Haval names its new SUV 'Dargo' after a 32,525-vote netizen poll

In 2020 Haval was about to launch B06, a new-platform SUV designed by ex-Land Rover's Phil Simmons, in a crowded compact-SUV segment where rivals like Geely's icon and Changan's UNI-T were stealing buzz with futuristic branding. A conventional letter-and-number name would disappear; the brand needed young buyers to notice before the car was even for sale.

Let the public name the new SUV in an open vote, then keep the un-corporate winner 'Dargo' (大狗), turning an awkward name into free attention and co-ownership.

Haval put eight candidate names — Lantu, Dargo, Wolf, Yufeng, Yuanxingzhe, Fengshang, Battle Axe and Reactor — to a week-long public online vote in early June 2020. 'Dargo' won with 32,525 votes, roughly three times the runner-up, and on 10 June Haval announced it would keep the name, explaining that the car should be a loyal 'big dog' that accompanies its owner through daily life and far journeys. In late August a second netizen vote named the trim levels after dog breeds — Labrador, Border Collie, Malinois, Husky and more — before the 5 September JD.com co-created presale and the 25 September launch.

The poll produced two waves of national traffic: one while netizens voted, one when Haval actually kept the joke name. The reveal made the B06 a talking point before any price existed, and after the 25 September launch the Dargo sold strongly — 10,305 units in January 2021, its second consecutive month above 10,000, according to Great Wall's own sales release covered by Chinese auto media.

In early June 2020 Great Wall's Haval brand was preparing a make-or-break new SUV, internally coded B06 and built on a fresh platform with design by Phil Simmons, the former Land Rover design director who had become Great Wall's global design chief. The compact-SUV market was crowded, and rivals such as Geely's icon and Changan's UNI-T were winning attention with slick, futuristic launches while Haval leaned on its ageing H6.

Instead of another aspirational codename, Haval put the name itself to the crowd. Eight candidates — Haval Lantu, Haval Dargo, Haval Wolf, Haval Yufeng, Haval Yuanxingzhe, Haval Fengshang, Haval Battle Axe and Haval Reactor — went to a public online vote in the first week of June. The joke option, 'Dargo' (big dog), took 32,525 votes, nearly three times the second-place name.

On 10 June Haval announced it would honour the result. Its official copy reframed the name: the car should be a loyal big dog that accompanies its owner through ordinary life and far-off places alike. The announcement drew immediate national coverage and social debate, with some commentators comparing the risk to Skoda's discontinued 'Yeti' in China and others praising Haval for letting the netizens' choice stand.

Haval kept playing the joke. In late August it held a second public vote to name the car's trim levels after dog breeds — Labrador, Border Collie, Malinois, Husky and others — then ran a co-created presale with JD.com on 5 September. The Dargo launched on 25 September and by January 2021 was selling 10,305 units in a single month, its second straight month above 10,000.

The vote gave consumers a stake: people who picked 'Dargo' defended the name and the brand in the resulting debate.

Keeping the joke winner showed the company would honour a promise made in public, which generated goodwill no ad budget could match.

The awkward name was inherently memorable in a market of identikit 'star' and 'future' car names.

Two polling rounds stretched one creative idea across the whole pre-launch window, from name to trim levels.

Sales followed the buzz: monthly volume passed 10,000 units twice within four months of launch.

Honour the crowd's joke and the name does the launch marketing itself — audiences reward a company that keeps a promise made in public.

Sceptics compared the name to failed bets like Skoda's 'Yeti', but the Dargo became one of Haval's strongest new launches of 2020, with Great Wall reporting more than 10,000 units sold in both December 2020 and January 2021. Haval kept the pet theme for the presale and launch phases, and the public naming exercise became a reference point for how Chinese carmakers could turn a product launch into a crowd event rather than a press release.