Great Wall Motor to expand to 8 additional countries in Europe and establish local R&D center

After beginning sales in Europe last year, Chinese EV automaker Great Wall Motor appears poised to expand its reach across the continent to at least eight additional countries. Furthermore, the automaker intends to establish a new European R&D center as it ponders bringing EV production over from China as well.

Great Wall Motor (GWM) has held reigns as the largest manufacturer of SUVs and pickups in China since its founding in the mid-80s but has been transitioning to EVs in recent years, becoming one of the largest plug-in EV manufacturers in the country as well.

To date, GWM has expanded its footprint beyond the Chinese market, but not too many EVs have become available in foreign markets, especially not in the EU. In 2021, however, Great Wall shared initial plans to begin selling EVs in Europe.

That journey began in Germany with the Good Cat EV, built by Great Wall’s brand Ora, which was rebranded as the Funky Cat for the EU. Since then, Great Wall Motor has recruited the help of Emil Frey – Europe’s largest car dealer group – to help distribute vehicles under its Ora and Wey marques.

With EV sales underway in both Germany and the UK, Great Wall Motor is now reportedly expanding much deeper into Europe.

Great Wall Motor to quadruple its presence in Europe

According to local Chinese media outlet Sina Tech, Great Wall Motor intends to expand to these eight additional countries in Europe: Austria, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland.

The news comes at an interesting time as the EU is currently in the process of an anti-subsidy investigation against Chinese EV automakers looking to enter new markets in the territory. In mid-October, Great Wall submitted response materials to the EU investigation committee, claiming to be the first to do so. At the time, Great Wall’s president, Mu Feng, said the following:

It will be bumpy for Chinese cars to go overseas, but we are unswerving and accelerating the pace of going overseas.

As such, Great Wall Motor has proceeded in vetting potential sites in Europe to establish local R&D and potentially more. Rather than face further scrutiny from the EU for importing its EVs, Great Wall Motor appears interested in taking the resource- and cost-heavy route of long-term production development in Europe – further hardening its dedication to the new markets mentioned above.

During the Overseas Dealers Conference in 2022, Great Wall Motors shared that its global brand strategy would focus on its namesake GWM umbrella – which broke down its five major auto marques into various development paths in Europe based on categories to deliver different EVs and energy products to their ideal markets overseas.

Sina’s report states that Great Wall Motor has already established agreements with local partners in Ireland and Sweden, in addition to Germany and the UK, with other markets already in the works. Meanwhile, the automaker continues to vet locations for its planned EU footprints, beginning the aforementioned R&D center.