century sprint time of just 2.36 seconds. Besides its bonkers straight-line speeds, the U9 EV also underpins BYD’s Disus-X suspension system that allows the EV supercar to jump around and do fancy party tricks, at least on the non-performance side of things.