Hawtai Terracan Is A Chinese-Korean SUV

Hawtai Terracan

A beautiful black Hawtai Terracan, seen in Beijing in 2016. The big SUV was in a fine shape, with smooth paint, the original wheels, the ultra cool fender mirror, and old period license plates.

The Hawtai Terracan was made in China by the Hawtai-Hyundai joint venture. It was basically a Hyundai Terracan with some minor changes. It had a Hyundai badge on the front but Hawtai badges on the back. It was marketed as a Hawtai. The joint venture also made the Galloper.

Fender mirrors eliminate typical D-pillar blind spots on the right side of the vehicle, especially in combination with a normal side mirror. Still, the idea never really took hold, because a driver is forced to divide his attention between two mirrors, instead of focusing on just one.

The Hyundai Terracan was made in South Korea from 2001 until 2007. In China, the Hawtai Terracan was made from 2004 until 2012, with various facelifts and updates in between. The car we have here is an early pre-facelift example, made in China from 2004 until 2007.

Almost as new! The owner really loves his Terracan. The wood and the leather appears to be in top condition. The owner only added a new, and very basic, infotainment system, a steering wheel cover, and a seat cover.

The early Hawtai Galloper was available with two engines: a 2.5 liter turbo diesel and a 2.9 liter V6 turbo diesel. Later on, Hawtai added a 2.4 Mitsubishi petrol engine to the lineup, made locally at Shenyang-Mitsubishi. Our black Galloper has the V6 diesel under the bonnet, good for 150 hp and an impressive 333 Nm. The motor was mated to a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed automatic, as in this car, sending horses to all four wheels.

Badge: 华泰 特拉卡, or Huatai Telaka, Hawtai Terracan. Price of the Terracan 2.9 automatic in 2005 started at 269.800, which was steep for the times, but it was a huge car.

4WD V6.

The Hawtai Terracan never sold very well, mostly due to the diesel engines that dominated the lineup, at least until the 2.4 arrived. Passenger cars with diesel engines aren’t allowed in most Chinese city centers, so expensive diesel-powered SUVs rarely sell well. The area where I found this car is far outside the center area, so that’s okay. Sadly, ever stricter environmental regulations may soon spell the end for any Terracan anywhere in China.

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