China’s Great Wall to enter European market in 2010

By Drew Johnson - Posted December 21st 2009

Chinese automakers don’t exactly have a strong track record of European sales, but China’s Great Wall Motor Company will look to reverse that trend in 2010 and beyond as it enters the European market. I.M. Group will be Great Wall’s official European exporter.
Starting in 2010, Great Wall will sell its vehicles in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. In 2011, the Chinese automaker plans to expand its European operations to Scandinavia, the UK and Ireland. Great Wall claims all of its European-bound models will pass Europe’s crash standards and will be on par with other Japanese and European vehicle offerings in terms of safety.

However, even if Great Wall’s vehicles pass Euro safety tests, the Chinese automaker will still have a hard row to hoe in the European market. Chinese vehicles have never sold well in Europe, with China’s Brilliance only managing 4,000 sales since 2007. In fact, Brilliance’s European importer – HSO Motors – recently was forced into bankruptcy due to Brilliance’s slow sales.

Great Wall’s decision to initially target the Baltic states could prove to be wise – as quality there isn’t typically on par with Western Europe – but its ambitious plan to expand into the UK and Ireland could prove to be too much for the relatively small automaker. Great Wall currently has the capacity to produce 800,000 cars annually.