Great Wall Motor (GWM) has reached a production milestone at their Rayong plant in Thailand.
It’s no secret that the Chinese automotive industry has grown tremendously in the last decade. In the last few years, many Chinese brands, such as Great Wall Motor (GWM), have expanded tremendously outside of China. In fact, just last year GWM opened their manufacturing plant in Rayong, Thailand. This plant used to be operated by General Motors before they pulled out in 2020.
Today, about a year after opening their production line, GWM celebrates building their 10,000th ‘new energy vehicle‘ in Rayong. Vehicle #10000 was a Haval Jolion HEV.
Besides the Haval Jolion HEV, GWM also offers the Haval H6 HEV and the all-electric ORA Goodcat in Thailand.
Here’s the press release with more.
PRESS RELEASE
On September 2, the 10,000th new energy vehicle of GWM’s new energy plant in Rayong, Thailand rolled off the production line. With a brand new HAVAL JOLION HEV slowly leaving the production line, GWM celebrated the 10,000th new energy vehicle produced in Thailand. This marks the start of the “New Energy Club of 10,000 Vehicles” and a new stage in GWM’s development in Thailand and the acceleration of its global new energy strategy.
GWM Thailand’s General Manager Chong Baoyu, General Manager of Marketing Narong Sritalayon, GWM ASEAN Regional Vice President of Production Li Guangyu and other senior management, as well as GWM partners and media representatives attended the ceremony to witness the highlight of GWM’s new energy development in the overseas market.
GWM has been actively expanding into the Thai automotive market with a precisely differentiated brand positioning and an innovative user philosophy and service mode. On February 9, 2021, GWM launched the GWM (Great Wall Motor) brand in the Thai market with the brand value of “New Energy, New Intelligence, New Experience”. As a pioneer and leader, GWM is committed to becoming the leading new energy brand in Thailand and supporting Thailand to become the manufacturing hub for new energy vehicles in the Southeast Asia region.
In just over a year, GWM has quickly established the first new energy ecosystem in Thailand by introducing new energy vehicles, laying out the charging network and sales and service network, and leading the high-quality development of Thailand’s new energy vehicle industry at a growable and scalable pace.
GWM has already introduced two hybrid vehicles to the Thai market: the HAVAL H6 HEV and the HAVAL JOLION HEV, as well as a pure electric vehicle, the ORA GOODCAT. In addition, GWM has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Thai Excise Department to be the first automobile brand to respond to the Thai government’s new energy subsidy policy. Thanks to the clean and efficient products and intelligent features provided by advanced global technology, GWM has won the hearts of local users in Thailand with its excellent new energy product power.
On June 9, 2021, GWM’s first new energy vehicle produced in Thailand, HAVAL H6 HEV, rolled off the production line at the Rayong Plant and was launched in Thailand on June 28 that year. By September 2 this year, GWM had produced 10,000 HAVAL H6 HEV and HAVAL JOLION HEV new energy vehicles locally in Thailand. Including the imported model ORA GOODCAT pure electric vehicle, GWM had delivered a total of about 11,000 new energy vehicles to Thai customers by the beginning of September, gaining the trust of over 10,000 customers. By the end of July this year, the HAVAL H6 HEV had ranked No. 1 in the C-segment SUV market for a total of 10 months out of the 13 months it had been launched in Thailand. Remarkably, it remained the champion from January to July this year.
In terms of charging network construction, GWM’s first super charging station in the world, which integrates photovoltaic power generation, energy storage and charging, was established in Bangkok, Thailand, to satisfy the needs for electricity replenishment of electric vehicles in cities. In April this year, GWM signed a cooperation agreement with three Thai electric energy agencies to jointly promote the construction of Thailand’s electric vehicle ecosystem. Currently, GWM Charging Service Map has successfully incorporated into these three charging operators, with nearly 600 charging stations, covering more than 50% of Thailand’s public charging network, providing steady service for users’ pure electric mobility.
Drawing on the mature experience of the Chinese market, GWM has pioneered the “New Retail Service Mode” in Thailand, building a four-in-one “online + offline” service network comprising GWM brand experience centers, mall experience shops, partner shops and GWM APP. At the same time, GWM innovatively introduces “user-centered growth thinking” and takes the lead in establishing a “user committee” to engage with the users. In this way, GWM continues to listen to users’ voices and gain insight into their needs, truly shifting from traditional automobile sales to a user-oriented intelligent technology company that focuses on users’ needs and continues to grow together with them. At present, GWM Brand Experience Center has carried out more than 200 user activities, and its official social media platform in Thailand has nearly 900,000 followers, and GWM APP registered users have exceeded 100,000.
In-depth Layout, Focusing on Green and Sustainable Development
With the strategy and business philosophy of sustainable development, GWM actively integrates into Thailand to explore new opportunities and new models of green and low-carbon business. GWM builds a green ecological chain of green automobiles, green factories, and green mobility through highly localized operation of the new energy industry chain. As GWM’s second full-process vehicle manufacturing plant overseas, the Rayong new energy plant in Thailand is expediting to become GWM’s global production and export base for right-hand drive vehicles by virtue of its environmentally friendly process, intelligent manufacturing level, and efficient full-process production.
Besides localized production and sales of new energy vehicles, GWM has also introduced the localized production and operation of EA, Mind Electronic Appliances, Nobo Auto, and HYCET components in Thailand. In this way, the operating cost is reduced while the overall layout of Rayong Industrial Park is improved and more economic and social values are created for the local area. Currently, GWM has invested a total of THB 12 billion in Thailand, with a planned total investment of THB 22.6 billion.
Recently, GWM was also selected as the mobility and logistics partner for the 2022 APEC Summit in Thailand. During the series of meetings from July 20 to December 31, GWM provided a green and comfortable travel experience for about 10,000 delegates from 21 APEC countries. Speaking at the Chiang Mai venue, GWM Thailand’s General Manager Chong Baoyu said, “We hope, with innovative technologies and ideas, to play an active role in the development of the global green economy and continue to create more opportunities for development and cooperation in green investment, green product trade promotion, green mobility reform promotion, etc. for partners from various countries and regions, and contribute to environmental protection and sustainable development of human society.”
GWM actively practices its social responsibility and supports the long-term sustainable development of the company in overseas markets. During the severe situation of COVID-19 in Thailand in August 2021, GWM cooperated with public welfare organizations, donated epidemic prevention materials, supported small and micro businesses to overcome difficulties, and cared for poor families, etc., to help Thailand fight the epidemic. In order to help Thailand’s tourism industry recover faster, GWM entered into a partnership with the Tourism Authority of Thailand on August 16 to explore new tourism models. Meanwhile, GWM cooperated with Digital Economy Promotion Agency of Thailand to support the development of technical education business. GWM gave full play to its advantageous resources in new energy automobile manufacturing, R&D, etc., and continued to help Thailand cultivate technical talents with excellent expertise in automobile industry, contributing to the sustainable development of automobile and even the whole manufacturing industry.
The rolling-off of the 10,000th new energy vehicle represents a brand new starting point, and GWM will take Thailand as the operation model to accelerate the comprehensive layout of ASEAN market. On February 9 this year, GWM put forward the ASEAN strategy at the first anniversary ceremony of GWM brand in Thailand. With the orderly operation of the markets in Thailand, Brunei, Laos and Myanmar, GWM will start the regular operation of four markets in Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines and Singapore in 2022 to accelerate the implementation of GWM 2025 globalization strategy.
