Never Say Die: Great Wall Wants To Export To Europe, U.S.

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Everybody is afraid of China swamping the world with low cost cars, but it hasn’t happened. As a matter of fact, Chinese car exports are downright horrendous. In the first seven months of this year, China exported 288,900 units. China imports far more cars than it exports. For the next year, more than 1m of imports are expected. This doesn’t keep Chinese car manufacturers from trying their luck abroad.

Great Wall Motor plans to make a sales push into Europe, the US and Africa despite potential obstacles to market entry, said Shi Qingke, deputy general manager of Great Wall’s international department to The Global Times, the English version of People’s Daily.

“Great Wall aims to export to the UK starting early next year, allowing us to break into the Western European market,” Shi told the Global Times. “We plan to make our debut in the US market with premium products in 2014 or 2015.”

Great Wall will enter Europe in cooperation with the I.M. Group, the UK-based importer and distributor for Subaru, Isuzu and Daihatsu vehicles.

“For ambitious Chinese automakers, expansion abroad has not always been smooth,” mentions the Global Times. That’s the understatement of the day.

In April, Brilliance retreated from Europe after the BS4 and BS6 sedans were turned unsalable by poor crash test results – some with dubious circumstances. The German ADAC always can be counted on lending a helping crash test when a Chinese shows up. Actually, it was a Great Wall car, a Landwind, that had the dubious honor of having been the first Chinese car that was driven into a wall by the ADAC. The 2007 crashtest, as seen in the video, ended the career of the 4×4. Great Wall wants to try again.

Great Wall also plans to construct production facilities in Bulgaria, the Philippines, Senegal, Venezuela, South Africa, Brazil and Malaysia in the next three years.

The top five automakers by January-July exports are Chery Auto (46,900 units), Changan Auto (36,000 units), Great Wall Motor (32,800 units), Dongfeng Motor (25,500 units) and Beijing Auto (20,900 units). Yawn.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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  • Blowfish Blowfish on Sep 14, 2010

    Middle Kingdom had built Panzer wagen before, so why not built it like panzers?

  • Gimmeamanual Gimmeamanual on Sep 14, 2010

    Great Wall has two things going for it: 1. A nationalistic brand name with a perfect emblem. 2. Sexy Hover pics on Gasgoo.

  • SCE to AUX The fix sounds like a bandaid. Kia's not going to address the defective shaft assemblies because it's hard and expensive - not cool.
  • Analoggrotto I am sick and tired of every little Hyundai Kia Genesis flaw being blown out of proportion. Why doesn't TTAC talk about the Tundra iForce Max problems, Toyota V35A engine problems or the Lexus 500H Hybrid problems? Here's why: education. Most of America is illiterate, as are the people who bash Hyundai Kia Genesis. Surveys conducted by credible sources have observed a high concentration of Hyundai Kia Genesis models at elite ivy league universities, you know those places where students earn degrees which earn more than $100K per year? Get with the program TTAC.
  • Analoggrotto NoooooooO!
  • Ted “the model is going to be almost 4 inches longer and 2 inches wider than its predecessor”Size matters. In this case there is 6” too much.
  • JMII Despite our past experience with Volvo my wife wants an EX30 badly. Small, upscale, minimalist EV hatch is basically her perfect vehicle.
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