Sehol

Sehol (Chinese: 思皓; pinyin: Sī hào)[1] or previously, Sol, is a car brand launched on April 24, 2018 by a SEAT and JAC Volkswagen Automotive Co., Ltd. joint venture.[2]

The original name Sol itself derives from the word sol which in Spanish stands for sun and pays a tribute from one part to the Spanish roots of the brand and on the other part to renewable energy powered vehicles planned to make up its range.[3] The brand comes as a compromise among all parts in a stance where the original plan included the direct use of the SEAT brand name with the Chinese local authorities negating in a change of mind and calling for a whole new local brand to be launched.[4][5]

Recent lift of caps on foreign car makers controlling their electric vehicle joint ventures in China, however has pushed Volkswagen Group examining a buyout of their Chinese partner JAC Motors and subsequently their formed joint venture.[6]

As of 2020, JAC started to rebadge the products under the Jiayue series as Sol vehicles. Resulted in the Sol A5, Sol X4, Sol X7, and Sol X8. The rebadge is in fact a move to move all sedans and crossovers under the Sol brand and leave the Refine brand with MPVs.[7] As of 2021, this name was re-transliterated as 'Sehol'.