How does that affect the current running Great Wall brand guardian, Go Auto?
Until a few years ago, Go Auto has had reasonable brisk sales in Malaysia with the Great Wall vehicles they were selling.
Then in 2020 they brought in a few units of the Great Wall electric vehicles to get type approval and tease the Malaysian market with the funky designs and sensible selling prices that could be reached by middle class Malaysians.
Then, it all went quiet. Very quiet until recently in November 2021 when we found out that Great Wall Motors had set up an office in Malaysia and were starting to recruit a few key personal for Great Wall Motor Malaysia.
Now we see a full job postings advertisement for a variety of automotive and technology jobs (please see image above) which means they are coming into Malaysia with high intentions. This is of course very good for the consumer market as there will be more choices, but it also means that our automotive industry is not being ignored and only Indonesia and Thailand is getting the ‘lions’ share of the automotive business.
So, will Go Auto continue to be exclusive in the sale and distribution of Great Wall Motors new electric vehicles which have seen sales success in Thailand in the last two years, or will there will be new dealers mushrooming to provide a competitive service?
With the social media chatter on Chery Automotive starting assembly operations in Indonesia for sale in the ASEAN region, the likelihood of better priced SUV’s and EV’s are on the horizon. Meanwhile, Great Wall Motors has already started vehicle assembly in Thailand and sales in Thailand have been surging fast.
Having bought the factory from General Motor Thailand after their withdrawal from the Thai market, this first-ever Thai factory operated by Great Wall will have an estimated annual production capacity 80,000 vehicles. Serving as a regional base for right-hand drive vehicles in the region, the Chinese automaker is currently targeting for 60:40 manufacturing split between domestic and export market vehicles.
As for what types of vehicles are to be made at this new Thai plant meanwhile, the first model that rolled out of the Rayong site was the latest Haval SUV. Great Wall Motors are also assembling hybrid vehicles and will also be assembling fully electric vehicles over there in the coming years, in line with the automaker’s goal to expand its local line-up to nine vehicles by 2024.
So, two large Chinese car manufacturers with electric vehicles and also petrol powered best sellers will bring lower priced models to Malaysia and give current segment champions something to worry about.
Can they, and will they shake the dominance of National Car brands and will this bring a fairer distribution of the popular segments. This we want to see happen in the coming years to give Malaysian car buyers more options.
