The ORA Funky Cat Now Has A Much Less Funky Name

Trying to muscle your unknown car company into a space dominated by brands with decades’ worth of customer recognition is tough, but Great Wall’s Ora had two things on its side when its first EV for the European market arrived on the continent late last year. The first was its cute, or maybe just quirky, looks that resulted from two oval headlamps giving it a hint of Porsche 911. The second was an absolutely ridiculous, but entirely unforgettable, name: Funky Cat.

But now it seems the Funky Cat name has been told to get funked. Ora originally selected the name Funky Cat for the sub-compact hatch’s European launch, rebranding it from Good Cat, its name in China. From January 2024, though, the Funky Cat will be known as the GWM ORA 03, a name with no groove whatsoever.

All future Great Wall Motor (GWM) cars bound for Europe will also get numerical names – small ones for small cars, big ones for bigger cars – so the Next Cat, which was shown at the UK’s Fully Charged Live show last April, will be called ORA 07 when it goes on sale in 2024. Autocar reports that Wey, another GWM brand heading for Europe in 2024, will adopt the same numerical naming system, meaning the Wey Coffee 01 becomes the GWM Wey 05 and the Wey Coffee 02 will now be known as the GWM Wey 03.

Related: Great Wall Launches Limited-Run ORA Funky Cat First Edition+ In The UK

GMW already uses the same naming strategy in other markets including South Africa, Australia, and Singapore, so it’s not unprecedented, but it also just so happens to coincide with the settlement of a trademark dispute between GWM and Caterpillar, the construction equipment manufacturer.

Using numbers will certainly help buyers quickly and easily understand where the model they’re looking at fits into the lineup, no matter where they are in the world or what language they speak. It’s a tried and tested formula that’s been used by other car makers, including BMW, for decades. But it’s also entirely unimaginative. Was GMW right to switch to numbers, or are you in favor of a funkier naming system?