AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)02/17 Report--

Great Wall and General Motors jointly announced on February 17 that Great Wall will acquire GM's Royong manufacturing plant in Thailand. According to the agreement between the two sides, Great Wall will acquire General Motors Thailand, including the Luoyongfu car plant and the powertrain plant, and the two sides plan to complete the deal and final transfer by the end of 2020. however, the relevant agreement still needs to be approved by the government and regulators.

Thailand's Royong manufacturing plant is a vehicle manufacturing plant that GM put into use in 2000. Since it was put into production, it has produced nearly 1.4 million cars. The factory mainly produces pickups and SUV models, and its products are mainly sold to Thailand's domestic and export markets.

Julian, senior vice president of GM's international operations, said that after a detailed analysis of GM's business in Thailand based on GM's global strategy and optimization, it was decided to stop production and sales in Thailand. GM's sale of the Luo Yongfu plant to Great Wall is the best choice for the future development of the base, and the deal will also be good for suppliers and related economic activities.

The Royong factory in Thailand will become the third overseas vehicle manufacturing base for Great Wall after the Tula plant in Russia and the Talegang plant in India, which will accelerate the layout of Great Wall in ASEAN and the global market.

Great Wall Motors has made frequent forays into overseas markets recently. Great Wall Motor built a plant in Tula, Russia, in 2019, its first overseas plant, and earlier this year it bought GM's plant in Talegang, India, to increase its influence in overseas markets.

In recent years, with the expansion of independent cars in China, it is nothing new for Chinese automobile companies to enter overseas markets one after another. Prior to this, Geely acquired a 49.9% stake in Malaysia's Proton Motor, becoming a shareholder in Proton Motor. SAIC established SAIC Zhengda Co., Ltd. in Thailand and established SAIC GM Wuling vehicle manufacturing plant in Indonesia. And sell Mingjue and other independent brand cars locally.

The acquisition of GM's Luoyong factory in Thailand means another expansion of Great Wall's global layout. Liu Shangshang, vice president of global strategy of Great Wall Automobile, said, "ASEAN is a developing automobile market with considerable prospects and great potential." Entering the Thai market is not only a key step for Great Wall Motor to enter the ASEAN market, but also an important measure of Great Wall Automobile's globalization strategy. "

Wei Jianjun, chairman of Great Wall Motor, has repeatedly said, "Globalization is the only way out for Chinese automobile companies. If independent-brand cars blindly rely on the domestic market, they will have no influence in the world, and the dividends of more than 20 years will be wasted."

Sales figures show that Great Wall sold 1060298 vehicles in 2019, up 0.69 per cent from a year earlier. Of this total, export sales were 65175, an increase of 38.7% over the same period last year.

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