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Sales of its own brand Great Wall increased in the first quarter of this year, but profits fell by nearly 60%. According to the announcement issued by Great Wall Motor in the first quarter of 2019, the total revenue was about 22.627 billion yuan, down 14.85% from the same period last year; the net profit belonging to shareholders of listed companies was 773 million yuan, down 62.84% from the same period last year.

Great Wall did not give a specific reason for the increase in sales but a sharp drop in profits. The growth in sales of Great Wall, in addition to the introduction of Harvard F5, F7, VV6 and other new cars to increase the segment of products, but also through sharp price concessions to promote sales, or have a certain impact on profits. In the 2018 results report, Great Wall mentioned that the Group increased the preferential quota for its products to benefit consumers, resulting in a slight decline in gross profit margin compared with the same period last year.

In a continuously declining market, sales of self-owned brands fell sharply, while Great Wall Motor bucked the trend. Great Wall sold 103100 cars in March, up 16.8 per cent from a year earlier. From January to March, sales reached 283400, up 10.6 per cent from a year earlier.

In terms of specific sales, the Harvard brand achieved double-digit growth in March, but the WEY brand still declined. Sales of the Harvard H6, which has won SUV sales for many years, fell 19 per cent to 31000 in March, down 20 per cent from 102000 in the previous three months. The market share of many of Harvard's old models has been basically replaced by new models, including 10, 000 Hafer M6, more than 3400 Harvard F5 and 14500 Harvard F7 in March. F series is a younger product of Harvard positioning, and it seems that the market effect has been verified.

Meanwhile, Harvard H1, H5, H7 and H8 sold a total of less than 1500 models in March, which was basically excluded from the list by the Great Wall.

The WEY brand just completed 10, 000 units in March, of which VV5 sold 2, 000 units, VV6 reached 5461, and VV7 had just over 2600. The two earliest models, VV5 and VV7, both showed a decline of about 70 per cent compared with the first quarter of last year. From January to March, WEY sold 26600 units, down 38 per cent from 43000 in the first quarter of 2017.

In addition, Great Wall has increased its investment in new energy vehicles, with the Euler brand selling 14000 new vehicles in the first quarter.

During the decline in overall sales in the Chinese car market, the market share of independent brands continues to decline, and almost all the major brands that see the "ceiling" are planning to attack overseas markets. Great Wall plans to enter Europe, North America and India in 2021.

Wei Jianjun, chairman of Great Wall Automobile, said in an interview that "Chinese automobile enterprises will die in China if they do not take the road of internationalization," and believes that Great Wall Automobile is not inferior to other joint venture brands or even imported brands in terms of quality, but brand awareness does not go up, so globalization must first solve the problem of brands.

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