Great Wall Motor to raise up to 8 billion yuan for new model, auto digitalization R&D

Shanghai (Gasgoo)- Great Wall Motor (GWM) intends to issue convertible bonds worth not more than 8 billion yuan ($1.235 billion) with the net proceeds to be evenly invested in the R&D of new vehicle models and automobile digitalization, according to an announcement the automaker released as a reply to the questions from the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

The new vehicle models include four SUVs, two pickups and three new energy vehicles, which involve 2.094 billion ($323.313 million), 883 million ($136.335) and 1.023 billion ($157.951 million) of capital raised respectively.

WEY Moca; photo credit: GWM

The SUV project embraces the iteration of the Haval H6 and the WEY VV7 as well as the R&D of new SUV models powered by new technologies. The pickup project is carried out to develop new pickup models and redefine the luxury and intelligent off-road pickups. Moreover, the NEV project focuses on the R&D of the all-new models based on the existing A30 platform and the fire new models riding on the new ME platform.

The nine new models involve a total investment of up to 6.3 billion yuan ($972.717 million). The investment of one SUV and two NEV models will be extended to the year of 2023, while the others are to 2022.

With respect to auto digitalization, the proceeds will be mainly pumped in the R&D for the integration of intelligent vehicle infrastructure cooperative system and autonomous driving software & hardware, the automobile smart cloud-based services & products, the hardware computing power platform and the complete vehicle-grade operating system.

The investment in the auto digitalization project would reach nearly 8 billion ($1.235 billion) and is scheduled to be extended to 2025.