GWM killed the Funky Cat: electric hatch renamed Ora 03

A cat might have nine lives, but the Ora Funky Cat has used them up remarkably quickly. The quirky electric hatchback has been renamed to simply the ‘Ora 03’ as part of the Chinese maker’s range-wide rebranding.

Since its arrival on UK shores, the Ora Funky Cat has certainly put the proverbial cat amongst the pigeons with its unusual name. Sales have yet to take off, though; Ora recently celebrated 1,000 sales over the last year. While this might sound impressive, the similarly-priced MG4 managed to make its way to over 21,000 owners in the same period.

It seems now that parent company GWM (Great Wall Motors) is hoping that a more generic name will help draw in starchy British buyers, with the First Edition and First Edition+ models now being rebadged as Pure+ and Pro+. Both of which are now on sale, with prices starting from £31,995 and £34,995 respectively.

More Ora 03 variants are on the horizon too, as GWM Ora has confirmed a high-performance ‘GT’ model will arrive later in 2024, as will an entry-level variant with a more competitive price tag.

This renaming scheme also means that the forthcoming Ora Lightning Cat saloon will instead adopt the much less eyebrow-raising ‘Ora 07’ nameplate; the forthcoming Tesla Model 3 rival is confirmed to arrive before the end of 2024 and is claimed to offer a range of “over 300 miles”.

The GWM Ora brand made its debut in the UK in 2022 with the arrival of the 03 (then, Funky Cat), and has since invested in a dealer network that now spans over 30 locations across the UK. It has since been joined by several other Chinese manufacturers such as BYD, Nio and XPeng, which are all looking to take on the usual line-up of mainstream European manufacturers.