Haval H2 review: the cheapest new SUV badge in Bahrain, with the compromises to match
3/5motorssouq Editorial Team
Buy the H2 for one reason only: it is the least expensive way to put a new SUV badge, a warranty and a small automatic in a Bahraini driveway. The 1.5-turbo is adequate rather than eager, the cabin is basic next to a Jolion, and the platform underneath is nearly a decade old. If your budget stretches even slightly further, the Jolion is a meaningfully better car for not much more money. If it does not, the H2 does the job honestly.
Pros
- Least expensive new SUV badge and factory warranty available in Bahrain
- Genuinely small footprint, easy to park in older Manama neighbourhoods
- Mechanically simple, no turbo-hybrid complexity to worry about
- Cheap to insure and run by SUV standards
Cons
- Platform is close to a decade old and it shows in the cabin
- Fewer safety and comfort features than the Jolion for not much less money
- Smaller touchscreen and simpler infotainment than the rest of the range
- No factory hybrid or higher-output option if you outgrow the base engine
Most of the world has moved on from the H2. Haval retired it in China years ago and replaced it with the Jolion, and most export markets followed. Bahrain has not, because Tasheelat Automotive has kept it in the lineup as the entry point below the Jolion's price, and there is clearly still a buyer for a genuinely small, genuinely cheap SUV with a manufacturer badge and a warranty attached.
What you get for the money
The 1.5-litre turbo four with 148 hp is enough for the H2's modest 4,335 mm footprint, and the 6-speed automatic is unremarkable in the least offensive sense — it does not hunt for gears or lag annoyingly at roundabouts. The cabin is where the age shows: harder plastics, a smaller touchscreen and a shorter options list than anything else currently in a Haval showroom.
Living with it in Bahrain
The upside of the small footprint is real in Manama's tighter multi-storey car parks and older neighbourhood streets, where a Jolion or H6 already starts to feel large. Running costs are low, insurance is cheap by SUV standards, and the mechanical simplicity means fewer things to go wrong compared with the turbo-hybrid systems creeping into newer Havals.
Who should buy one
Buyers for whom price is the only variable that matters, and who want the reassurance of a factory warranty over a used compact sedan at the same money. Anyone cross-shopping should at least sit in a Jolion first; the step up in cabin quality and safety kit for a modest price difference is significant.