Great Wall 2017 net profit slumps 52.28% year on year

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor Co., Ltd (Great Wall Motor) revealed that the company may achieve operating revenues of nearly RMB 101.169 billion, up 2.59% year on year, while the net profit attributable to shareholders slumped 52.28% from a year earlier to round RMB 5.035 billion.

Great Wall Motor attributed its net profit decrease to the excessive sales promotion, rising advertising and publicity expenses and increasing investment in SUV’s R&D. Last year, the automaker implemented a series of sales promotion activities, like sending red envelope to customers via mobile apps, which led to lower gross profit rates. Besides, the company intensified its brand and product promotion through various media channels, also resulting in a considerable increase in advertising and publicity expenses. Meanwhile, Great Wall Motors invested more energy and resources in SUV’s R&D in order to enhance the competitiveness of its SUV products.

In 2017, Great Wall Motor sold a total of 1,070,161 units, slightly dropping 0.4% year on year. Its SUVs’ annual sales achieved 938,282 units, edging up 0.03% from the previous year, among which 851,855 units of Haval-branded SUV were sold last year, falling 9.19% year on year. Despite Haval brand sales decrease, WEY brand achieved continual sales growth month by month which contributed a lot to the company’s increasing market shares in China’s SUV segment.

Reportedly, Great Wall Motor aims to complete an annual sales target of 1.16 million units in 2018, increasing 8% compared with its 2017 sales performance.