Great Wall Motors Babek Center

Great Wall Motors Company Limited is a Chinese automobile manufacturer formed in 1984. The company is named after the Great Wall of China. As of 2010, it is China's largest sport utility vehicle (SUV) producer.In the 2012 market beset by lower demand and curbs on road-going city cars,Great Wall performed well. It rose by three places to rank as the seventh largest Chinese automaker and produced just over 675,000 units. The export of cars for 2012 stood at 96,500 units.

History of Great Wall Motors Company

Established in 1984, Great Wall initially manufactured only trucks, not producing a saloon car until 2010.The company has been a very successful producer of pickup trucks first reaching top position in the Chinese pickup market in 1998. By 2010, production of Great Wall pickups had reached 700,000.Making an initial public offering on the Hong Kong stock exchange on 15 December 2003,Great Wall was the first private Chinese auto manufacturer to become a public company. The company is considering listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange as well.

Sales in 2010 were measured at less than 400,000 (near 2% market share) with exports a small portion of that figure at little more than 50,000, no increase from 2009 figures. That same year saw the Great Wall Haval H series as the 2nd most-purchased SUV in China although this figure may technically include two discrete models, the Great Wall Haval H3 and the Great Wall Haval H5.Manufacturing for 2011 resulted in 486,800 units, and output this year was the tenth largest of any vehicle maker in China. In 2012 it was reported that the company only allows workers one day off per week and new hires undergo months-long, military-style training.

Great Wall started selling in Europe in 2006, offering small vans. A lot of 500 SUVs were shipped to Italy in 2006 as well. Great Wall products were first available in the Australian market in 2009, and the company was, as of 2010, the only Chinese car manufacturer to sell in the EU. European sales continue, with the 2011 opening of a factory in Bulgaria that assembles three different models from knock-down kits.