For the moment, the Chinese electric car manufacturer Great Wall is almost unknown, with a confidential broadcast of its cute Ora Funky Cat and its Wey Coffee 01 SUV. The Chinese does not however hide its ambitions. Behind a still very low number of registrations in Europe (268 vehicles in Germany), the manufacturer is a society without pressure. Its CEO X.Meng had also recently declared: “We are more pragmatic than many other Chinese manufacturers, and we did not set specific sales targets in the initial phase.”
The said phase should soon turn into an expansion stage since the manufacturer is currently analyzing the possibilities of installing a production plant on European soil. A double interest since it would make it possible to respond quickly to the demand of a booming market, but also to benefit from government aid. France, for example, plans to allocate the future ecological bonus only to vehicles produced in Europe.
Germany, Romania, the Czech Republic and Hungary are in the lead. The latter country would be favored by investors since CATL, Eve Energy, BMW and Mercedes have production sites there. Samsung SDI is also studying cylindrical cell production projects there and SK On manufactures battery cells on site. Even the Chinese manufacturer Build Your Dream (BYD) builds its electric buses there.
Great Wall also questions the relevance of a site ex nihilo or the takeover of a production plant which a giant of European industry would like to get rid of. This could be the case of the Opel factory in Eisenach in Germany. For the moment, the discussions remain open, but it is certain that in the years to come, competition in the market for electric cars will be very hotly contested.