Great Wall Motors

Great Wall Motors
Public
Traded as SEHK: 2333
Industry Automotive
Founded 1984
Headquarters Baoding, Hebei, China[1]
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people
 Wei Jianjun (Chairman of the Executive Directors)
Products Automobiles
Divisions Haval
Website www.gwm-global.com
Great Wall Motors
Simplified Chinese 长城汽车
Traditional Chinese 長城汽車

Great Wall Motors Company Limited[2] is a Chinese automobile manufacturer formed in 1984. The company is named after the Great Wall of China. It is China's largest sport utility vehicle (SUV) producer.[3]

In the 2012 market beset by lower demand and curbs on road-going city cars,[4] Great Wall performed well. It rose by three places to rank as the seventh largest Chinese automaker and produced just over 675,000 units.[5] The export of cars for 2012 stood at 96,500 units.[6]

Great Wall sells passenger cars, trucks and SUVs under the Great Wall brand and premium SUVs under the Haval brand.

History

Great Wall Pegasus in Russia

Established in 1984, Great Wall initially manufactured only trucks not producing a sedan car until 2010.[7] The company has been a very successful producer of pick-ups first reaching top position in the Chinese pick-up market in 1998.[8]

Making an initial public offering on the Hong Kong stock exchange on 15 December 2003,[9] Great Wall was the first private Chinese auto manufacturer to become a public company.[10] The company is considering listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange as well.[11]

Sales in 2010 were measured at less than 400,000 (near 2% market share) with exports a small portion of that figure at little more than 50,000,[12] no increase from 2009 figures.[13] That same year saw the Great Wall Haval H series as the 2nd most-purchased SUV in China[14] although this figure may technically include two discrete models, the Great Wall Haval H3 and the Great Wall Haval H5.

Manufacturing for 2011 resulted in 486,800 units, and output this year was the tenth largest of any vehicle maker in China.[15] In 2012, it was reported that the company only allows workers one day off per week and new hires undergo months-long, military-style training.[16]

Great Wall started selling in Europe in 2006, offering small vans.[17] A lot of 500 SUVs were shipped to Italy in 2006 as well.[18] Great Wall products were first available in the Australian market in 2009,[19] and the company was, as of 2010, the only Chinese car manufacturer to sell in the EU.[13] European sales continue, with the 2011 opening of a factory in Bulgaria that assembles three different models from knock-down kits.[20]

Operations

The company's former logo is visible on this Wingle at the 2006 Paris Auto Show

Production facilities in China

A Litex Motors-produced 2012 Great Wall Voleex C10 in Sofia

With a main manufacturing location in Baoding, Hebei province,[21] Great Wall has expansive plans for future production bases and facilities.

Other production bases include a site in Tianjin, a direct-controlled municipality, that began operating in 2011 with further expansion phases planned until 2015.[22] The first phase of this facility may become operational in August 2011 adding 250,000 units per year capacity, and when the project reaches completion total capacity will be twice that.[23]

Another 500,000 units per year base was built in Baoding. This second base become operational in October 2013 and is located in the Xushui county.[24]

Overseas production facilities

There have been several other overseas factories that produced Great Wall models from knock-down kits, located in Bulgaria,[25] Ecuador,[26] Egypt,[27] Ethiopia,[27] Indonesia,[27] Iran,[27] Nigeria,[28] Russia,[27] Senegal,[27] Ukraine,[29] and Vietnam.[27] It is possible that there are now more than ten such factories.[29]

These facilities are not necessarily affiliated with or owned by Great Wall. By 2015 Great Wall plans for the existence of 24 such workshops.[27]

Bulgaria

See also: Litex Motors

Together with the Bulgarian company Litex Motors, Great Wall has a production base in Bahovitsa,[25] near the town of Lovech, Bulgaria, that became operational in February 2012.[30] As of 2012, the factory had the capacity to assemble 2,000 cars per year[31] from knock-down kits[20] Initially only making the Voleex C10, the factory later added production of an SUV and a pick-up, the Hover 6 and the Steed 5.[20] Plans for a trial run of electric cars were discussed in late 2011, but were postponed.[32]

As of January 2015, the company had a production output of about 5,000 vehicles per year (the Hover H6 and the Steed 5 models) and was planning to reach to 8,000 vehicles within a year or two.[33] By mid-2016, the company had a total of 14 dealerships in 12 Bulgarian cities, three of them in the capital Sofia.[34]

Iran

The Iranian motor company Diar has assembled Great Wall vehicles from knock-down kits.[35]

Russia

In September 2015, Great Wall Motors broke ground on a new plant located in the Tula Region, Russia.[36] The plant is slated to have a total production capacity of 150,000 units per year if the project is successful enough to warrant a second phase of expansion.[37] Initially scheduled to open in 2017, the facility is touted as an "all-process vehicle plant",[36] which may indicate it is on a larger scale than other overseas assembly shops.

Cancelled projects

Great Wall Voleex C10 at the 2010 Santiago Autoshow in Chile
Brazil

A new factory was set to become operational by 2013 in Brazil[27] (but was later postponed until 2014[38]).

Thailand

As of 2013, Great Wall Motors had plans to invest $340 million for a new factory in Thailand,[6] but this expansion effort was terminated in early 2014.[37]

Research and development

While R&D activities commenced in 1998,[29] in 2010 the company began construction of a technical center in Baoding, Hebei province.[39] Part of an effort to increase R&D investment,[40] the center may become fully operational in 2013 as Great Wall states it will obtain "world-leading R&D... and technical ability" by that year.[29]

Currently, component design may rely heavily on foreign technical assistance, and some hard-to-source parts may be provisioned from overseas; the company states it has cooperative agreements with companies such as Autoliv, Delphi Automotive, BorgWarner, Robert Bosch GmbH, the German company Brose, Ricardo plc, TRW Automotive, and Valeo in regards to specific parts such as engines, transmissions, door locks, and airbags, etc.[29] As of 2009, some models used Mitsubishi engines and Siemens electronic systems—both sourced in China.[41]

Products

Brand names

The newer Haval badge is clearly visible on this H9 seen at a Chinese dealership in 2015.

While its entire model line initially carried the same badge, the company planned c. 2010 to differentiate its SUV, passenger car, and pick-up truck offerings naming them Haval, Voleex, and Wingle, respectively.[29] This goal may not have seen full fruition as compact cars carry the Great Wall badge as late as 2016.[42] However, SUVs have been branded Haval since 2013.[43] Great Wall recognizes this on its website stating that in March 2013, "[The] Haval brand became independent officially, bringing GWM into an era of dual brand of Haval and Great Wall."[44]

Vehicles

A wide model range can be had from Great Wall—from light trucks and SUVs to urban runabouts.

Great Wall Coolbear 
Great Wall Wingle 5 
Great Wall Haval H3 
Great Wall Haval H5 
Great Wall Haval H6 

Electric vehicles

Great Wall planned to sell electric vehicles domestically beginning in 2011,[3] and in that year the company stated it had "made quite a huge investment in exploring technologies for new energy autos".[29] An all-electric SUV was showcased at the 2010 Guangzhou Auto Show,[45] and the company is considering a tie-up with electric car maker Coda Automotive.[46]

China subsidizes oil[47] and wants its domestic automakers to begin selling electric vehicles for this reason. Some Chinese automakers also see opportunities in less mature electric vehicles because Western companies have yet to develop much of a lead in the technology.[48]

Sales outside China

Great Wall dealership in Adelaide, Australia

Great Wall products have been available in many places across the globe including Australia. The majority of exports may be in the form of knock-down kits as is the case with the assembly plant in Bulgaria.[25]

In Europe, Great Wall Motors is present in Romania,[49] Bulgaria,[50] Macedonia,[51] Italy,[52] Serbia,[53] and the United Kingdom.[54] In the future, it plans to also expand, among others, in Greece, Hungary, Poland,[55] and Austria.[56]

In the Americas, Great Wall Motors is present in Chile,[57] Costa Rica[58] and Uruguay.[59]

While Great Wall is engaged in export, nearly 70 percent of sales in 2009 came from central and western China.[1]

After-sale care training

The company offers an after-sales service training course for employees of overseas distributors.[60]

Safety

It is important to note that cars sold in the European Union, the Hover and Deer, may be marketed as commercial vehicles exempting them from EU safety standards. As of 2010, some Great Wall products including passenger vehicles and the new Hover (Haval H5) and Deer (Wingle 5) have obtained an EU whole vehicle type approval, an EU regime that tests road vehicles and approves them for production and sale in Europe.[61] In 2012, the Haval H6 is planned to receive EU certification.[62]

Between 2010-2015, the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) tested various Great Wall cars with all receiving two or three stars except the four-starred X240 (known elsewhere as the H5E).[63] As of 2016, no Great Wall vehicle had received the maximum ranking, five stars.

Recalls

An Australian importer recalled Chinese-made cars of several brands including Great Wall due to discoveries of asbestos in gaskets.[64] There is an ongoing verification process in Europe to evaluate the presence of asbestos.[65][66]

Motorsport

The company regularly makes appearances at the Dakar Rally. In 2010 it raced with Haval H3 model.[67] Its best rankings were achieved in the 2012 and 2013 editions, when the team finished 6th.[68][69] At the 2014 edition, the team has been competing with the new Haval H8 model.[70][71]

Controversies

The Great Wall Peri (left) and Fiat Panda (right)

Italian automaker Fiat has claimed that a Great Wall A-segment car, the Peri (Jing Ling in China), is a copy of its popular second generation Fiat Panda.[72] A 2008 Turin court ruling substantiated the claim stating that the Great Wall Peri, “doesn’t look like a different car but is a [Fiat] Panda with a different front end.”[73] A copyright infringement case in China did not arrive at the same conclusion.[74]

References

  1. 1 2 "Chinese Stimulus Winners at Great Wall Best Shanghai (Update1)". Bloomberg. 2009-09-29.
  2. ↑ "History". Great Wall Motors. Retrieved 2014-02-27.
  3. 1 2 "Great Wall Motor in green car push in 2011". Reuters. 2010-09-16.
  4. ↑ "RPT-UPDATE 1-China vehicle sales seen up a lacklustre 7 pct this year". reuters.com. Thompson Reuters. 2013-01-11. Retrieved 2013-01-12.
  5. ↑ For 2012 production and 9th-place ranking, see "2012年12月分车型前十家生产企业销量排名". China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). 2013-01-14. Retrieved 2013-01-15.
  6. 1 2 "Great Wall comes to Thailand". Investvine.com. 2013-04-03. Retrieved 2013-04-03.
  7. ↑ "history". Great Wall Motors. Retrieved 2014-02-27.
  8. ↑ "Milestone". Great Wall Motors. Retrieved 2011-05-21.
  9. ↑ China Stock Market Handbook. Javin Press. p. 195.
  10. ↑ McGarvie, Blythe. Shaking the Globe: Courageous Decision-Making in a Changing World. John Wiley & Sons. p. 140.
  11. ↑ "Great Wall, Lifan eye Shanghai listing". Global Times. 2010-10-14.
  12. ↑ "Great Wall sales up 78.7% in first 11 months". Global Times. 2010-12-10.
  13. 1 2 "With EU greenlight, Great Wall looks to expand". Global Times. 2010-03-15.
  14. ↑ "Top 10 Best-Selling Sedans and SUVs in 2010". ChinaAutoWeb. 2011-01-14.
  15. ↑ 2011年前十家乘用车生产企业销量排名. China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). 2012-01-20.
  16. ↑ Liang Dongmei (2013-05-23). "Great Wall Motor Hit Cruise Control in 2012 With founder Wei Jianjun in the driver's seat, the domestic automaker had great success, and experts say he is the key to continued prosperity". Caixin. Retrieved 2013-05-23.
  17. ↑ Sperling, Daniel; Gordon, Deborah (2009). Two billion cars: driving toward sustainability. Oxford University Press. p. 213.
  18. ↑ Dyer, Geoff. (2006-09-06). "Great Wall ships SUVs to Europe". Financial Times. Pearson. p. 31.
  19. ↑ "First look: Great Wall's 2009 wares". GoAuto. 2009-04-01.
  20. 1 2 3 Bursa, Mark (2011-04-04). "EMERGING MARKETS ANALYSIS: Chinese exports finally start to gain traction". Just-Auto. Bromsgrove. Retrieved 2012-08-10.
  21. ↑ "Great Wall targets growth". Global Times. 2010-12-08.
  22. ↑ "Great Wall Motor to increase production capability fourfold by 2015". Global Times. 2010-12-08.
  23. ↑ "Greatwall's Tianjin factory to come online soon and will focus on export market". China Car Times. 2011-06-03.
  24. ↑ "GWM's newly-built plant--Xushui base will be put into production in October". Great Wall Motors. 2013-03-20. Retrieved 2014-01-05.
  25. 1 2 3 Boryana Dzhambazova (2012-05-22). "Made in China, but Assembled in Bulgaria". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-05-23.
  26. ↑ "Great Wall pisa fuerte en Ecuador" (in Spanish). El Comercio. 2013-03-15. Retrieved 2014-01-06.
  27. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Great Wall Motor to build factory in Brazil by 2013". Global Times. 2010-08-19.
  28. ↑ "Great Wall Plans More KD Assembly Plants Overseas". ChinaAutoWeb. 2010-08-20.
  29. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Company Profile". Great Wall Motor.
  30. ↑ Vladov, Andrey (2012-04-24). "Chinese carmakers eye European markets". BBC News. Retrieved 2012-05-23.
  31. ↑ Toshkov, Veselin (2012-02-21). "Chinese carmaker opens plant in Bulgaria". Bloomberg Businessweek. The Associated Press. Retrieved 2012-07-10.
  32. ↑ "1st Bulgarian Electric Cars to Be Made in Lovech in 2012". Novinite.com. 2011-10-11.
  33. ↑ "Bulgarii care produc Great Wall au intrat pe piata din Serbia" (in Romanian). Wall-Street.ro. 31 January 2015.
  34. ↑ Great Wall Bulgaria - Dealership Locations
  35. ↑ "History". DIAR Automobile. 2010-09-06. Archived from the original on September 6, 2010. Retrieved 2009-10-25.
  36. 1 2 "Haval Tula Plant breaks ground, expected to go into production in late 2017". haval-global.com. Great Wall Motors. 5 October 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  37. 1 2 Murphy, Colum (19 May 2014). "China's Great Wall Motor to Invest in Russia Plant". Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company Inc. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  38. ↑ "Construção de fábrica da Great Wall no Brasil fica para 2014" (in Portuguese). Exame. 2013-03-12. Retrieved 2013-12-26.
  39. ↑ "New Technology Center Kicks off to Build Global Competitiveness". Great Wall Motor. 2010-10-29.
  40. ↑ "China Great Wall Motor to invest $751 mln in R&D in 5 yrs". Reuters. 2010-10-27.
  41. ↑ Chang, Crystal (2009-08-13). "Developmental Strategies in a Global Economy: The Unexpected Emergence of China's Independent Auto Industry". p. 18.
  42. ↑ "Haval Brand Sales Report in Mar. 2016 in China". haval-global.com/. Great Wall Motors. 7 April 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  43. ↑ This is apparent from comparing the pictures shown in various press releases made by the company.
    • For 2013 sighting of Haval brand on SUV, see "Haval Team crowned in CGR". haval-global.com. Great Wall Motors. 30 September 2013. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
    • For continued use of Great Wall name and badge on SUV in 2012, see "Haval H6 crowned as 2012 CCTV SUV". haval-global.com. Great Wall Motors. 23 January 2013. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  44. ↑ "History". gwm-global.com (Press release). Great Wall Motors. Retrieved 2016-03-07. March 29 [2013]: Haval brand became independent officially, thus bringing GWM into an era of dual brand of Haval and Great Wall.
  45. ↑ "Great Wall to unveil first new energy vehicle". Global Times. 2010-11-11.
  46. ↑ "Not yet: Look before you leapfrog". The Economist. 2012-05-05. Retrieved 2012-05-13.
  47. ↑ "China's fuel subsidy costs the world". Reuters. 2008-06-04.
    "A rounder world threatens Asia's economies". Reuters. 2008-07-04.
    "China to raise the price of fuel". BBC. 2008-06-19.
  48. ↑ "Mr. Heyi Xu，the president of Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co., Ltd. delivered a speech at the 2009 China (Changchun) International Automobile Forum". BAIC Group. 2009-07-20.
    "Big bet on better battery-run cars". China Daily. 2011-01-03.
  49. ↑ "Great Wall". Alexandros Motors. Retrieved 2013-12-29.
  50. ↑ "Litex Motors". GreatWall.bg. Retrieved 2013-12-29.
  51. ↑ "Great Wall Motors". greatwall.mk. Retrieved 2013-12-29.
  52. ↑ "Fuoristrada Suv e Pick Up". Great Wall Motors. Retrieved 2013-12-29.
  53. ↑ "GWS Auto Group, Beograd, Srbija" (in Serbian). Retrieved 2016-03-10.
  54. ↑ Brooks, Glenn (23 December 2014). "VEHICLE ANALYSIS: 2015MY Great Wall Steed". just-auto.com. Aroq Ltd. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
  55. ↑ "„Литекс Моторс" стана Компания на годината за 2015" ["Litex Motors" became Company of the Year for 2015] (Press release) (in Bulgarian). Litex Motors. 2016-02-18. Retrieved 2016-03-10.
  56. ↑ "1 year production of Great Wall cars in Bulgaria". Litex Motors. 2013-02-22. Retrieved 2013-12-29.
  57. ↑ "Great Wall Motors - Chile". greatwallmotors.cl. Retrieved 2016-09-22.
  58. ↑ "Great Wall Autos". gwm.co.cr. Retrieved 2016-08-22.
  59. ↑ ".:: Great Wall ::. Homero De Leon, importador y representante para Uruguay de autos chinos de la marcas Great Wall". greatwall.com.uy. Retrieved 2016-09-22.
  60. ↑ "Great Wall Motor Overseas Distributors Training". Great Wall Motor. 2010-09-24.
  61. ↑ "Great Wall Motor boosts brand image with quality products". China Economic Net. 2010-09-06.
  62. ↑ "2 нови модела на Great Wall за 2012 година" (in Bulgarian). Litex Motors. 2011-12-23.
  63. ↑ "3 results for Great Wall Motors". Australasian New Car Assessment Program. 2016-03-08.
  64. ↑ Nenov, Stoyan. "Thousands of China-made cars recalled in Australia". ABC. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
  65. ↑ "Great Wall con amianto, indagini in Italia". Auto.it. Retrieved 2014-12-22.
  66. ↑ "Amianto é encontrado em carros de Chery e Great Wall". Auto esporte. Retrieved 2014-12-22.
  67. ↑ "Great Wall participates in Dakar Rally again". Global Times. 2010-11-01. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011.
  68. ↑ "Haval Racing Team Ranked Seventh, Taking a Lead among Chinese Racing Teams and Hitting a Record in History". Great Wall Motor. 2012-01-17. Archived from the original on 4 June 2012.
  69. ↑ "The fourth presence in Dakar makes Haval brand stronger". Great Wall Motors. 2013-02-04. Retrieved 2014-01-06.
  70. ↑ "Great Wall H8: A Price Gap Too Far For A Chinese Brand?". China Car Times. 2013-11-21. Retrieved 2014-01-06.
  71. ↑ "Haval Dakar Racecar". Haval-global.com. Retrieved 2014-01-06.
  72. ↑ "Fiat Is Considering Taking Legal Action To Stop Great Wall'S Panda Clone Being Sold In Europe". Italiaspeed. 2006-12-31.
  73. ↑ "Great Wall banned from importing GWPeri minicar". Automotive News. 2008-07-18.
  74. ↑ "IN BRIEF (Page 9): Fiat's copycat suit rejected". China Daily. 2008-09-22.
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