The largest 100% privately-owned Chinese automotive company, Great Wall Motors (GWM), announced an investment of R$ 10 billion to set up its largest production base outside China, in the city of Iracemápolis, in the interior of São Paulo, to 170 kilometers from the capital of São Paulo. According to the automaker, a product line will be launched in Brazil that will only have SUVs and pickups, hybrids and electrics.
The factory will have an intelligent production system and an installed production capacity of 100,000 vehicles per year, with an expected annual turnover of BRL 30 billion in 2025. There will be two investment cycles in the new plant: around BRL 4 billion in 2022 to 2025, and R$ 6 billion, from 2026 to 2032, with an estimated generation of two thousand direct jobs by 2025.
By 2025, in the first investment cycle, 10 models will be launched, with the first vehicle expected to arrive in the fourth quarter of 2022, as imported. The first vehicle produced in Brazil will be launched in the second half of 2023.
The Iracemápolis unit will be GWM’s fourth complete production base in the world, the first in Latin America and will function as an export center for the American continent. GWM said it intends to support the production of parts locally, with the aim of achieving a nationalization rate of 60% by 2025.
“The Brazilian market is not only the leader in Latin America, but also one of the ten largest markets where GWM starts local production outside China. Brazil is definitely our strategic pillar to make our goal for 2025 happen”, highlighted Koma Li, Chief Operating Officer (COO), according to a statement from GWM Brazil.
The company also intends to start partnerships to study the use of ethanol as a source of hydrogen generation for fuel cell vehicles. GWM is the first company in China to be part of the International Hydrogen Commission.
“We intend to use the unit in Brazil as a knowledge base in the execution of agreements with Brazilian universities and technological centers to develop research that, for example, includes the use of ethanol as a source of hydrogen”, said Pedro Bentancourt, Chief Relations Officer (CRO) from GWM Brazil.
In Brazil, GWM will use three of its brands, one for each product line. Haval will market the SUVs on-road; Tank, off-road SUVs; and Poer, smart pickup trucks.
The ceremony for the start of GWM’s operations in Brazil took place yesterday morning (27), in Iracemápolis (SP).
