Great Wall Motors’ entry into India will be with the Haval SUV brand and its future vehicles will reportedly get an electric powertrain
GWM is looking to make a strong impact in the domestic market and out of its four brands, two will be introduced locally. The Haval firm will spearhead the Chinese brand’s entry as the company banks on the surge in popularity for the sports utility vehicles in the premium segments. Great Wall Motors’ Hardeep Singh Brar, Director Sales & Marketing, was interviewed by ETAuto and he shed some light on the plans.
Great Wall Motors is the largest SUV producer in China and it has been selling more than a million passenger UVs across the globe for consecutive years. He said that the Haval brand has been committed to debut in India and it had received good initial impressions at the 2020 Auto Expo. Multiple powertrain choices such as petrol, diesel and even electrification for propulsion are being considered.
He stated to bring in C and C+ segment SUVs badged as Haval but for the electric vehicles under the GWM EV sub-brand, the possibilities are still being evaluated as the entry could be with a hatchback, sedan, SUV or any other body type. He has also confirmed that the Haval brand will “definitely” have electric vehicles under its belt and we expect the Concept H to spawn a production SUV.
Brar has also indicated that the IQ and R1 vehicles from GWM with a range of 400 km will be ideal for the customers’ needs but no concrete plans on their entries have been made yet. GWM may explore the opportunities to have battery assembled or manufactured in India as well. With Haval, GWM will price the SUVs at a premium range with upmarket interior and features.
He finds setting up supply chain for smooth production and establishing the brand image as main challenges initially and reiterates the need to set localisation target and utilise the plant in Maharashtra bought from General Motors. He prioritizes bringing products at the earliest as the first Haval SUV will go on sale in India next year and reckons ramping up the 1.37 lakh production capacity won’t be a challenge.
GWM looks to take advantage of the homologation rules as whatever the “best products” suited for Indian customers it finds could be brought into the country via CBU route. As for the dealers, GWM seeks big dealers with large geographical appeal and it might prefer to go with higher dealer margins than any other carmaker in the industry.