Various sources on the internet point to Great Wall Motor Co having an assembly plant here in Malaysia. It seems that Malaysia has been identified as one of the countries where the Chinese carmaker wants to set up a plant, together with Vietnam and Philippines.
These three countries will make passenger cars, while separate Great Wall Motor Co plants in Indonesia and Thailand will make pick-up up trucks such as the Great Wall Wingle. Given that they want plants in so many countries, they’ll most likely be in partnership with local partners.
Earlier this year we heard news of the government receiving applications from five foreign carmakers to setup assembly plants here in Malaysia. The government did not reveal which companies these were, only saying that they were European and Asian companies, which is really quite general.
Great Wall could most likely be one of the 5 companies, and MITI had better give the green light fast because although we’ve seen Great Wall cars on test in Malaysia before, the Chinese company is already selling cars in the Philippines and has already identified that it will work with local dealer Philippine National Motor to setup a plant there with an annual capacity of 10,000 units. Great Wall also already has CKD plants in Vietnam in partnership with the locals.
Models that Great Wall Motor seem to be focusing on exporting are the Florid, the Peri, the Wingle, the Cowry, the Coolbear and the Hover SUV. They also have the Voleex C30 and Voleex C70 sedans. The Hover SUV was recently granted a 4 star score in the Australian NCAP crash test. The only model that we’ve seen on test in Malaysia before is the Wingle.
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