GREATER NOIDA :

Great Wall Motors (GWM), a leading Chinese automaker, which recently announced its entry into the Indian market with an approximate investment of USD 1 billion, is planning to launch a wide-range of products, including SUVs and EVs in India, in a phased manner. The company expects to launch its first product in 2021, which will be locally manufactured at the company’s recently acquired plant from General Motors in Talegaon, Maharashtra. 

While providing details on the company’s India specific plans, Kaushik Ganguly, Director, Strategy and Planning, Great Wall Motors India, said that “The plant [General Motors plant] will be handed over to us in the second half of this year, we will need some time to do some modifications because that plant primarily manufactured small cars, and then of course, the dyes are different, so there is need for further time and investment. By 2021, as early as we can, we will have the first model rolling out for the Indian market, which will definitely be an SUV. We will also look at exports from here.”

At the 15th Auto Expo in Greater Noida, GWM launched two brands, including HAVAL, which is entirely SUV, expected to be launched soon in India, and GWM EV. They also have another brand, WEY, named after the company’s Chairman. According to Ganguly, “WEY is a luxury SUV brand, which sits above HAVAL, in terms of its brand positioning. It is pretty much a high-end luxury brand, which again is an SUV. We are an SUV company in that sense.”

GWM is a 36-year-old company, which started its journey in 1984 by launching pick-up vehicles. Over the years, the company studied the automobile market deeply and invested in various kinds of technological developments, such as powertrains, electronics amongst other. Currently, with more than three decades of experience in the automobile sector, the company is now present in 60 markets across the world, with a total of 14 plants worldwide. Out of these, five are KD (Knock-Down Kit) plants, while nine are complete manufacturing plants, without counting the latest India unit. 

“HAVAL and WEY too have various kinds of electrification, including Hybrid, Plug-in-Hybrid, or even battery Electric Vehicles. One of the two concepts which we launched at the Auto Expo is a pure EV, Vision 2025, while the other, Concept H, is a plug-in hybrid vehicle. Both these vehicles are HAVAL concepts. In summary, under the HAVAL brand, the company will offer all kinds of powertrains. On the other hand, pure electric concepts, which will be positioned as non-SUV vehicles, would be sold under the GWM EV brand. HAVAL and GWM EV are the two brands we are considering for India. However, these will be launched in a phased manner,” says Ganguly. HAVAL will be the first product expected to be launched in 2021, followed by the EV brand. “It is not really about production facility or vehicle development, it is more related to the fact that it is really difficult to launch two brands simultaneously. HAVAL will keep launching its models. Ultimately, we look forward to an entire spectrum of SUVs in India, for sure,” says Ganguly.

With the launch of HAVAL, the company expects to establish a strong foothold in the Indian market. “The HAVAL brand stands for premium, intelligent SUV. The idea is that we establish our brand with HAVAL and then move to the second and third model, etc. The priority is more on establishing the brand and increasing our foothold in the Indian market, and then on introducing other models. There is lesser priority on getting volumes, a priority from top down, that’s a clear direction which also basically means that we’re looking at a long-term run here, not a short-term, trying and testing waters, kind-of situation,” says Ganguly.

As far as EVs are concerned, the company displayed a hatchback, a crossover and a fastback sedan at the Auto Expo. “We also have other EVs, which will be unveiled and launched in the future. We will bring the EVs as per the market needs. We would address the mobility part of it, that’s where we feel the actual adoption of EVs will happen. We don’t expect to see the private buyers leaning too much towards EVs in the initial years after we launch our products. As a result, for the EVs we would have a deep focus on the mobility solution and shared mobility. Parallely, we would also target the private buyers. So, all that also would come under the GWM EV brand, so that’s kind of the position of the product line we are targeting. However, I cannot share the details of the exact products,” says Ganguly.

While providing more details on the company’s strategy, Ganguly says, “We have a strategy in place, but we would also be very mindful of the market needs. On the basis of our market study, we would improvise the products and their launch schedules and change the pace if needed. In terms of availability, if required, we would be ready to launch almost every month as none of our models are country-specific, all our models are global models, which are tweaked to local tastes, regulations, other kinds of road conditions and needs, etc. I don’t see a challenge in the development of the models. Our strategy, is more from the brand strategy perspective, how we are going to space it out, but of course, we would listen to the market and go…”

Other than HAVAL and GWM EV, the company offers a wide-range of SUVs. Elaborating more on the company’s product range Ganguly says, “We have all kinds of SUVs. The smallest that we have in China, a 4-meter SUV, is also sold in other markets globally. Another model, which is also displayed here, at the 15th Auto Expo, (Greater Noida, India) is called H9. This is our biggest SUV in terms of size. It’s a 5-meter+ SUV, which is high on luxury, technology and has high off-roading capabilities. This is much higher level of 4WD capability, keeping the luxury and technology alive inside. Currently, we have H1 and H9, and there are models in-between. This is the kind of line-up we will have for India, which can cover the entire spectrum. However, the offerings would depend on the market requirements.”

While commenting on the competition, Ganguly says, “I wouldn’t say we have any competitors. Of course, the SUV market is very, very segmented, and also the kind of products that we’re speaking of, right now, India, has not experienced those kinds of products, I can tell you that confidently.”