Auto Expo 2020: 5 Things To Know About Great Wall Motor

The brand will showcase its EVs and HAVAL range of SUVs

At Auto Expo 2020, the Indian car market is set to witness the entry of one of the world's fastest-growing automotive brands, Great Wall Motor (GWM). The Baoding-based manufacturer's global product portfolio is dominated by SUVs, which augurs well for the brand considering the Indian buyer's penchant for such vehicles. GWM also has a presence in the electric vehicle (EV) segment under the brand GWM EV, which is seeing a lot of interest from Indian car buyers as well as receiving government incentives. Come February 5, the company is expected to showcase best-selling products from both these categories in India.

In the meantime, here are 5 things to know about GWM and its plans for India:

1. The GWM Brand - Recognised World Over

Founded in 1984, GWM has excelled in making SUVs. After becoming the highest-selling SUV brand domestically, it set its sights on the overseas markets. Banking on innovative engineering and cost-effective manufacturing, the company soon expanded successfully to other countries and eventually, crossed the million sales mark in 2016.

GWM maintains a mix of RD centres and manufacturing facilities in China, India, the United States, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Austria, and Russia. A key component of the company's rapid expansion has been its ‘9+5' global production system, which refers to 9 manufacturing facilities and 5 KD (Knock Down) plants where kits are assembled. Overall, GWM has a presence in over 60 countries, with India being the latest addition.

2. A Varied Global Product Line-up

GWM sells a wide range of SUVs and EVs around the world. In the Indian market, the company will introduce the Haval brand of SUVs. Haval is GWM's highest-selling brand around the world. It offers a slew of muscular and feature-packed, intelligent SUVs. GWM has also confirmed it will showcase EVs, under the GWM EV brand name, at Auto Expo 2020.

3. Leading-edge Technology

GWM's technical innovation has been a major contributor to its rapid expansion and worldwide sales success. These technological innovations are not restricted to any one area either. For instance, GWM has been featured six times in the list of top ten engines in its home market. It also won critical acclaim for the 7DCT transmission, which was featured among the World's Best Ten Transmissions in 2017 and 2018. Apart from cleaner ICE technology, GWM has an extensive EV presence. It has taken the lead in the adoption of laminated EV battery technology. GWM also recently formed the ‘Spotlight Automotive Project' with BMW AG, which will develop and manufacture next-generation fully electric cars.

Furthermore, the company signaled its intent on connected car technology by unveiling GreatWall Totally Online (GTO) in July last year. GTO is expected to be the bedrock of GWM's push for an AI-based mobility system in the future.

4. GWM's Indian Innings

Although GWM is yet to launch its cars in India, the company has hit the ground running as far as RD and manufacturing are concerned. It established its first RD centre in India at Bengaluru in 2016. The one-of-its-kind facility in the country caters exclusively to software development for GWM's range of hybrid and electric vehicles apart from AI technology for their self-driving cars.

GWM also recently commenced the process of acquiring General Motors' Talegaon factory in Pune, Maharashtra. The expansive facility is expected to start producing GWM cars by the end of 2020. It should help the brand achieve scale and competitive pricing.

5. GWM at Auto Expo 2020

GWM will debut in India with the Haval range of SUVs. Also sharing the stage will be an EV brand known as the GWM EV.

GWM is bullish about the Indian car market and nothing exemplifies this better than the brand choosing India for the global unveil of the Haval Concept H. The car has only been teased on social media so far, with all signs pointing towards a luxury SUV.

Lastly, GWM will also showcase the Haval Vision 2025 concept, which made its global debut at the Shanghai Auto Show last year. The aptly-named Vision 2025 is a monument to GWM's technological prowess as it gets an Augmented Reality Heads-Up Display (AR-HUD), cameras instead of ORVMs, face recognition, and biometric-based security features.

At first glance, GWM's product portfolio for India seems to have hit the bull's eye. The company's range of feature-packed, affordable SUVs and EVs is perfect to spark buyer interest and help it get off to a successful start in the highly competitive Indian car market.