Gasgoo.com (Shanghai) - Great Wall's management and marketing decisions have been attracting a great deal of attention as of late. The Hebei-based manufacturer, which is now listed on both the Hong Kong and mainland stock exchanges, has become somewhat of a black horse in the Chinese automobile industry. Its sales and financial performance in the SUV market have been especially strong. Great Wall sold a total of 462,700 vehicles in 2011, 27.3 percent more than the previous year. In addition, its net profits increased 26.86 percent to 3.42 billion yuan ($541.32m) last year. Its growth rate far exceeded the industry average, which was just under three percent.

Gasgoo.com (Shanghai) - Following a steep fall in the growth rate in the Chinese automobile market last year, several experts were looking forward to the industry's recovery in 2012. However, that recovery has yet to appear, with sales figures from the first quarter of the year being lackluster at best. According to statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, a total of 4.79 million domestically made vehicles were sold in the first quarter, with 3.77 million of them being passenger vehicles. Both numbers represent year-on-year decreases of 3.4 percent and 1.25 percent, respectively. Commercial vehicle sales fell even further, decreasing a full 10.6 percent from the previous year. Although prospects for the first quarter were not especially high, not many predicted how poor the market would ultimately be.