The head of Great Wall threatened to conquer the European market

The president of the international division of Great Wall Motor (GWM), Parker Shi (Shi Qingke), made a tough statement addressed to the European market, promising that the company does not intend to put up with failures, IT Home reports.

“We don’t want to be a loser in any market in the world,” the executive said at a news conference at a technology center in Baoding. “We will come back and come with the right product.”

The statement came against the backdrop of a dramatic drop in GWM sales in Europe: in 2025, they fell by almost 30% to just 3.5 thousand cars, while competitors from BYD, Chery (Omoda and Jaecoo brands) and Leapmotor were rapidly increasing their presence.

A previous attempt to gain a foothold in the European market in 2021, focusing on Ora and Wey electric vehicles, failed, forcing the company to close its Munich headquarters and lay off around 100 employees.

As part of the “second coming,” GWM plans to introduce at least 10 new models to the market over the next two years. Unlike the first attempt, the emphasis will be placed not only on electric vehicles, but also on hybrids, as well as traditional gasoline engines. The first sign will be the Ora 5 city car (first half of 2026), which will be available in three versions: EV, hybrid and with internal combustion engine. Later in 2026, the Haval Jolion Max crossover and the Haval H7 off-road model are expected.

The company also announced plans to expand its presence from the current 9 to 13 European countries over the next 12 months. In June 2026, GWM will enter the markets of Italy and Spain, and Poland in July. Moreover, by 2029, the Chinese auto giant intends to build a plant in Europe with a capacity of 300 thousand cars per year.

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