With the entry threshold reduced to 100,000 yuan, capable of off-roading and perfectly suited for picking up children, how much longer will the new energy "boxy" SUVs stay popular?
The already increasingly crowded "boxy SUV" track has been seeing a constant influx of new players recently.
Following the launch or blind booking of models including Geely Galaxy Battleship 700, Jetour Traveler 7, and the new Tank 500 in October, models such as Hongqi G919, M-Hero X700, and BAIC Off-road Xingtan 5X will also be launched or open for pre-sales successively this month.
If we extend the timeline further, we can see that the "boxy SUV" market has continued to heat up since the Chengdu Auto Show in August.
Multiple new models including Jetour Voyager, Xjie G9, Chery iCAR V25, Fangchengbao Titanium 9, the all-new Deepal G318, GAC Trumpchi Yue 7, the second-generation WEY Blue Mountain, and Freelander 8 have made their debut, opened pre-sales or been officially launched in a concentrated manner.
Xjie G9, photographed by a reporter from Time Weekly
Among the densely launched new products, there are both facelift and upgraded models, brand-new first-launched series, and even car companies including Geely, Hongqi, and Trumpchi making their first foray into the boxy SUV track. The product price range extends from 100,000 yuan up to 500,000 yuan, and the power types cover fuel, pure electric and extended-range.
Data from the China Passenger Car Association shows that there were more than 40 boxy SUV models on sale in the domestic market in the first half of 2026, with cumulative retail sales of 447,600 units.
Supported by new energy power, electric four-wheel drive has greatly lowered the off-road threshold, and multiple factors including lower usage costs and the popularization of intelligent configurations have jointly promoted the explosive growth of boxy SUV models.
The boxy SUV market has also gradually evolved from an exclusive choice for niche off-road players to a mainstream family SUV track.
New brands and new product sequences join in
"For Geely, we really haven't made products like this before," said Li Chuanhai, Vice President of Geely Auto Group and Dean of Geely Automobile Research Institute, after the launch conference of Geely's first hardcore SUV, the Galaxy Battleship 700.
Li Chuanhai admitted that the hardcore off-road track has become increasingly crowded and will even turn into a red ocean in 2027, but that does not mean there are no opportunities.
Galaxy Battleship 700, photographed by a reporter from Time Weekly
FAW Hongqi, GAC Trumpchi, and Harmony Intelligent Mobility, among others, have also achieved "zero breakthroughs" in the hardcore off-road track, just like Geely Auto.
On the eve of this year's Chengdu Auto Show, Xjie G9, the first hardcore SUV under Harmony Intelligent Mobility, was officially launched. At the press conference, Yu Chengdong, Executive Director of Huawei and Chairman of Huawei Terminal BG, mentioned that "Xjie G9 is the first hardcore SUV that has been approved for the L3-level autonomous driving road test license for speeds of 120 km/h."
On September 22, GAC Trumpchi Yue 7 was officially launched; on October 16, the GAC Trumpchi Yue 7 four-wheel-drive satellite communication version was launched. As the first "boxy" SUV under GAC Trumpchi, the official positioning of Yue 7 is not only a niche model for hardcore off-road enthusiasts, but also a model that takes into account urban commuting and family travel.
According to the information disclosed by the official, family users account for more than 70% of the first batch of orders for Yue 7.
On the same day that GAC Trumpchi Yue 7 was launched, Hongqi G919, the first hardcore off-road SUV under Hongqi, opened for pre-sales with a pre-sale price range of 359,800 yuan to 439,800 yuan. After covering multiple categories including sedans, SUVs and MPVs, Hongqi has officially entered the hardcore off-road field.
In addition, veteran players are also continuously expanding their product lines.
On October 14, the Jetour Traveler series, which has been laying out the "boxy SUV" market for three years, once again launched the all-new Traveler 7 and the new energy version all-new Traveler 7 C-DM.
Data shows that the cumulative global sales of the Jetour Traveler series have reached 600,000 units so far. In addition to the Jetour Traveler series, Jetour Voyager, the first pure electric hardcore model of the Jetour brand, has also started blind booking.
BAIC Off-road is also deeply cultivating the "boxy SUV" market and chose to launch a brand-new product sequence recently.
During the Chengdu Auto Show, the BAIC Off-road Xingtan 5X made its physical car debut. As the first model of the brand-new "Xingtan" new energy product sequence, the Xingtan 5X offers two power options of pure electric and plug-in hybrid, and will be officially launched in October.
In addition to new brands and new sequences, brands including Fangchengbao, Dongfeng M-Hero, Tank, and Haval are also continuously launching new "boxy SUV" products, including but not limited to Fangchengbao Titanium 3, Fangchengbao Titanium 7 EV flash charge version, Haval H10, all-new Tank 500, all-new M-Hero 817, FREELANDER Freelander 8, etc.
Sales volume continues to rise
An industry insider told a reporter from Time Weekly that compared with the streamlined design of sedans and ordinary SUVs, the tough shape of "boxy SUVs" comes with strong recognition and visual impact. "But in the fuel vehicle era, the relatively high fuel consumption limited the usage scenarios of 'boxy SUVs', making them a relatively niche product type."
The industry insider further mentioned that "Entering the new energy era, independent car brands are making efforts. While the iteration of models is accelerating, diversified power modes such as pure electric, plug-in hybrid, and extended-range have gradually matured, allowing 'boxy SUVs' to retain their tough appearance, make up for the shortcomings in energy consumption, and improve the driving experience at the same time, which has also become the core engine for the rapid expansion of this market segment."
"Boxy SUVs" are not the first time to become a popular track pursued by new energy vehicle companies.
At the end of 2020, Great Wall Motors' Tank brand launched its first model, the Tank 300; in early 2021, Tank was officially spun off from WEY to become an independent brand. Relying on its tough appearance and affordable pricing, the Tank 300 quickly became a hit product, which not only drove the brand's popularity to rise, but also set off a "boxy SUV" boom across China.
From 2020 to 2024, the annual sales volume of the Tank brand jumped from less than 10,000 units to more than 230,000 units. In the same period, both the popularity and sales volume of the entire "boxy SUV" track have gradually increased.
Data from the China Passenger Car Association shows that domestic sales of "boxy SUVs" climbed from 168,400 units in 2015 to 1.02 million units in 2025.
However, as more and more car companies enter the market, while the blue ocean turns into a red ocean, the problem of homogenization has also become increasingly prominent.
"Large enough body size, tough appearance, and impressive hardware parameters", coupled with promotional slogans such as "all-scenario" and "all-terrain", have almost become the common narrative for current brands to enter this market segment.
In fact, the boxy SUV models on the market today can no longer be equated with the hardcore off-road vehicles in traditional perception.
The above-mentioned industry insider admitted that "To put it plainly, some new products only replace the streamlined body with an angular appearance, and in terms of power architecture and chassis performance, they are essentially not much different from urban SUVs."
However, for more consumers, the emotional value brought by the "boxy" shape of new energy vehicles may have exceeded the off-road function brought by the vehicles.
Data from the White Paper on Off-Road Vehicle Market and Technology Development Trends 2026 shows that 73% of boxy SUV owners have off-road mileage of less than 500 kilometers throughout the year, 64.8% of hardcore SUV owners go off-road no more than twice a month, and their usage scenarios are mostly light outdoor scenarios such as suburban camping and short-distance travel.
In this light, no longer being limited to off-road attributes but expanding to daily family use has become one of the underlying logics driving the continuous popularity of the boxy SUV track in 2026.
This article is from the WeChat Official Account "Time Weekly" (ID: timeweekly), written by Cao Yang and Song Ran, edited by Liu Xue, and published with authorization from 36Kr.