Thumbs Down: China's GAC Motor Throws U.S. Push Onto the Back Burner

Guangzhou Automobile Group, better known as GAC Motor, has delayed plans to commence sales of Chinese-branded cars in the United States. Apparently, there’s some kind of trade dispute between the the two countries that influenced the company’s decision.

However, back in 2018, GAC Motor was at the North American International Auto Show telling yours truly that it planned to ship product to the U.S. as early as the following year (as PR reps simultaneously requested we stop commenting on the faux tailpipes we noticed on several models).

Months later, GAC revised its business plan. The entry into the America market would come closer to 2020, it said. Now, the automaker claims the trade war has forced it to postpone things even further. This time, there’s no target.

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Great Wall Motors Does Want Jeep; Hasn't Done Much About It

In what is almost certainly going to be little more than a faint memory in the minds of devoted readers at AmericasJeepLovers.org, the potential relationship between Wang Fengying’s Great Wall Motors Co. and Sergio Marchionne’s Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has taken a turn for the less likely already.

It seems like years ago — no, wait, it seems like yesterday — that Great Wall Motors Co. publicly declared its viability as a suitor for FCA Jeep, the most important, highest-value, primary source of desirability within the FCA family. Jeep, you’ll recall, is likely worth substantially more on its own than the whole of FCA, Jeep included. This explains why it came as no surprise that Great Wall Motors or any other automaker would express an interest in purchasing Jeep from FCA. With huge global potential for a hugely popular brand that hasn’t yet tapped many open markets, Jeep has reach.

But does Great Wall even have the money? Would FCA even entertain the idea of selling off its most valuable component? And is there even any hope of negotiation?

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China's Great Wall Motors Co. Completely Open About Its Desire to Purchase Jeep, But Not FCA

In the week that’s elapsed since initial reports surfaced of a Chinese automaker planning a takeover of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Geely, Dongfeng, and Guangzhou Automobile Group have all taken themselves out of the running.

Automotive News now reports, however, that the seventh-largest automaker in China, Great Wall Motors Company, has a keen interest in FCA, which has long courted unwilling suitors.

There’s one outstanding issue. Great Wall Motors Co. is open about its desire to acquire Jeep as part of a mission “to become the world’s largest SUV maker,” but Great Wall doesn’t want FCA’s other, far less valuable entities.

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Great Wall Wants To Out-Jeep Jeep

Export, ho!

Can’t blame them for having a lack of ambitions: Great Wall’s Chairman and Chinese billionaire Wei Jianjun “has set a target for Great Wall’s Haval marque to surpass Chrysler Group LLC’s Jeep and become the world’s best selling SUV-dedicated brand in three to four years,” Bloomberg writes.

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It's No Mahindra, But How About Great Wall?

American consumers may have been robbed of a chance to buy the Mahindra pickup, but how about one from Great Wall?

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EXCLUSIVE: Bernstein Research Literally Dissects Chinese Cars, Auto Industry In 200-Page Report

Max Warburton and his team. Warburton, of Bernstein Research, assembled a team to interview over 40 auto executives in China (both Chinese and foreign-born) and even bought two Chinese vehicles from Geely and Great Wall. Warburton had them shipped to Europe, where they were taken to a test track, driven extensively and then taken apart by engineers and automotive consultants. And it was far from pretty.

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New Trends In Car Company Management: Ten - Hut!

As if it’s not enough that Chinese buyers shy away from Japanese cars due to disputes over some rocks in the East China sea, Japanese cars find themselves under attack from a surprising foe: Chinese cars. Chinese cars were the big winner of the anti-Japanese row, and now The Nikkei [sub] has a downright frightening report from the inside of one of the most successful Chinese automakers, Great Wall:

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Best Selling Cars Around The Globe: Great Wall Reaches Bulgaria

After wondering whether the Chevrolet Malibu nameplate is reborn last time, today I am taking you to Eastern Europe, and more precisely in Bulgaria.

2012 will stay in the history of automobile as the year the Chinese started manufacturing cars in Europe.

And yes by Europe I mean Bulgaria.

Not interested? That’s ok, because you can check out the best-selling cars in 167 additional countries and territories on my blog. They’re all there and they’re waiting for you so click away!

Back to Bulgaria.

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Coda Teams Up With Great Wall To Build "Affordable" EVs

Coda Automotive, a Southern California start-up that assembles EVs with Chinese components, announced at today’s Beijing Auto Show that it would partner with the Chinese OEM Great Wall to develop a new, lower-cost EV. Says Coda CEO Phil Murtaugh (who you might remember as a key character in American Wheels, Chinese Roads) explains in a press release

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JLR And Great Wall: And Now, The Denial Phase

It’s a set piece, as predictable as the Beijing Opera: A rumor, confirmed by company insiders, followed by a denial, followed by – who knows. The Jaguar Land Rover flirt with China’s Great Wall enters stage 2: Never heard of it.

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JLR Making Another Attempt At A Chinese JV?

Rumors of Jaguar Land Rover establishing a production base via a joint venture in China have been around for nearly a year now. Talks with Chery surfaced last October, but were never heard of again. What’s keeping them? It becomes higher and higher time for JLR to start making cars in China. Deliveries of Jaguar increased 50 percent to 2,655 units last year while sales of Land Rover more than doubled to 23,459 units, reported TheTycho. Now, JLR may have found another bride.

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First Chinese Branded Cars To Be Produced In The EU

There is considerable new construction in Bahovista, Bulgaria, in what the New York Times calls a “goat-trodden village in the foothills of the Balkans.” China’s Great Wall and Bulgarian wrestler Grisha Ganchev have teamed up to build an assembly plant which, if the NYT is right, “should begin turning out the first Chinese-branded cars in the European Union,” sometime next summer. Which ones? Wait, we’ll get there …

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

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.

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The Chinese Are Coming!

Last month, we reported that China’s Great Wall received the EC Whole Vehicle Type Approval (WVTA,) awarded by the UK Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA) for their Coolbear MPV, which makes the car legal for sale in Europe.

Since this approval is lengthy (takes about a year) and costly (even when administered by the VCA, which is known for bargain basement pricing,) the announcement was taken as an intention of Great Wall to enter the European market. Here they come:

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  • Lorenzo Heh. The major powers, military or economic, set up these regulators for the smaller countries - the big guys do what they want, and always have. Are the Chinese that unaware?
  • Lorenzo The original 4-Runner, by its very name, promised something different in the future. What happened?
  • Lorenzo At my age, excitement is dangerous. one thing to note: the older models being displayed are more stylish than their current versions, and the old Subaru Forester looks more utilitarian than the current version. I thought the annual model change was dead.
  • Lorenzo Well, it was never an off-roader, much less a military vehicle, so let the people with too much money play make believe.
  • EBFlex The best gift would have been a huge bonfire of all the fak mustangs in inventory and shutting down the factory that makes them.Heck, nobody would even have to risk life and limb starting the fire, just park em close together and wait for the super environmentally friendly EV fire to commence.