China's Hummer EV gets overhauled for aggro side-by-side off-roading

Chinese auto manufacturer Dongfeng has shoveled some heavy marketing into its M-Hero 917, the big, brawny, quad-motor luxury SUV it launched domestically last year and recently introduced in Switzerland.

Now it's about to switch on a flashier campaign, for a new 4x4 variant ready for anything and everything Mother Nature can hurl at it. It's called the M-Hunter and it features an eye-grabbing design with a roll-cage cab and loads of ground clearance. It's not just a concept, either, and it might very well end up the most expensive sustainably powered off-roader at this year's Auto China show.

When Dongfeng introduced the Mengshi/MHero brand and its first concept cars in 2022, the SUVs were met with widespread cynicism from US media, which largely dismissed them as a Hummer EV knock-offs. It's certainly hard to deny the resemblance, but the Mengshi badge actually shares something more substantive (and above-board) with Hummer. Dongfeng spun the commercial brand off from the name of its longstanding line of Chinese all-terrain military vehicles – some of which were built atop imported Hummer H1 chassis.

Say what you will about the M-Hero/Hummer resemblance, but the all-new two-seat M-Hunter doesn't look like any Hummer we've ever seen. In fact, it doesn't look like any production vehicle we've seen – but reports out of China say that it is indeed production-bound, and not merely a flashy design study meant to dazzle the Auto China show crowds starting later this week.

Dongfeng Motor Corporation

The M-Hunter reminds us of the high-flying Brabus 900 Crawler in color, spirit and general exposed roll-cageyness, but it looks even sportier since Dongfeng has better adapted the styling cues to the new vehicle's purpose.

The front-end gets compacted by a re-angled bumper design that maximizes front tire clearance, as well as a smaller, more focused grille, and sharpened headlamps. The rear follows suit, showing off some bright-red suspension arms that would normally be at least partially obscured by body and bumper work.

The production 917 isn't exactly a skinny, lithe piece of bodywork, but the M-Hunter appears to bulge out even more above and around the wheels, though that might just be an effect of its fenders muscling straight out off the bones of its skeletal roll cage.

The four-wheeler is pictured without a windscreen and with tiny door panels that remind us a bit of traction boards – though they don't look particularly helpful for rescuing spinning tires.

Dongfeng Motor Corporation

What remains unknown – at least for the next few days – is the powertrain lurking behind the M-Hunter's genre-bending bodywork. The 917 gives buyers the option of a 1,073-hp (800-kW) four-motor pure-electric drive or an 805-hp (600-kW) triple-motor e-drive with 1.5-liter turbo-four range extender. The former offers up to 280 miles (450 km) of estimated range (WLTP), while the range-extender boosts that distance to 466 miles (750 km).

Chinese auto news agency Gasgoo reports the M-Hunter will have more wheel torque and ground clearance than any current Chinese vehicle. It also says it'll be more expensive than the typical Chinese off-road vehicle, so we'd reckon it'll certainly start above the ¥697,900 (approx. US$96,330) base price of the M-Hero 917 BEV, the more expensive of the two 917 configurations.

We'll look to learn more about the M-Hunter when this year's Beijing International Auto Exhibition opens to the media on April 25.

Sources: Car News China and Gasgoo