In Great Wall Motor's May sales data, there is a surprising highlight—the Ora brand.
Ora sold 6,018 units in May, a year-over-year surge of 206.88%, leading all Great Wall brands. In a month where Haval, Tank, and Great Wall Pickup all saw declines, only Wey and Ora maintained growth, with Ora's rebound being particularly outstanding. From January to May, Ora's cumulative sales reached 15,583 units, a year-over-year increase of 46.66%.
Looking back to the beginning of the year, Ora's situation was not easy at that time.
Throughout 2025, Great Wall's cumulative sales reached 1.3237 million vehicles. Most brands grew, but Ora declined by 23.68%, with annual sales shrinking to 48,300 vehicles. At the time, many felt Ora might gradually become marginalized like this.
Entering 2026, the situation once got worse. In January, Ora sold only 2,057 units, down 6.2% year-over-year, remaining the only brand in the group to decline. February saw a drop to 1,263 units, almost hitting rock bottom.
The turning point appeared in March.
On March 12, 2026, the Ora 5 made its global premiere in Bangkok, Thailand. Built on Great Wall's new "Guiyuan" platform, this platform's biggest feature is supporting pure electric, hybrid, and fuel power forms simultaneously. For a small car brand that originally insisted on "pure electric all the way," this step was not easy, but in hindsight, it was quite a pragmatic move.
On April 25, the Ora 5 Hybrid and Fuel versions were officially launched at the Beijing Auto Show. In May, all three power versions worked together. Ora's brand sales rose from around 2,000 units at the beginning of the year to 6,018 units in May.
It is less about market preference and more that Ora finally found a way closer to users.
In the 2026 new energy market, it is not as hot as the previous two years. Overall new energy passenger vehicle sales for the first four months declined over 10% year-over-year, especially small electric cars below 100,000 yuan, where the decline was close to half.
Ora 5 did three relatively solid things.
First, returning the choice to users. The pure electric version is left for city commuting and policy needs. The fuel version covers areas where charging is not convenient. The hybrid version balances cost and convenience with a tested 3.74 liters per 100 km fuel consumption. Three power forms correspond to three different life scenarios. The Guiyuan platform disassembles the vehicle structure into 49 core modules and 329 shared components, with a part commonality rate exceeding 70%, allowing Great Wall to develop three versions simultaneously at a relatively low cost.
Second, pricing is relatively pragmatic. Ora 5 Fuel version suggested retail price starts at 79,800 yuan, limited-time new swap price starts at 69,800 yuan during launch; Hybrid version suggested retail price starts at 89,800 yuan, limited-time new swap price starts at 79,800 yuan; Pure electric version guidance price falls in the 99,800 to 133,800 yuan range. Under the background of purchase tax halved and battery prices rising, this price points to the most sensitive interval for many families buying cars.
Safety was not compromised. Ora 5 all models adopt cage body structure and five-layer battery safety protection system. Great Wall Motor Chairman Wei Jianjun emphasized in introducing the Guiyuan platform that "Life First, Safety Supreme" is the platform's core philosophy. For a small car, this is quite rare.
According to the plan of Ora Brand General Manager Lu Wenbin, 2026 will be Ora's product year. Ora will maintain a pace of launching one new car per month. Relying on the Guiyuan platform, it will continue to launch products with multiple power versions like pure electric, hybrid, and fuel. It will also expand to various body forms such as Hatchbacks and Sedans and SUVs, perfecting the product matrix.
From the revealed plans so far, the Ora 5 is just a starting point. Lu Wenbin explicitly stated that the Ora 5 Family will cover multiple niche categories including A-segment SUV, A-segment Sedan/Hatchback, A+ segment SUV, A0 segment Coupe, providing multiple power forms like fuel, pure electric, and hybrid.
This means Ora is transforming from a "small car brand" to a "brand covering multiple niche categories". The Guiyuan platform provides the technical foundation for this expansion. The platform is compatible with five power forms, covering 7 major categories including Sedan, SUV, Off-road SUV, Pickup, MPV, Sports Car, etc. It is expected to launch over 50 global models. This platform's 70% part commonality rate makes multi-power, multi-category product layout possible in terms of cost and efficiency.
At the same time, Ora is also upgrading existing models. Lu Wenbin explicitly denied rumors of classic models exiting the market. "Good Cat, Ballet Cat and other classic models remain very popular. For example, Ballet Cat sells very well in Shanghai, and can be seen everywhere on the streets." He stated that these models will not stop production. Ora will continue to iteratively upgrade them. Some models will also undergo power upgrades, maintaining the classic user base while attracting new users. Additionally, in 2026, the Ora brand will also undergo intelligent upgrades for its on-sale models Ballet Cat and Flash Cat.
In terms of brand architecture, Ora and Salon have completed integration, and Salon's model Mech Dragon has moved into the Ora community. Through deep collaboration of the dual brands, Great Wall hopes to cover a more complete price range in the pure electric field, extending from Ora's mainstream market to Salon's planned high-end luxury market.
Ora's other important battlefield is overseas.
Currently, the Ora 5 has started shipping to Brazil and Europe, and will be launched in these markets successively in the near future. Great Wall Motor plans to achieve 40% sales growth in the Thai market in 2026, and has added 10 billion Thai Baht investment for this purpose. The Ora 5 is the key vehicle to achieve this goal.
According to the plan, starting from Thailand, Ora will further expand to Europe, Oceania, Middle East, Latin America, Africa and other markets. In Great Wall Motor's overall overseas layout, the overseas progress is accelerating, and Ora has become an important source of incremental sales after Haval.
More worth noting is that Ora's understanding of the overseas market no longer stays at the level of "exporting products". The brand positioning has shifted from "New Energy Vehicle that Loves Women More" to "Global Fashion Boutique Car Brand". Communication advocacy has been upgraded to "Live Up Your Shine". Facing global young users, adapting to the real needs of different markets with a more open product logic.
Of course, looking at it calmly, this 206.88% year-over-year growth rate is partly because the base of the same period last year was indeed low (1,961 units). A monthly sales volume of 6,018 units still has room compared to the high point when Ora brand monthly sales exceeded 10,000 in 2021.
Additionally, current growth mainly relies on one new car, the Ora 5. Taking the retail data of the first four months of this year as an example, Ora 5 Pure Electric sold 4,464 units, Good Cat sold 2,629 units, while Ballet Cat sold only 4 units. The resilience driven by a single vehicle needs time to test. But Ora has obviously realized this. Its dense product planning and matrix expansion are active responses to this risk.
But regardless, Ora has walked out of the coldest winter. In this May where Great Wall's overall sales are not yet clear, Ora proved its value of still being needed by users with a mild rebound. This is probably the most comforting item in this monthly report.
Source: Auto Observer
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