Great Wall Motors
Encyclopedia
Great Wall Motor Company Limited is a Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 automobile manufacturer formed in 1976. The company is named after the Great Wall of China
Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in northern China, built originally to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire against intrusions by various nomadic groups...

. As of 2010 it is China's largest SUV producer.

2010 production capacity is estimated at 500,000 units/year, but sales that year fell short at less than 400,000 (near 0.2% market share
Market share
Market share is the percentage of a market accounted for by a specific entity. In a survey of nearly 200 senior marketing managers, 67 percent responded that they found the "dollar market share" metric very useful, while 61% found "unit market share" very useful.Marketers need to be able to...

) and exports remained a small portion of that figure at little more than 50,000, no increase from 2009 figures.

In 2010 the Great Wall Haval H series was the 2nd most-purchased SUV in China. This may technically comprise two discrete models, the Great Wall Haval H3 and the Great Wall Haval H5
Great Wall Haval H5
The Great Wall Haval H5, also known as Hover H5, is a sport utility vehicle manufactured by the Chinese company Great Wall Motor. The vehicle, sometimes referred to by its export market name X240, is available with both 4x2 and 4x4 drivetrains, and either gasoline and diesel engines...

.

History

Established in 1976, Great Wall initially manufactured only trucks not producing a saloon car until 2008 due to lack of a state license. The company has been a very successful producer of pickup truck
Pickup truck
A pickup truck is a light motor vehicle with an open-top rear cargo area .-Definition:...

s first reaching top position in the Chinese pickup market in 1998. By 2010, cumulative production of Great Wall pickups had reached 700,000.

Making an initial public offering
Initial public offering
An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...

 on the Hong Kong stock exchange
Hong Kong Stock Exchange
The Hong Kong Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in Hong Kong. It is Asia's third largest stock exchange in terms of market capitalization behind the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the Shanghai Stock Exchange and fifth largest in the world...

 on 15 December 2003, Great Wall was the first private Chinese auto manufacturer to become a public company
Public company
This is not the same as a Government-owned corporation.A public company or publicly traded company is a limited liability company that offers its securities for sale to the general public, typically through a stock exchange, or through market makers operating in over the counter markets...

. The company is considering listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange
Shanghai Stock Exchange
The Shanghai Stock Exchange , abbreviated as 上证所/上證所 or 上交所, is a stock exchange that is based in the city of Shanghai, China. It is one of the two stock exchanges operating independently in the People's Republic of China, the other is the Shenzhen Stock Exchange...

 as well.

Export:
At at time when many Chinese automakers only talked of exporting to developed
Developed country
A developed country is a country that has a high level of development according to some criteria. Which criteria, and which countries are classified as being developed, is a contentious issue...

, overseas markets such as Europe and the US, Great Wall entered the European market in 2006 selling small vans. That same year saw it export products to around 60 countries. It is, as of 2010, the only Chinese car manufacturer to sell in the EU.

Dakar Rally:
Great Wall made an appearance at both the 2010 and 2011 Dakar Rally
Dakar Rally
The Dakar Rally is an annual rally raid type of off-road automobile race, organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation...

. It plans to attend subsequent Rallies.

Models

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

Electric vehicles

The company plans to sell electric vehicle
Electric vehicle
An electric vehicle , also referred to as an electric drive vehicle, uses one or more electric motors or traction motors for propulsion...

s domestically beginning in 2011. It showed an all-electric SUV at the 2010 Guangzhou Auto Show. China subsidizes
Subsidy
A subsidy is an assistance paid to a business or economic sector. Most subsidies are made by the government to producers or distributors in an industry to prevent the decline of that industry or an increase in the prices of its products or simply to encourage it to hire more labor A subsidy (also...

 oil 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.

Sales outside China

Great Wall products have been available in many places across the globe. These include Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, Melanesia
Melanesia
Melanesia is a subregion of Oceania extending from the western end of the Pacific Ocean to the Arafura Sea, and eastward to Fiji. The region comprises most of the islands immediately north and northeast of Australia...

, the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...

, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

, South Asia
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...

, and the South Pacific
Oceania
Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...

.

By 2006 Great Wall had exported vehicles to around 60 countries. These exports may be in the form of knock-down kits.

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

After-sale care training

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

Safety

It is important to note that cars sold in the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

, the Hover
Great Wall Hover
Great Wall Motor also produces a more luxurious, limousine version of the Hover, called the Great Wall Hover Pi . Its name is also sometimes spelt Hover•π. The first Hover Pi was given as a gift to Fidel Castro...

 and Deer
Great Wall Deer
The Great Wall Deer is a pickup manufactured by Great Wall Motor in China. It is a badge engineered version of the second-generation Toyota Hilux. It has been China's most popular pickup truck for over nine years and is available in 5 body styles :...

, were 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
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

 whole vehicle type approval, an EU regime that tests road vehicles and approves them for production and sale in Europe.

Copying claims

Famous-name Fiat has claimed that a Great Wall A-segment car, the Peri (Jing Ling in China), is a copy of its popular 2nd-generation Fiat Panda. A 2008 Turin
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...

 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.” A copyright infringement case in China did not see a similar outcome.

Other Great Wall models may seem to be copied from those of foreign automakers, too. The Great Wall Florid
Great Wall Florid
The Great Wall Florid is a subcompact car marketed by Great Wall Motor of China. Styling is suspected to be copied from the first generation Toyota ist , while the nose section is inspired by the second generation Toyota Vitz ....

, looks like a Toyota ist, the Great Wall Sailor/SA220 looks like an Isuzu Rodeo; and some older Great Wall Hover
Great Wall Hover
Great Wall Motor also produces a more luxurious, limousine version of the Hover, called the Great Wall Hover Pi . Its name is also sometimes spelt Hover•π. The first Hover Pi was given as a gift to Fidel Castro...

 models may look like Isuzu Axiom
Isuzu Axiom
The Isuzu Axiom is an SUV designed in Japan using a "knife blade" theme for its car-like styling. Built in Lafayette, Indiana, U.S. at the Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Inc. plant on the Rodeo platform. It jointly replaced the Trooper, but was itself replaced by the Isuzu Ascender for the 2005...

s, etc.

Production bases

With a main manufacturing location in Baoding
Baoding
-Administrative divisions:Baoding prefecture-level city consists of 3 municipal districts, 4 county-level cities, 18 counties:-Demographics:The Baoding urban area has a population of around 1,006,000 . The population of the Baoding administrative area is 10,890,000. The considerable majority are...

, Hebei province
Hebei
' is a province of the People's Republic of China in the North China region. Its one-character abbreviation is "" , named after Ji Province, a Han Dynasty province that included what is now southern Hebei...

, Great Wall has great plans for future production bases and facilities.

Planned production bases include a site in Tianjin
Tianjin
' is a metropolis in northern China and one of the five national central cities of the People's Republic of China. It is governed as a direct-controlled municipality, one of four such designations, and is, thus, under direct administration of the central government...

, a direct-controlled municipality
Direct-controlled municipality
A direct-controlled municipality is the highest level classification for cities used by unitary state, with status equal to that of the provinces in the respective countries...

, that will see completion in 2013 or 2015. The first phase of this facility may become operational in August 2011 adding 250,000 units/year capacity, and when the project reaches completion total capacity will be twice that. Another 500,000 units/year base is also planned and will be built in Baoding. This second Baoding base may become operational by 2013 and may be located in Xushui county. Production capacity figures may consider engines and vehicles as discrete.

Bulgaria

Together with the Bulgarian company Litex Motors, Great Wall has built a production base in the town of Lovech
Lovech
Lovech is a town in north-central Bulgaria with a population of 36,296 as of February 2011. It is the administrative centre of the Lovech Province and of the subordinate Lovech Municipality. The town is located about 150 km northeast from the capital city of Sofia...

, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

, that became operational at the end of 2011. The plant will be expected to have a production capacity of 50,000 vehicles per year and employ a number of 1,800 people. Production capacity figures may consider engines and vehicles as discrete. The models that will be produced at the new plant are Voleex C10
Great Wall Voleex C10
The Voleex C10 is a small supermini-class five-door hatchback manufactured by the Chinese company Great Wall Motors since 2010. Known also as the Great Wall Phenom, the C10 features a distinctive front grille design but shares many visual similarities with the Toyota Vitz...

, Steed 5 and Hover H5
Great Wall Haval H5
The Great Wall Haval H5, also known as Hover H5, is a sport utility vehicle manufactured by the Chinese company Great Wall Motor. The vehicle, sometimes referred to by its export market name X240, is available with both 4x2 and 4x4 drivetrains, and either gasoline and diesel engines...

. Sales of imported cars started in Bulgaria on September 26, 2011, at the International Fair Plovdiv
International Fair Plovdiv
International Fair Plovdiv , held in Plovdiv, is Bulgaria's largest and oldest international trade fair. It was established in August 1892 as an industrial and agricultural show....

, and the first dealership was opened in Plovdiv
Plovdiv
Plovdiv is the second-largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia with a population of 338,153 inhabitants according to Census 2011. Plovdiv's history spans some 6,000 years, with traces of a Neolithic settlement dating to roughly 4000 BC; it is one of the oldest cities in Europe...

 on October 18. On November 14, 2011, the first vehicle, a Voleex C10, was manufactured at the Lovech plant. Cars produced at the new plant will be marketed from the early beginning of 2012, and a first series of electric cars are also planned to be produced starting from spring.

Knock-down factories

There have been at least eight overseas knock-down factories that produce Great Wall models from knock-down kits. Such knock-down exports are an easy way for Great Wall to gain access to developing markets without added after-sales service
Customer service
Customer service is the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase.According to Turban et al. , “Customer service is a series of activities designed to enhance the level of customer satisfaction – that is, the feeling that a product or service has met the customer...

 costs. Factories exist in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

, Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

, Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...

, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

, Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

.

These factories are not necessarily affiliated with or owned by Great Wall. Both the Iranian motor company Diar
Diar
Diar Automobile Company is an automobile company based in Tehran, Iran. Established in 2000, the company manufacturers SUVs and pick-ups under license from China's Changcheng, also known as Great Wall Motor. Diar also manufactures their own vehicles...

 and the Indonesian WICM, an Indomobil Group subsidiary, assemble Great Wall vehicles from knock-down kits.

A new such factory will become operational in 2013 in Brazil, and by 2015 Great Wall plans for the existence of 24 such facilities. These may appear in places such as Malaysia, the Philippines, South Africa and Venezuela, etc.

Technical center

In 2010 the company began construction of a technical center in Baoding
Baoding
-Administrative divisions:Baoding prefecture-level city consists of 3 municipal districts, 4 county-level cities, 18 counties:-Demographics:The Baoding urban area has a population of around 1,006,000 . The population of the Baoding administrative area is 10,890,000. The considerable majority are...

, Hebei province
Hebei
' is a province of the People's Republic of China in the North China region. Its one-character abbreviation is "" , named after Ji Province, a Han Dynasty province that included what is now southern Hebei...

. Part of an R&D investment effort, the center will see completion in 2012.

External links

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