Scottish dealer Peter Vardy named UK’s first outlet for GMW Ora Funky Cat

Dealer network to lead EV firm’s arrival in UK with Glasgow location set to open in November

A Scottish dealer network has been revealed as the UK’s first retailer for Chinese EV brand GMW Ora.

Peter Vardy will be Scotland’s exclusive retailer for the new entrant in the growing EV market, with its Glasgow site the first Ora location in the whole of the UK. It will open later this year, with further sites, including one in Edinburgh opening in 2023.

The new dealership will open in November in time for order books opening for the Ora Funky Cat. First customer deliveries of the compact electric car are expected before the end of the year.

Announcing the first in a series of dealership appointments, Toby Marshall, sales and marketing director for GWM Ora UK, commented: “The appointment of our first official retailer is a huge milestone for the GWM Ora brand. I look forward to working closely with the team at Peter Vardy as we navigate our launch phase and continue to develop our retailer network across the country.”

PeterVardy, Darren Paterson and Alastair Grier of Peter Vardy with the Ora Funky Cat

Peter Vardy, CEO of Peter Vardy Limited, added: “As a business we always look to work with exciting, unique and sustainable brands; GWM Ora ticks all these boxes. As the first official retailer for the brand, we can’t wait to introduce the product to Scotland and get customers into vehicles. With an accessible price and strong spec, we’re anticipating that the Ora Funky Cat First Edition will be very successful.”

The Ora Funky Cat is a compact hatchback that sits somewhere between superminis like the Fiat 500, Mini Electric, Renault Zoe and Honda e and larger family models such as the VW ID.3 or Cupra Born in size.

Priced from around £32,000 for high-spec First Edition models, the Funky Cat features a 169bhp/184lb ft electric motor driving the front wheels and equipped with a 48kWh battery. That gives the car an official range of 193 miles and comes with 80kWh charging. It’s understood that a longer-range model with a 63kWh battery will follow in due course.

Its makers say the Funky Cat and subsequent models will offer class leading specification levels and “intuitive, easy to use technology”. Standard equipment on the First Edition includes twin 10.25-inch displays, dual-zone climate control, LED headlights, 360-degree reversing camera, self-parking function and electrically-adjustable leatherette seats. A suite of advanced driver aids includes adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, traffic jam assist, and blind-spot detection is also standard.

The first models on sale will all be high-spec First Edition models but the brand says other versions will go on sale in 2023.

While a newcomer to the UK, GWM is an established brand in Asia and last year sold more than 1.28 million cars worldwide.