Chinese auto giant Great Wall Motor (GWM) has announced the forthcoming opening of a factory in São Paulo state, according to the international edition of Brazil’s largest business newspaper Valor, which reports that the automaker is adopting a tailor-made approach for South America’s largest car market.
Recruitment has already begun for the facility, located in the municipality of Iracemápolis. The nearby Senai technical school – established by the factory’s former occupier Mercedes-Benz – will begin training workers early next year, Valor says.
GWM expects to create 700 jobs once the factory is fully operational in May 2025, and is reportedly making design modifications to its vehicles to cater to Brazilian drivers.
[See more: Imports of Chinese electric vehicles surge ahead of tariff crackdown in Brazil]
New tariffs and incentive programmes have also shifted the Chinese auto giant’s approach. For example, a new programme to encourage green mobility and innovation (known as MOVER) that offers tax reductions to automotive companies based on the percentage of local content in their products, has led GWM to scrap a plan to begin production with imported component kits from China.
According to the report, import taxes on hybrid and electric vehicles are also determining production models. Instead of the hybrid Proer pickup truck, GWM will kick off production with its best-selling Haval H6 plug-in hybrid SUV. The Haval has sold nearly 16,000 units in Brazil this year and is the first vehicle of its kind registered with the MOVER programme.
GWM plans to produce 25,00 units annually, half of the licensed capacity for the Iracemápolis factory, suggesting that a second model will be rolled out as well. While the initial units will be gasoline hybrids, the company has already signed a contract with Bosch to develop an ethanol-based hybrid system. The biofuel sells for a fraction of the cost of gasoline in Brazil.
