Chinese automaker Great Wall Motors confirms investment of US$1.8 billion in Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Chinese automaker Great Wall Motors (GWM) announced its plans for Brazil on Thursday (27). The company will assemble cars in the city of Iracemápolis (interior of São Paulo), in the unit that used to belong to Mercedes-Benz.

The company estimates an investment of R$10 (US$1.8) billion in the long term, divided into cycles.

The first stage started in 2021 and will last until 2025, with an amount between R$4 billion and R$4.5 billion. All vehicles produced will be hybrid or 100% electric.

According to Pedro Betancourt, Great Wall’s external and governmental relations director, 2,000 jobs will be generated in the region by 2025. The company believes that it will be able to produce the maximum capacity of the plant -about 100,000 vehicles per year- when the market is normalized. These will be models for the domestic market and also for export.

The goal is to reach 60% local content over the next three years.

According to the calibration, one of the platforms adopted in Brazil will be a sport utility vehicle with a 1.5 turbo gasoline engine combined with an electric one, with a power that starts at 230 hp but can exceed 400 hp.

The hybrid system will be plug-in, and it will be possible to recharge the car at the socket and run it without burning fuel in urban use.

Great Wall’s hybrid cars will be sold under three brands: Tank, Haval, and Poer. There are ten models under development for Brazil, always with off-road style.

The first launch will be of a vehicle imported from China, which will arrive in stores at the end of this year. The company’s first national car is planned for the second half of 2023.

There will also be the premium brand Ora, focused on 100% electric vehicles. This division of Great Wall became famous in 2021 when it presented a modernized copy of the Volkswagen Beetle, called Punk Cat. This model is already registered in Brazil but without a release date.

The company says that there will be technologies such as facial recognition and artificial intelligence with 5G connection. All models will be equipped with semi-autonomous driving assistance systems, such as lane-readers and automatic braking in the event of an imminent collision.

The dealer network is still under negotiation. Oswaldo Ramos, Great Wall’s commercial director in Brazil, said that there are meetings with dealer groups all over Brazil. Besides the traditional commercialization, there will be the option of long-term leasing.

The Chinese automaker was created in 1984 and today has 19 factories globally, including the new Brazilian unit. Its cars are sold in about 60 countries. It is the seventh most valuable brand in the automotive sector, with an estimated value of US$ 76.7 billion.

Koma Li, chief operating officer of Great Wall Motors in Brazil, said the company, which produces batteries, is ready for fleet electrification.

The company expects to sell four million cars worldwide in 2025, and 80% of these will be hybrids or 100% electric. Brazil is included in the bill.

“The Brazilian market is not only the leader in Latin America, but it is also one of the ten largest in the world,” said the executive when justifying why to invest in the country.

Before becoming a luxury car plant, the land in Iracemápolis was a sugarcane field. Mercedes-Benz took over the operations and also created a proving ground.

The German automaker closed down manufacturing activities in the region in December 2020. The plant employed 370 employees and never came close to its maximum production capacity, estimated at 20,000 units per year.

UPS AND DOWN

The history of Chinese-made cars in Brazil is full of boom periods interspersed with unrealized promises. The first episode is the presentation of the Chana SUVs in 2006, at the São Paulo Auto Show.

The choice of the name was intended to generate jokes and draw attention, which occurred. In 2011, the importer group adopted the original name: Changan.

One of the brands of greater expression in the past decade was JAC Motors, which had 23 thousand cars sold in 2011. However, the company, represented in Brazil by the SHC group, was one of the most affected by the restrictions imposed on imports in September of that year.

A quota system was established for imported vehicles, with a surcharge of 30 percentage points on the IPI (Tax on Industrialized Products) levied on units exceeding the ceiling.

The protectionist policy adopted during the Dilma Rousseff (PT) government resulted in the Inovar-Auto stimulus program – which, among other results, led Mercedes-Benz to invest in the plant that now belongs to Great Wall.

WEY FAMILY

This auto manufacturer, founded by Jack Wey began its reign in the mid-80s by developing only truck parts before expanding into sedans in 2010. The expansion into sales and trade in Europe and Australia led to domination over the SUV market.

The brand has remained consistent in new development, releasing new SUV models almost annually, and introduced its own electric vehicle in 2017. The all-electric ORA R1 is a reasonably affordable version of its kind, with a battery pack that promises to achieve a range of 194 miles – an enviable duration, eclipsed only by the Tesla models X, 3 and S, and the Chevrolet Belt.

Great Wall’s primary manufacturing branch is located in Hebei but has production bases in mainland China as well as numerous international locations. The company currently acts as China’s largest SUV and pickup manufacturer.

Great Wall Motors was listed among China’s 500 most valuable brands and has made the Forbes Asia Fabulous 50 list four times.