Great Wall Motors gains momentum amid transformation

Great Wall Motors is gaining momentum in sales and value, as the largest pickup and SUV maker is speeding up to transform itself.

The Hebei province-headquartered carmaker sold 145,000 vehicles in November, soaring 26 percent from the same month last year and up 7 percent from October.

In the first 11 months, its total sales have grown to 961,489 units, despite the uncertainties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The popular Haval-branded SUVs saw their sales in November reach 101,812, up 22 percent year-on-year. The Haval H6 consolidated its leading position, with over 50,000 sold in the month. It has been the besting-selling SUV in China for over 90 months.

Great Wall Motors' pickup sales totaled 22,610 in November, which has been the seventh month that its monthly sales have exceeded 20,000. They are seizing a market share of nearly 50 percent in the Chinese market. Their global sales this year have surpassed 200,000 units.

Sales of its electric car brand Ora hit 11,592 in the month, more than quadrupling the figure in the same month last year.

The performance has helped boost its operational revenue. Great Wall Motors's financial statement shows that its operational revenue in the third quarter hit 26.2 billion yuan, up 23.6 percent year-on-year, and the profit attributable to the parent company reached 1.44 billion yuan.

Its total operational revenue in the first three quarters stood at 62.1 billion yuan. And the carmaker's valuation in the Shanghai stock market exceeded 200 billion yuan by the end of the third quarter and hit 24.6 billion yuan on Monday.

Analysts say the surge in its valuation has a lot to do with its efforts in terms of technology and globalization.

In July, Great Wall Motors unveiled two modular vehicle platforms: Lemon and Tank, which were the results of five years of development and an investment of over 20 billion yuan ($2.86 billion).

Lemon is flexible and scalable, spanning sub-compact to full-size vehicle bodies and variants of SUVs, sedans and MPVs. It also covers four powertrains: internal combustion engines, hybrids, electric and fuel-cell vehicles.

Tank is a platform for off-road vehicles. It will feature 2 and 3-liter turbocharged engines and a vertically deployed nine-speed automatic gearbox, which is also China's first.

It also launched a smart system called Coffee. Great Wall Motors said it covers autonomous driving, electrical systems, and smart cabins. It is compatible with the Ethernet, 5G and vehicle-to-everything technology.

Great Wall Motors is stepping up its globalization strategy.

In late September, the carmaker said it is to invest 3.7 billion yuan ($542.26 million) to upgrade its Russian plant in Tula, a city almost 200 kilometers south of Moscow, marking the latest move for China's largest SUV producer in going global.

It has also acquired a Thai plant from GM, which will serve as the starting point for the Chinese carmaker to make inroads into the ASEAN market.

Great Wall Motors sold 9,302 vehicles in overseas markets in November, up 94 percent-year-on-year.