In Depth: By Spurning EVs, Great Wall Motor Faces Becoming a Fossil in China

Great Wall Motor Co. Ltd. (GWM), once a leader in China’s automotive market, now faces major challenges amid the industry’s aggressive price wars and the rapid shift toward electric vehicles (EVs). Company chairman Wei Jianjun recently criticized competitors for “reckless” price cuts, asserting that such strategies compromise car quality. However, this statement also highlights GWM’s own vulnerabilities, as demonstrated in its first-quarter results: profits fell 45.6% year-on-year to 1.75 billion yuan ($243 million), and vehicle sales dropped 6.73% to 256,807 units—a sharp contrast to 2016, when the company made 10.5 billion yuan in profit on over 1 million vehicles sold, with its Haval SUV line making up around 87% of sales [para. 1][para. 2][para. 3][para. 4].

Unlike rivals BYD and Geely, GWM has not kept pace with the sector’s shift to electrification. In the first five months of 2024, BYD led the Chinese auto market with 13.8% share, while GWM ranked 10th at just 3.6%, according to China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). The disparity is larger in the new-energy vehicle (NEV) segment: BYD and Geely captured 31.4% and 12.8% of market share respectively, while GWM managed only 2.2% [para. 5][para. 6][para. 7].

GWM’s strategy remains firmly rooted in fossil fuel vehicles, a stance driven by Wei Jianjun. He resists “excessive” electrification, citing insufficient profitability in the sector, a sentiment echoed by company managers. Insiders say Wei’s personal grip on policy decisions is considerable. A key loss for GWM was executive Wang Fengying’s 2023 move to EV startup XPeng, with analysts crediting her for recent boosts in XPeng’s sales—her departure was reportedly due to disagreements with Wei over business philosophy [para. 8][para. 9][para. 10][para. 11][para. 12][para. 13][para. 14][para. 15].

GWM’s early push into pure EVs with its Ora brand in 2018 has largely fizzled. Sales have been weak, dogged by controversies like a 2021 false advertising scandal around Ora’s Good Cat model chips, and pandemic-related supply disruptions that led to the discontinuation of key budget NEV models. In the first quarter of 2025, Ora sales plunged 54.3% year-on-year to only 6,867 cars [para. 16][para. 17][para. 18][para. 19][para. 20]. Electrification of GWM’s core Haval SUV lineup has been slow—despite targets for 80% NEV sales by 2025, only 20% of Haval sales in 2024 were NEVs, with just 4 out of 13 Haval models currently being NEVs. Sales of top models like the Haval H6 have tumbled, with the model dropping out of China’s top 10 best-selling fossil fuel SUVs [para. 21][para. 22][para. 23][para. 24][para. 25].

With its domestic position eroding, GWM is increasingly looking to overseas markets for growth. In 2024, it sold 453,141 vehicles abroad—over a third of its total sales. Russia is now its largest overseas market, where GWM sold nearly 230,000 vehicles last year, making up 14.2% of the Russian market—a number bolstered by the withdrawal of Western brands after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine [para. 26][para. 27][para. 28][para. 29][para. 30][para. 31]. GWM also operates in Southeast Asia, Kazakhstan, and is investing heavily in Brazil, Mexico, and other parts of South America. The company aims to reach 1 million overseas sales by 2030, viewing foreign markets as increasingly profitable [para. 32][para. 33][para. 34][para. 35]. In 2024, its net cash flow from operations rose 56.6% to 27.8 billion yuan, largely thanks to exports [para. 36].