Great Wall Motors Set To Enter India, Plans To Launch EV And SUVs

At the Auto Expo it was announced that GWM would invest an estimated total of 1 billion USD (approx. INR 7000 cr) in India in a phased manner, covering manufacturing plant, vehicle research and development, production of power batteries and electric drives, vehicle and component manufacturing.

Great Wall Motors made a big splash at the 2020 Auto Expo with a large exhibit of models from its various brands. However, after some time, its India plans came to a stand still almost a year ago due to investments not being cleared. Now the car-maker seems to be back on track and plans to launch its SUVs here along with an EV.

The Chinese carmaker will use a GM facility in Maharashtra as its plant. However with the timing now delayed, some plans may have been tweaked. That said we expect the brand to start building its team soon and re-start brand launch activities.

At the Auto Expo it was announced that GWM would invest an estimated total of 1 billion USD (approx. INR 7000 cr) in India in a phased manner, covering manufacturing plant, vehicle research and development, production of power batteries and electric drives, vehicle and component manufacturing.

At the same time, it plans to provide estimated 3,000 direct employment in a phased manner. We expect all this to happen once the nod for the investment plans are cleared soon.

In India we will see the Haval brand of SUVs being launched at first with possibly CKD kits being done to first establish the brand while later launching products with high localization. Currently Haval SUV brand has a lot of SUVs ranging from compact to full-size. The SUVs were also showcased at the Auto Expo like F7, H5 and H9 while a new product called as "Concept H" was also shown.

EVs are also on the mind of GWM with a new energy brand called Great Wall EV. GWM also plans to invest in battery research and development and manufacturing in India. The R1 EV showcased at the Expo, might launch here too. The R1 has a range of 351km and might be the most affordable EV in India, when launched