Gasgoo.com (Shanghai September 23) - Due to its lackluster performance this year Great Wall Motor has been the subject of intense media attention. At the Great Wall Science and Technology Event, Company Chairman Wei Jianjun responded to questions from the media.
When asked about the recent reports of problems with the Great Wall Haval H8, Mr. Wei stated that there is no problems with the SUV design itself, but rather with its auto parts. Great Wall is already working with global automotive part suppliers to solve the problems. If everything goes smoothly, it will be ready for sale by next January.
Great Wall has been accused by the media of not focusing enough on research and development work, with media outlets pointing out that just three percent of its income last year was invested towards R&D work. Responding to these allegations, Mr. Wei stated that his company has invested over two billion RMB ($325.35m) in R&D this year alone, with over 384 million RMB ($62.47m) of that going towards training R&D talent. In addition to its Chinese staff, the manufacturer has also employed skilled professionals from foreign countries such as Japan and Germany.
Domestic Chinese own brand manufacturers as a whole saw their market share shrink since last September. Great Wall was one of those affected. The manufacturer sold a total of 282,300 automobiles over the first half this year, down six percent from the previous year. In particular, sales of the manufacturer's sedans fell 48 percent from the first half of 2013 to the first half of 2014. Mr. Wei was quick to comment that while sedan sales did in fact fall, the manufacturer's overall profits still managed to increase by eight percent.
