Great Wall Motors to enter Indian market

Last year, Great Wall Motors unveiled a $500 million plant in Russia. The plant, located in the city of Tula, around 190 kilometers south of Moscow, is its first overseas wholly-owned full-process manufacturing plant.

The plant started production in June 2019 and has a designed annual capacity of 150,000 vehicles, and around 65 percent of components will be purchased locally in Russia.

The manufacturer hopes the plant will better serve demand in the Russian market and work as a base for its foray into eastern Europe, including the adjacent countries of Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova.

Great Wall Motors made its first forays into the international market in 1998, selling SUVs and pickup trucks.

It currently has sales networks in more than 60 countries and regions with the support of five regional marketing centers in Russia, Australia, South Africa, South America and the Middle East.

In the past 20 years, it has set up more than 500 overseas dealerships and delivered more than 600,000 vehicles.

The carmaker said as the Chinese economy evolves, there is an inevitable trend for Chinese brands to go global.

It said it is high time that Chinese automotive brands explore deeper into overseas markets to increase sales and more importantly to improve their reputation.

"Chinese cars should also go global like Chinese home appliances, mobile phones and fast-moving consumer goods," Wei said.