Great Wall of China
February 21, 2012
Chinese carmaker Great Wall on Tuesday officially started the first Chinese auto production facility in the European Union. In its first phase, the plant in the northern Bulgarian town of Lovech is to produce 4,000 sports utility vehicles for the European market.
Alongside the Hover H5, Great Wall's Voleex C10 and the Steed5 pick-up are also planned to be made in the factory, which is run together with the Bulgarian company Litex. In the long run, the facility may produce up to ten different models.
The Lovech facility initially employs 150 Bulgarian workers who'll be busy assembling car parts from China.
"If demand is high enough, we can work in two or three shifts and can eventually put out between 50,000 and 70,000 cars per year," Litex Marketing Director Ivo Dekov said in a statement.
Great Wall as China's largest SUV producer already runs facilities in a large number of countries, including Indonesia, Egypt, Russia and Ukraine. But never before has it been able to actually sell its cars to Europe.
Eyes set on European market
But its Bulgarian undertaking is meant to change this. All brands produced there are expected to secure the "Made in EU" quality label and will be available for export to each of the other 26 European Union member nations at a competitive price without the imposition of tariffs or duties.
German car expert Ferdinand Dudenhöfer told dpa news agency that European carmakers should brace themselves for fierce competition. "Chinese carmakers may still be weak today, but Great Wall, Chery, Geely, Foton and others will learn to walk very quickly," Dudenhöfer warned.
Great Wall's outlet in Lovech certainly stands to facilitate the carmaker's ambition to conquer new markets. Bulgaria itself does not have any significant car production of its own.
Between 1967 and 1988, parts of the Russian Moskvich brand were assembled there. Renault and Fiat too had some of their brands assembled in Bulgaria towards the end of the 1960s. The same goes for to Britain's Rover, but the carmaker pulled out of Bulgaria after only a couple of months because of general difficulties.
Author: Hardy Graupner (AFP, dpa)
Editor: Joanna Impey