I’ve expressed my distaste for over-badging on cars before. Ideally, a car has two badges: One on its nose and one on its ass, with maybe its model name written somewhere once. So I’m speaking directly to Haval when I say that just because the real estate is available, it doesn’t mean it should slap a badge on it.
Haval is a sub-brand of the Chinese automaker, Great Wall Motors. It only sells SUVs and touts itself as the “No. 1 SUV Brand in China.” We don’t get them here, but apparently they are available in Chile, which is where a reader named Tomas spotted a Haval H2 while stuck in traffic.
He snapped a photo for us:
Now, the big centered badge that spells out H A V A L isn’t unusual. All automakers put badges there.
The badge on the bottom left isn’t unusual either, as that’s where the model name usually goes. But for some reason, Haval decided to stick another Haval badge there. Maybe because it thought that the lone H2 would be too small? I don’t know.
And then! And then—in the Center High Mount Stop Lamp (CHMSL) is yet another Haval badge! But you wouldn’t see that one unless the driver steps on the brake pedal. Guy, are you SERIOUS? This is gross.
I can’t decide if it’s better or worse than the light-up badges that Mercedes has been putting on its cars. I think it might be worse because this makes it a subliminal message.
Now, there is a very slim chance that some of these badges are aftermarket, but I am far from convinced. First, they look OEM. And second, I don’t buy that someone loves Haval so much that they’d take the time to find, buy and attach more Haval badges to the back of their H2 (and also install a new brake light for it).
So I choose to believe that these badges came from the factory. It is deeply upsetting. Too many badges, Haval. Cut it out.