Traditional Culture Encyclopedia - Hotel reservation - Great Wall acquires a factory in Thailand to lay out the pickup truck market in Southeast Asia, and the right-hand-drive Great Wall gun is here

Great Wall acquires a factory in Thailand to lay out the pickup truck market in Southeast Asia, and the right-hand-drive Great Wall gun is here

February 17 marked a new chapter in the history of China's automobile industry. Following the establishment of MG's factory in Thailand, Great Wall Motors also officially entered Thailand. However, Great Wall did not build its own factory, but took over a car factory from General Motors. Great Wall Motors and General Motors jointly announced in Rayong Province, Thailand, that Great Wall Motors will acquire General Motors' manufacturing plant in Rayong Province, Thailand. According to the binding term sheet signed by both parties, General Motors Thailand, including the Rayong automobile plant and powertrain plant, will be handed over to Great Wall Motors. The two parties plan to complete the transaction and final handover by the end of 2020, but the agreement has not yet been completed. Subject to government and regulatory approvals. After the successful handover, the Rayong plant in Thailand will also become Great Wall Motor's third overseas full-process vehicle manufacturing base and the eleventh full-process vehicle manufacturing base in the world after the Tula plant in Russia and the Tarigaon plant in India. Today we will analyze the various causes and consequences of this incident one by one.

Why did GM fail in Southeast Asia?

I believe the first reaction of people who see this news is why GM wants to sell the factory to Great Wall. In fact, this is related to the sluggish global automobile industry, especially the decline of American brands in recent years. , the three major American giants Ford, General Motors and Chrysler have shrunk globally. Ford has even axed blockbuster models like the Mondeo because Ford's sedan sales are getting worse in the United States, and only the Focus in Europe performs reasonably well. GM abandoned the global right-hand market because GM decided to abandon the non-profit market, which is the so-called right-hand region, such as the United Kingdom, some African countries, Southeast Asia, Australia, Japan and other countries and regions. For GM, these regions It is very wasteful to set up a separate production line if it is not profitable. Especially in Southeast Asia, although factories have been set up, the sales volume of its pickup truck models is far lower than that of Japanese models, and it has always been operated at a loss. That is why Great Wall has now acquired GM's Thailand factory. story. At the same time, GM also announced that the century-old brand Holden would cease operations and withdraw from the two right-hand markets of Australia and New Zealand.

Why does Great Wall want to acquire GM factories?

As we all know, domestic car brands have gradually moved towards globalization in recent years. As a company specializing in manufacturing SUVs and pickup trucks, Great Wall is also preparing to enter overseas markets. Great Wall has already laid out its plans in Russia and India. Now as another company Great Wall is not willing to miss out on Southeast Asia, an emerging market. The most important thing is that the demand for pickup trucks and SUVs in Southeast Asia is booming, and Great Wall's expertise can just meet this demand. Moreover, GM’s Rayong Automobile Manufacturing Plant in Thailand is GM’s most important right-hand-drive vehicle production base in Asia. It mainly produces SUVs and pickup trucks, with representative models such as the Chevrolet Trailblazer and Chevrolet Colorado. The two vehicles are a medium-sized SUV and a medium-sized pickup truck, both of which are popular models in the Southeast Asian and Australian markets. After Great Wall takes over the factory, it will continue to produce similar models.

What models will Great Wall introduce after the acquisition?

Pickup trucks are the most popular models in Southeast Asia. Great Wall will definitely give priority to the introduction of pickup trucks. Unsurprisingly, the two latest pickup models of Great Wall, Fengjun 7 and Great Wall Cannon, will be introduced to Thailand for production. , used to benchmark Toyota Hilux and other models. The ultimate goal is to replace Nissan and Mitsubishi and catch up with Toyota. In addition, in terms of SUV models, it is expected to introduce models such as Haval H6 and F7. These two models are also very popular in China. In addition, the Haval H5 and the large H9 based on the pickup truck platform are also likely to be introduced.

Summary: As another major event for Chinese automobiles to go global, I think this is worth remembering. After all, Thailand ranks 25th in competitiveness and 3rd in ASEAN, with huge market potential. Moreover, Thailand has a profound automobile culture, which is a rare opportunity for promoting Chinese automobiles. Based in Thailand, it can establish a foothold in Southeast Asia and radiate to surrounding right-hand drive countries.

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This article comes from the author of Autohome Chejiahao and does not represent the views and positions of Autohome.