A righ-hand drive Great Wall Haval H5 SUV has been spotted testing in India. This however doesn’t mean Great Wall will officially enter the Indian car market. According to Indianautosblog.com the H5 will be imported by International Cars & Motor Ltd (ICML) and sold under their own brand name. ICML currently manufactures the Rhino, a small ‘n cheap MPV, for the Indian market.

Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor will open on February 21 a plant in Bulgaria, producing the first Chinese cars assembled in Europe, its local partner Litex Motors said Thursday.

The plant in the northern village of Bahovitsa near Lovech has been test-producing since mid-November. It has a planned annual capacity of 50,000 cars for the Bulgarian and European market and will employ up to 2,000 people.

The company also launched already its official advertising campaign in European Union member Bulgaria for the three models to be made here — the Hover H5 SUV, the Steed 5 pick-up and the Voleex C10 city car.

Litex Motors and Great Wall Motor, one of China’s leading maker of sports utility vehicles, signed the contract for the plant in 2009.

It will first assemble cars from Chinese-imported parts but Litex Motors said recently it was in talks with different subcontractors to gradually organise the production of some parts in Bulgaria.

Expert Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer from the Center for Automotive Research in Duisburg, Germany, said Great Wall had every chance to sell well in eastern Europe.

“Within five-six years, they will reach five-percent market shares in eastern European countries,” Dudenhoeffer told AFP, adding that Great Wall would open the way for other Chinese carmakers to come to Europe.

“This will be a new competitor on the Bulgarian market… But it is not bad to have a carmaker in Bulgaria,” Renault-Nissan’s Bulgaria CEO Bernard Neuviale also told AFP at the launch of their new Renault Twingo here Wednesday.

Great Wall cars would not directly threaten the sales of Renault’s Romania-made Dacia, he predicted.

“Great Wall will first have to prove many things — in the first place that it can produce here a car of good quality and then we’ll see. Their prices are also not so good,” Neuviale said.

The Voleex C10 currently has a starting price of 16,000 leva (8,200 euros, $10,800), with the Steed 5 pick-up and the Hover H5 SUV at 24,500 and 28,700 leva respectively.

Renault’s new Twingo has a start price of 18,000 leva.

Via: AFP.

The Greatwall Hover Limousine debuted in 2006 at the Guangzhou Auto Show and is still in production today as the Greatwall Haval Limousine. First about the name:

Hover/Haval is Greatwall’s brandname for SUV’s. In Chinese it is called Hafu (哈弗). The English name was ‘Hover’ but Greatwall changed it to Haval in 2009. By that time they started to export the SUV’s to Europe where the Hover-name was already taken. Confusingly, Greatwall still uses ‘Hover’ as the English name in China.

Back now to the limo!

The Greatwall Haval Limousine is mostly sold to rental companies which use it for weddings and all sorts of other parties. Length is 6.87 meters, just over two meters longer than the standard Haval. Power comes from the ‘China-classic’ Mitsubishi 4G64S 2.4 four-cylinder which poops out 100kw and 205nm, mated to a 5-speed manual transmission. Price for all this pretty starts at some 300.000 yuan.

You can have in interior in any color you like, as long as it is tasteful.Depending in configuration it can seat between 5 and 9 people. You can have all sorta disco/tv/dvd/karaoke systems complete with lighting that can change color, on da beat.

Waiting for the mayor to arrive.

A very fine red-purple car, with fake pink roses. Approved!

This is the very most special Greatwall Haval Limousine in the world, It was the very first car made and it was donated to Presidente Fidel Castro of Cuba in March 2006, note Cuban flag on flagpole. Greatwall is doing big business on the island, selling mostly Wingle pickup trucks, and sending a limo to Castro will certainly help business going.

Via: sina, autohome, wzljl.

Great Wall Motor Co Ltd, China’s top manufacturer of sport utility vehicles and pick-up trucks, aims to deliver 23.3 percent more vehicles in 2012 from last year. Great Wall said it aimed to sell 600,000 vehicles this year. The total last year was 486,800, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Its export target for this year is 100,000 vehicles, up 17.6 percent. Great Wall said earlier that its 2011 net profit rose a market-beating 29 percent, as demand picked up.

The company made a net profit of 3.47 billion yuan ($560 million), higher than the 2.7 billion yuan it recorded in 2010 and better than market expectations for 3.3 billion yuan.

Great Wall Motor, which went public in September 2011, aimed to sell 500,000 vehicles last year.

Via: ChinaDaily.

China’s Chery and Great Wall automakers made significant inroads into New Zealand’s new car market last year, but they are still a long way from catching up with the traditional market leaders, the Motor Industry Association of New Zealand said Monday.

Sales of new vehicles last year at 84,640 units were up 5.2 percent from 2010, with passenger car sales up 3.2 percent to 64,019 units and commercial sales up 11.9 percent to 20,621.

Perry Kerr, chief executive officer of the association said the figures were outstanding given 2011 was a year of “significant challenges for the industry.”

Natural disasters in New Zealand as well as in Japan and Thailand coupled with a subdued economic environment and the Rugby World Cup diverting attention from car showrooms meant “it was always going to be a tough year,” said Kerr in a statement.

Stock shortages arising from the Japanese earthquake and tsunami affected some Japanese marques with Toyota, Mazda and Subaru stock all down, according to association figures.

Of the top 15 automakers, Hyundai, Suzuki, Mitsubishi, Volkswagen and Kia recorded sizable increases.

“The Chinese marques of Chery and Great Wall also recorded sizable increases though their overall market penetration is still small,” said the statement.

Toyota retained market leadership with 17,534 registrations last year giving it a 20.7-percent market share, followed by Ford with 8,656 registrations or 10.2 percent and Holden third with 8, 052 registrations or 9.5 percent. Second and third positions were reversed from 2010 registrations.

Toyota was the biggest seller of passenger cars with 11,796 registrations followed by Holden with 6,662 registrations. Hyundai was third with 6,072 registrations.

The luxury car rankings were unchanged with Audi remaining in top place with 1,331 registrations, followed by BMW at 1,217 and Mercedes-Benz at 981.

New Zealand’s top selling model continued to be the Toyota Corolla, selling 4,166 units, followed by the Suzuki Swift at 2, 892 with the Holden Commodore third at 2,381.

In December, new passenger car sales were up 17.1 percent year on year while commercial registrations were down 17.6 percent due to shortages of light commercial vehicle stock from Thailand.

Toyota’s Corolla, Yaris, RAV, Highlander and Camry were the top five selling models.

Via: ChinaDaily.

The Greatwall Haval H6 was listed on the Chinese car market in August last year. Only available transmission is a 5-speed manual. That however will change in April when Greatwall launches not just one but two automatic gearboxes for the H6: a 4-speed and a 6-speed, both will debut at the Beijing Auto Show. Via: Autohome.

Exclusive pics from a Greatwall dealer-event where it showed all its upcoming cars for the Haval sub-brand. All cars were shown at various auto shows over the last few years, there was one car with a new name; the Greatwall Haval M3 became the Haval H2 (pic), the production version will likely debut at the April 2012 Beijing Auto Show. There is much more:

The Haval H2 debuted as the Haval M3 at the 2010 Beijing Auto Show. Small SUV for da cool in da city, will be listed late 2012. Engines: likely 1.8 and 2.0.

Best thing is that Greatwall confirmed it will make the brilliant Haval IF crossover.

The IF debuted at the Shanghai Auto Show in April, the production car will likely debut at the April 2012 Beijing Auto Show. Two engines: 2.0 turbo or a new 3.0 V6.

The Greatwall Haval 4, debuted as a concept at the Shanghai Auto Show in April as well, was expected on the market this year but didn’t make it in time. Will now be listed in early 2012.

The Greatwall Haval SC60 goes back a bit further, it debuted as a concept at the 2010 Beijing Auto Show and it didn’t change much in the meantime. Power will come from a 2.0 turbo mated to a six speed automatic. The SC60 will be listed early next year as well, likely right after the April 2012 Beijing Auto Show.

SC60. Well, all great looking cars from Greatwall Auto. The brand is going very strong at the moment and looking at these new machines things can only get better.

Via: 163.com.

A new pure electric sedan Great Wall Motor Co Ltd is researching has gained official approval from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, sources from the manufacturer said. The new model signals a new shift for Great Wall towards new energy vehicles.

Experts from the China Vehicle Technology Service Center conducted a three day inspection of the factory responsible for the new car, codenamed CC7002BMA00BEV. According to the results of the inspection, Great Wall’s R&D and production facilities all comply with the country’s Rules on the Production Admission Administration of New Energy Automobiles legislation.

The car will reportedly boast a top speed of 135 km/h and can be driven for up to 150 km on one full charge. More details on the new car are scheduled to be announced by the end of next January.

When China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) 10 years ago, automobile industry experts had forecast a dismal period for domestic companies like Great Wall Motor.

But in a reversal of sorts, not only has the industry gone from strength to strength during this period, it has also helped companies like Great Wall Motor make successful inroads in global markets.

Last month, at the Dubai international auto expo, Great Wall Motor launched its latest sport utility vehicle (SUV) Haval H6, after enjoying a successful run in the Middle East auto market.

Set up in 1984, Great Wall Motor is currently the biggest manufacturer and exporter of pickups from China. It also makes SUVs and sedans.

“Great Wall Motor will continue to expand by increasing exports, and also look to make inroads in mature markets like Europe and the United States, apart from setting up more factories,” said Great Wall Motor Chairman Wei Jianjun.

From 1998, the company has been exporting its pickups to Iraq and Syria. In 2010, the company sold 55,000 cars overseas, accounting for 15 percent of its total sales, and was one of the top three exporters in China.

“We used to say ‘wolves are coming’ when China entered the WTO 10 years ago, as many were worried that the industry would be gobbled up by international auto ‘wolves’,” said Shang Yugui, media manager of Great Wall Motor, in a recent interview with The Economic Observer, “But now we are dancing with the wolves, beautifully.”

Great Wall Motor began its journey as a pickup manufacturer in the 1980s. After China signed the WTO agreement, the company started to make SUVs.

In 2002, the SUV series developed by Great Wall Motor accounted for a major share of the SUV market in China. Buoyed by the domestic market success, Great Wall Motor began exporting the SUVs and shipped nearly 20,000 units in 2010.

“This is the first triumph we achieved since we entered the WTO,” Shang said.

Wei, however, said that exports are not the ultimate goal for Great Wall Motor. “We want to enter mature markets like the US and Europe with high-end products.”

In 2006, the company exported its Haval SUV to Italy, the first time that a Chinese SUV brand was tapping the European market.

Wei said Great Wall Motor is closely watching the standards set by European, Japanese and South Korean auto companies, to make successful inroads in Europe.

“We are studying the high-end cars in these countries, and hopefully we can increase the price of our products gradually by providing better quality,” he said.

According to Wei, Great Wall Motor has been seeking the necessary emission standard approvals and other requirements for selling its products in Europe. In 2009, four Great Wall Motor models passed the Whole Vehicle Type Approval in European Union, giving it automatic access to all the EU countries.

“Over the last five years we have invested 3 billion yuan ($471 million, 347 million euros) in research and development to ensure that our vehicles meet the European emission standards,” Wei said.

Based on WTO agreements, the protection period for the Chinese auto industry ended on July 1, 2006. After that date, car import tariffs were reduced from the original 80 percent to 25 percent, while tariff on spare parts went down to 10 percent.

“This is not only a challenge, but also an opportunity,” Wei said. “We can now import spare parts at cheaper prices, and we have more suppliers to choose from.”

In major overseas markets, Great Wall Motor builds completely knocked-down (CKD) factories to satisfy local needs.

“CKD is adopted in overseas markets to reduce shipping costs and to better utilize local resources,” Wei said, adding that the company has CKD factories in Russia, Egypt, Indonesia and another nine countries.

“Our aim is to have 24 CKD factories by 2015, with an estimated production capacity of 500,000 units a year.”

Sun Zhenyu, chairman of the China Society for World Trade Organization Studies, said the auto industry used to be what the government and economists worried most about.

“But now I will say the industry has thrived in an open environment,” he said.

Via: ChinaDaily.

A very nice Greatwall CC1020A police car for sale in China, offered by a government-related car dealer in the great city of Xining, capital of remote Qinghai province. The CC1020A is based on the Greatwall Deer pick-up truck and extended at the back.

Unfortunately you and I cannot buy it. Since this is a police car with police license plates only other government agencies can purchase this fine vehicle. Well, ain’t that unfair? This CC1020A was made in 2000. Add doesn’t mention anything about the price so I checked around and found a standard 2003 Deer pick-up truck for 15.000 yuan. Too bad I don’t work for the government.

Power comes from a 2.2 4-cylinder petrol engine with 78kw and 190nm. In a standard Deer good enough for a 130km/h top speed.

Standard Deer.