Great Wall to focus on minicar market for growth

Shanghai, April 30 (Gasgoo.com) Chinese SUV-maker Great Wall Motor will focus on developing and producing smaller cars in order to grow in the domestic market, amidst rising fuel costs and changing consumer demands, said its chairman at the Beijing auto show.

Because the trend toward small vehicles is global, small cars hold an important share of the market in Europe and Japan, and China is also one of the fastest-growing markets. Even if the company has 70% of the domestic pickup market, Great Wall believes that it can't achieve its annual sales goal without producing and selling smaller cars.

With an annual capacity of about 400,000 vehicles, Great Wall makes SUVs and pickup trucks as its major products and has decided to raise the capacity to 500,000 units in the near future. The carmaker wanted to lead China's minicar market by adding more products to its line-up of six models. That goal is ambitious in a country already packed with small cars from national and international brands alike.

Great Wall will expand its exports to Europe. The first batch of its Hover SUVs was delivered to Italy in 2006, with sales to rise to 5,000 units this year. The company began exporting pickup trucks first to the Middle East, and now ships to more than 100 countries and regions. Other Chinese small-car brands such Chery and Geely also have export plans to the mature markets.